Can boredom ever be good? Part 1
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Why did Australians report increased boredom during COVID‑19 isolation?
This is an ABC podcast.
A recent survey commissioned by the ABC on how Australians have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic showed that one of the largest reported changes in our internal lives is an increase in boredom. While this wouldn't have been experienced by everyone, I'm looking at you, working, child caring parents, many have lost their jobs and aren't able to do everything they'd usually choose to do. So if you have experienced boredom throughout isolation, was it a good or bad type of boredom? Yes, apparently boredom comes in different flavours, and some can be good. ABC Science Reporter Carl Smith has been exploring boredom. And this is the first of two episodes you're bringing us on the topic, right, Carl?
Yeah, so today we're looking at the different types of boredom. And yes, it seems there are different types. And next time, we'll be looking at the ways different personality traits can influence how you experience boredom.
And so have you been feeling bored throughout isolation?
Yeah, I mean of course I have. And I think even people who've been really busy throughout this period, they haven't been able to do all the exciting things they would normally fill their lives with. So I think it's kind of hard to escape some boredom at the moment.
Yeah, I've I've gotta say I've definitely felt a whole lot of boredom, especially in the early days of the pandemic when we couldn't leave at all and no one was seeing anyone and weekends stretched on with really nothing to do. I wasn't even leaving the house.
So that sounds like pretty bad boredom to be feeling then?
Yeah, I think I'd definitely call that negative boredom. It was not enjoyable. I mostly filled the void by scrolling through social media for hours on end, which wasn't actually solving the boredom. I was just as bored on social media, so it was all a bit terrible.
Yeah, well I think boredom is pretty universally frustrating, but I have to say that I noticed that sometimes when I've let myself feel bored recently, I could actually drift into a slightly more positive sort of daydreaming state, which helped me reflect and probably think a bit more creatively as well. And it turns out there's actually a northern European word to describe that exact experience.
Of course there is.
So in the Netherlands, this positive feeling in a boring moment is called Nixon, N-I-K-S-E-N. And I got in touch with one of the world's most prominent researchers studying happiness, sociologist Ruot Vienhoven, Emeritus Professor at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, to ask him a little bit more about Nixon.
Uh Nixon is doing nothing. It is looking out of the window, daydreaming, no focused thought. That is Nixon.
And so it's it's a Dutch word, Nixon. What does it mean?
Yes.
So
do you nix often then? Yes, sometimes. When I have a cup of coffee, I sit on the grass and uh just look around or uh when you're
What are the different “flavours” of boredom and can any be positive?
in the train and well you look outside no particular thoughts. Well that is Nixon. And nixing can be quite nice if you don't nix
too long. So is it is it commonly practiced in the Netherlands then, this idea of Nixon?
I think it's also a common practice in Australia, but they lacked the word for it. Is it sort
of like daydreaming
in English? Yeah, it's close to daydreaming, yes. And it's also where the creativity gets in.
Yeah, so tell me about that. I I believe that certain types of boredom and I imagine specifically this way of harnessing boredom through Nixon or daydreaming is correlated with heightened creativity.
Yeah. Because if your um thoughts are free floating, then all of a sudden you see the solution for a problem you had on mind. Personally, i if I'm writing, writing a paper, sometime I take a a rest. And then spontaneously the right sentences or uh the right organisation of the paper uh pops up.
So how does it differ then to other ideas like say boredom or even mindfulness?
Let's first see the the difference with boredom. You can nix for a while without being bored, but if you nix too long you get bored. Uh boredom is unpleasant and uh that is a message of Mother Nature, do something.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Why did Australians report increased boredom during COVID‑19 isolation?
0:02–3:09
2
What are the different “flavours” of boredom and can any be positive?
3:09–11:28
3
What is the Dutch concept “Nixon” and how does it relate to day‑dreaming?
11:28–27:11
4
How do researchers define boredom as an emotion and why does it feel like time stops?
27:11–29:03