When was the last time you did absolutely nothing? No watching television, no music playing in the background, no scrolling on your phone – just sitting with yourself and your own thoughts. How long did you wait before reaching for something to entertain you? How frequently is that “something” your cell phone?
The “death of boredom” refers to the modern eradication of empty, unstructured moments due to the constant desire for instant gratification. Cognitive and psychological studies, such as one performed by Emerald Publishing, reveal an interesting paradox. By trying to kill boredom with constant digital stimulation, we have actually made ourselves more chronically bored, restless and cognitively fatigued.
Recently, people have been reaching for stimulation before even giving themselves a moment to be bored. Unoccupied moments are quickly filled with something that will trigger a quick burst of dopamine so that a user feels a sense of fulfillment.
This search for constant stimulation has made cell phone usage almost automatic. It’s more shocking to see someone without their phone than with it. If someone is standing in a line or waiting for a class to begin, chances are you will find them with their phone in their hands.
Weekly screen time is not the only thing that is affected by the constant cell phone usage; according to a National Institutes of Health article from 2025, excessive cell phone usage can lead to poor sleep quality, an addiction to dopamine signaling, depression and even physical problems such as low vision.
Beyond its effects on sleep and mental health, constant scrolling can also affect how people engage with content and prolong their attention. Dopamine is typically released from the brain when you scroll on social media, causing you to continue to do so until an addiction has built up and you can no longer sit in boredom. Searching for dopamine highs has also been seen to affect the education of students, especially those belonging to Generation Alpha.
As they are often growing up as “iPad kids,” a child who is dependent on screen time for entertainment or behavioral regulation, they have noticeably lower literacy rates and math skills, with shorter attention spans overall.
They may also lack fundamental skills, such as handwriting and critical thinking. According to Howard University’s The Dig, these issues often lead to difficulties with emotional regulation and impaired social skills.
So, why is the death of boredom so scary? When we eliminate every quiet moment, we also eliminate opportunities for imagination to take shape. Spontaneous creativity has become incredibly scarce.
New thoughts that would not appear without the stream of content consumed every day cannot appear without boredom.
Separating yourself from the media you see daily allows you to daydream and develop more in-depth thoughts and make connections regarding the world around you.
People fear doing nothing.
People fear those empty moments that can feel like wasted time because productivity and entertainment have become so central to our everyday lives.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that technology is inherently bad. Entertainment is fun, and as humans, we naturally seek the cognitive stimulation that it gives.
The problem emerges when there is no moderation to the entertainment being consumed and we begin to struggle to exist without it.
But what happens when we become uncomfortable with the absence of anything demanding our attention?
What will happen when boredom becomes something of the past? There’s a constant complaint of being overwhelmed or overly distracted, but as soon as the opportunity to have a moment without something demanding our attention presents itself, we still choose to fill it.
Boredom is not always pleasant, but it’s necessary for creating space for reflection, imagination and noticing the world around you.
Allow yourself to sit in your boredom. Turn off your phone and turn off the TV. Sit with your thoughts.
Find a creative outlet, such as something that forces you to be actively engaged instead of passively consuming content.
Sometimes, though, boredom will be just that: boring.
The value of boredom lies in allowing yourself to tolerate stillness rather than needing every moment to be productive in some way.