The Big Idea: Should We Embrace Boredom? – Advanced

General English

The Big Idea: Should We Embrace Boredom?

Level: C1–C2Time: 60 minFocus: Word Forms

TEXT:

📋 Overview

1Warmer

2Key Words

3Comprehension

4Key Language

5Discussion

6In Your Own Words

The Guardian

HIGHLIGHT:

Mind & Wellbeing

The big idea: should we embrace boredom?

Smartphones offer instant stimulation, but do they silence a deeper message?

Sophie McBain11 June, 2025

1In 2014, a group of researchers from Harvard University and the University of Virginia asked people to sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. The only available diversion was a button that delivered a painful electric shock. Almost half of the participants pressed it. One man pressed the button 190 times – even though he, like everyone else in the study, had earlier indicated that he found the shock unpleasant enough that he would pay to avoid being shocked again. The study's authors concluded that "people prefer doing to thinking", even if the only thing available to do is painful – perhaps because, if left to their own devices, our minds tend to wander in unwanted directions.

2Since the mass adoption of smartphones, most people have been walking around with the psychological equivalent of a shock button in their pocket: a device that can neutralise boredom in an instant, even if it's not all that good for us. We often reach for our phones for something to do during moments of quiet or solitude, or to distract us late at night when anxious thoughts creep in. This isn't always a bad thing – too much rumination is unhealthy – but it's worth reflecting on the fact that avoiding unwanted mind-wandering is easier than it's ever been, and that most people distract themselves in very similar, screen-based ways.

3Smartphones have also increased the pressure to use our time productively, to optimise every minute of our lives. To sit and do nothing is seen as a waste of time. But that ignores the fact that when we're doing nothing we're often thinking quite hard. What happens to all those difficult or untamed half-thoughts that start to form in the milliseconds before we dig into our pockets and pull out our phones again?

"People prefer doing to thinking, even if the only thing to do is painful."

4Most psychologists studying boredom would agree that, while it can feel unpleasant, it's useful. According to Erin Westgate, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, we become bored if something fails to absorb our attention, or when we perceive it as meaningless. This is not to say that something needs to be both engaging and meaningful to keep us interested. Watching paint dry is both unstimulating and pointless, which is why it isn't a common pastime.

5In any case, when boredom strikes it should ideally serve as a prompt to do something more engaging or meaningful. If you don't react appropriately to your boredom, or perhaps if engaging or meaningful things aren't available to you for whatever reason, you may find yourself becoming chronically bored. That is associated with a range of problems, including depression, anxiety, poor life satisfaction, lower academic achievement, substance abuse and excessive risk-taking.

6There is evidence to suggest that chronic boredom is becoming more common, and that this uptick has coincided with the rise of smartphones. In a paper published last year, researchers noted that the proportion of students in China and the US who described themselves as bored steadily increased in the years after 2010, during the first decade of smartphone dominance. Why might digital media have this effect? Research has shown that the main reason we pick up our phones or check our socials is to relieve boredom, but that the behaviour actually exacerbates it. One study, for instance, found that people who were bored at work were more likely to use their smartphones – and subsequently feel even more bored.

7It may be that checking your phone only addresses part of what you need when you start to feel bored. Digital devices are very good at attracting your attention, but much of what we do online doesn't feel meaningful. The average American spends more than four hours a day on their smartphone and more than seven hours a day in total online. That adds up to spending 17 years of your adult life browsing the internet. I expect that even the biggest technophiles would agree that this isn't how they want to spend their one precious life.

8Phones' efficacy allows us to swiftly avoid messages that we might need to hear, such as "Why am I feeling this?" or "What do I need that I'm not getting?" If we pause and listen, then perhaps we can make a choice rather than being manipulated by software engineers. When boredom strikes, we should resist the urge to assuage it instantly and ask ourselves: are we in search of pure entertainment or something more purposeful, an opportunity to connect with friends or our community or something different, something new? The people who choose to embrace boredom, at least for a while, may paradoxically experience less of it. It could even be the first step towards a life that feels more meaningful, creative and free.

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Lesson Overview

About This Lesson

This article examines the effect that smartphones have had on how we react to, and deal with, feelings of boredom.

Level: Advanced (C1–C2)
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language Focus: Word forms (verb / noun / adjective / adverb)
Time: 60 minutes
Activities: Key words (definitions + sentences) · Comprehension T/F/NM · Word forms table · Discussion · Class survey

Key vocabulary appears in bold. Choose highlight color and select text to mark it. Use tabs above to navigate through the activities.

Warmer

Discuss the following questions in pairs.

How often do you feel bored? What jobs or tasks do you find particularly boring? Why?

What do you do at times when you feel bored and how effective are these things in relieving your boredom?

Key Words

a. Complete the definitions

Find the words from the wordpool in the article (marked in bold). Then complete the definitions with the words.

absorbassuagecoincided withcreep inefficacy exacerbatesleft to their own devicesmanipulated bymass adoption paradoxicallypastimepointlessresist the urge ruminationsocialssolitudeswiftly technophilesunstimulatinguntamed

means to take in something, such as information.

is to make an unpleasant feeling less intense or to relieve it.

is when one thing happened at the same time as something else.

means to gradually start to affect something, often without being noticed at first.

is the act of being effective or able to produce the result that you want.

means it makes a problem, situation or feeling worse.

If someone is , they are allowed to do what they want without being controlled or helped.

If you are someone, you are influenced or controlled in a clever or dishonest way without realising it.

is when a large number of people start to use or accept something, like a product or idea.

10.

means happening in a way that seems contradictory or the opposite of what you'd expect.

11.

A(n) is a hobby or leisure activity.

12.

If something is , it has no purpose, meaning or useful result.

13.

To means to try not to do something you strongly want to do.

14.

is the process of thinking deeply about something, often in a repetitive or negative way.

15.

are the social media platforms people use.

16.

is the state of being alone and enjoying the peace of it.

17.

When something happens , it means that it happens quickly or without delay.

18.

are people who love and embrace new technology.

19.

A situation that is is dull or without interest or excitement.

20.

is when something is wild or not controlled or cultivated by humans.

Answer Key (a):

absorb
assuage
coincided with
creep in
efficacy
exacerbates
left to their own devices
manipulated by
mass adoption
paradoxically
pastime
pointless
resist the urge
rumination
socials
solitude
swiftly
technophiles
unstimulating
untamed

b. Complete the sentences

Complete the sentences with words from part a in the correct form.

1.The of electric vehicles hasn't been as dramatic as the government had hoped despite cash incentives.

2.The charity issued a statement to public concern following the data breach.

3.The documentary captured the raw, beauty of the northern wilderness.

4.Unfortunately, the meeting was entirely , and nothing of any significance was achieved.

5.Harriet's resignation a dramatic drop in staff morale.

6.Laurence's refusal to engage constructively is the existing tension in the marketing team.

7.When , I often just watch TV or play video games for hours on end.

8.The jury was clearly the emotionally charged witness testimony.

9.Despite his doctor's best efforts, Aiden failed to the importance of regular exercise and a healthy diet.

10.Researchers are still debating the of mindfulness in treating chronic anxiety.

11.For people who love outdoor pursuits, hill-walking is a popular .

12.Doubts about the project's feasibility began to as new logistical problems emerged.

13.The house sale progressed once reports were in from the surveyors.

14. on his past failures as a father and husband only deepened Chris's feelings of unhappiness.

15.For many people, checking their is the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning.

16.This new location device will appeal to first-time users as well as to experienced .

17.Lisa struggled to to respond to the rude email from her colleague.

18., limiting screen time seemed to improve the children's attention span.

19.The textbook was so that even the most motivated students lost interest.

20.Omar withdrew into not out of sadness, but as a conscious decision to preserve his mental health.

Answer Key (b):

mass adoption
assuage
untamed
pointless
coincided with
exacerbating
left to their own devices
manipulated by
absorb
efficacy
pastime
creep in
swiftly
Rumination
socials
technophiles
resist the urge
Paradoxically
unstimulating
solitude

Comprehension Check

Decide if the statements are True, False or Not Mentioned according to information in the article.

Nearly half of the participants in the Harvard experiment chose to self-administer electric shocks rather than remain alone with their thoughts.

According to the author of the article, smartphones are universally harmful and should be avoided.

The majority of researchers studying boredom consider it to have no beneficial function for mental health.

Research shows that smartphone usage to combat boredom actually makes people feel more bored.

A typical American will dedicate almost two decades-worth of time over their lifespan to being online.

Students in European countries showed increased levels of boredom after 2010 when smartphones became commonplace.

Persistent feelings of boredom correlate with diminished educational performance and dangerous behavioural choices.

While electronic gadgets can give us a focus, the online activities we engage in rarely provide a sense of purpose.

Answer Key:

True – "Almost half of the participants pressed it."
False – The author says "This isn't always a bad thing."
False – "Most psychologists… would agree that… it's useful."
True – "the behaviour actually exacerbates it."
True – 17 years is close to two decades.
Not Mentioned – Only China and US are mentioned, not European countries.
True – Para 5: depression, anxiety, lower academic achievement, excessive risk-taking.
True – "much of what we do online doesn't feel meaningful."

Key Language: Word Forms

a. Complete the word forms table

Find the words in bold in the article. Then complete the table with the other word forms.

Verb	Noun	Adjective	Adverb
	diversion
		meaningless / meaningful	/
optimise
	dominance
		excessive
neutralise
	boredom	/

Answer Key (a):

divert
diverting
— (no common adverb)
mean
meaning
meaninglessly
meaningfully
optimisation / optimization
optimal / optimum
optimally
dominate
dominant
dominantly
exceed / go to excess
excess
excessively
neutralisation / neutrality
neutral
neutrally
bore
bored
boring
boringly

b. Use the correct word form

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

1.The council's efforts to patient health care has yielded generally positive results over the past decade. (optimal)

2.Research suggests that social media our attention away from face-to-face interactions with friends and family. (diversion)

3.The pharmaceutical company's of the global market has been challenged by emerging competitors from developing nations. (dominate)

4.Critics argue that celebrities behaving sets a dangerous example for impressionable young people. (excess)

5.Foreign diplomats are working hard to the escalating tensions between the two neighbouring countries. (neutral)

6.Many great thinkers have questioned whether life has any deeper or if we must create our own sense of purpose. (meaningless)

7.Some college students are so during lectures that they have taken to playing games on their phones. (bore)

Answer Key (b):

optimise / optimize
diverts
dominance
excessively
neutralise / neutralize
meaning
bored

Discussion

Discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.

📱

The article distinguishes between engaging content and meaningless scrolling. Analyse your own digital consumption. What online activities feel meaningful to you, and which feel like time-wasting? How could you change your digital habits to increase meaningful interactions?

🧘

The author suggests that embracing boredom might lead to a more creative and meaningful life. Would you be willing to try a 'digital detox' (e.g. not using your device for a certain number of hours or days per week)? Why or why not?

In Your Own Words – Class Survey

Work in groups. Follow the steps below to complete a class survey on boredom.

Step 1 — Create your questions

Write 6–8 survey questions using these ideas. Ask other groups and note their answers.

How often do you feel bored during a typical week? (Never / Rarely / Sometimes / Often / Very often)

You're waiting for a train but have no phone battery. What do you do?

Put these activities from most to least boring: lectures, social media, household chores, waiting in queues.

When you feel bored, what's the first thing you reach for? Why?

How long can you sit quietly without feeling bored?

Do you think you get bored more or less easily than your friends? Why?

Step 2 — Analyse your data

Look at the answers. Find patterns or interesting results.

Step 3 — Prepare a 3-minute presentation

Include: your research focus and key questions · the most surprising discovery · one recommendation based on your findings.

💬 Useful Language

Our research focused on … / We asked questions about …

Most people said that … / Only a few people …

The most surprising result was …

We recommend that … / Our advice is to …