Let yourself be bored while waiting
When you are waiting — for coffee, in a queue, at a red light — leave your phone in your pocket and let your mind wander.
Key takeaways
- What it is: When you are waiting — for coffee, in a queue, at a red light — leave your phone in your pocket and let your mind wander.
- Why it works: Waiting is one of the few natural opportunities for the default-mode network to activate during a busy day. When people immediately fill the waiting gap with a phone, they suppress DMN activation and replace it with stimulus-driven attention (social media, news, video). Allowing waiting-state boredom permits the mental associations, future simulations, and self-reflective processing that DMN activity produces — the substrate from which creative and planning insights emerge.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: Substituting one phone activity for another ("I’ll listen to a podcast instead") — audio consumption also suppresses DMN and prevents the unstimulated state that productive mind-wandering requires.
Why it works
Waiting is one of the few natural opportunities for the default-mode network to activate during a busy day. When people immediately fill the waiting gap with a phone, they suppress DMN activation and replace it with stimulus-driven attention (social media, news, video). Allowing waiting-state boredom permits the mental associations, future simulations, and self-reflective processing that DMN activity produces — the substrate from which creative and planning insights emerge.
How to do it
- 1For one week, commit to leaving your phone in your pocket or bag during all waiting periods.
- 2Resist any urge to check — observe the discomfort of boredom rather than suppressing it.
- 3Notice what thoughts, memories, or ideas arise spontaneously.
- 4Keep a small notebook to capture any insights that surface during these waiting periods.
What the evidence says
ObservationalDefault-mode network research documents its activation during mind-wandering and rest, with associations to autobiographical memory, future simulation, and creative insight. Mind-wandering has been linked to insight problem-solving in controlled lab settings.
Honest caveat: DMN research is strong on activation patterns but the causal path from boredom → DMN → creative output is supported directionally rather than robustly established for practical applications.
- — Christoff et al. (2009), experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering, PNAS
Common mistake
Substituting one phone activity for another ("I’ll listen to a podcast instead") — audio consumption also suppresses DMN and prevents the unstimulated state that productive mind-wandering requires.
IX Coach includes a "waiting period" micro-practice — a prompted 2-minute phone-free pause that invites observation of whatever thoughts arise naturally.
Practice this with IX Coach →