‘Create more than you consume.’
I’ve had this phrase rattling around my head for years and it sounds like a simple enough equation for a creative life, but these days, my personal creation-to-consumption ratio isn’t as good as it used to be.
My creativity works in a predictable cycle:
Phase 1: I create as if an external force has taken hold of my body and i have little say in the matter. I eat, sleep, and breathe creative expression. It consumes me. Often to my body’s detriment.
Phase 2: An emptiness slowly replaces the drive to create until i stall completely. Call it creative fatigue. Call it burnout. Call it adhd hyperfocus backlash. It is brutal. Depressing. I hate this phase. I know it’s there, yet i hit this wall every. Single. Time.
Phase 3: I rest. I feed. I gather inspiration. I prepare for the next round until a soul awakening restlessness snaps me back to phase 1.
Lately, i’ve noticed phase 3 is growing longer. Because that restlessness i need to snap me out of it? It comes from boredom.
And i do not know how to be bored anymore.
Creation doesn’t happen in a void. At least not for me.
My brain needs to be seeded with the culture i’m living in before it can mash it all up and synthesize something interesting and new.
But the way we consume culture today is so time consuming and so engrossing that i’m left with no time to create. I find myself watching seasons upon seasons of bland shows instead of unforgettable movies. Asinine short form videos instead of nuanced long form essays. Click-baity headlines on tiktok instead of thought-provoking long articles on the new york times.
(Funny how every format has gotten shorter and yet it keeps us busy for so much longer.)
Sometimes, in phase 3, i spend hours doomscrolling. Literally hours. Junk dopamine dripping from my phone and blocking the usual boredom and restlessness that drives me to do something already.
I want to be bored. I need to be bored.
But i do not know how to be bored anymore.
I’ll be 50 this year. I’m gen x.
I remember being bored and doing nothing, laying on my bed.
I remember watching movies i didn’t even like until the end. Several times, sometimes, if my sister wanted to.
I remember waiting in line for 10 or 15 minutes doing nothing but thinking and tapping my foot to an imaginary song.
For the life of me, i cannot remember how i could stand to do any of that.
I just do not know how to be bored anymore.
I’m pretty sure that if i’d lived several centuries ago and worked on a farm, i wouldn’t have had to work out. Movement would have been a by-product of my survival. My muscles would have been strong as a matter of course.
But i live in 2026 and sit all day in front of a computer, so i have to add movement and exercise into my life on purpose.
I take walks. I go to the gym. I lift weights.
My body would be a mess if i didn’t.
I think that’s what i need to do for my brain. For my attention span. For my dopamine circuit. I need to exercise it mindfully. Go to the attention gym, if you will. Resistance training for the brain.
I need to learn to be bored again.
Because my brain is going to be a mess if i don’t.
So what’s in my attention gym? Two things.
(Let me warn you right now, i’m starting small. Baby steps.)
First, i’m taking one seated ten minute break every day that doesn’t include anything to do or anyone to talk to. No phone, no book, no magazine. Nothing but a diet soda, because i’ve noticed the snappy fizziness it delivers on my tongue is just enough stimulation for my adhd brain to stop screaming at me for a minute.
I’ve been doing this for a couple weeks. It was easy enough to start and i’m actually starting to crave it. I sit outside, i sip, i think, and slowly feel the tension slip from my body. It’s surprisingly nice.
Second, I’m going on one ten minute walk every day without headphones. Or rather, with nothing in my headphones (I’m keeping my noise-cancelled bubble on for now. again, baby steps.).
This one is much harder and so far i’ve only managed to do it a few times a week. Going outside to face crowds and noises and smells is already met with resistance from my introvert, overly sensitive brain. Doing so without music is a downright chore. I’m going to give it a couple more weeks but i might have to find something else.
In the meantime, if you have tips to counter resistance from my boredom resistant brain, i’m all ears. I’ll let you know how it goes.