Just think.
Just think.
That’s it. Nothing more. Just think.
We don’t have time anymore for just thinking.
Being bored is a nasty word. Our phones (I’m the worse) lure us away from just being flat-out bored. But unless we are bored, unless we create space where we might be bored, we will never just think.
I saw a TikTok the other day (not being bored) of a guy whose basement was full (and I mean full) of all the different game consoles and 100s of games for each. The first thought I had was, “What a bummer, that guy and his kids will never be bored!”
Sitting to just think is how problems are solved, new things created, solutions germinated, where we can embrace the majesty of the human brain.
Try it. Just think.
Sit for a while and purposely be bored ponder, wonder, wander, reflect, juggle, escape, and go for a mental jog. But we often don’t have time for any of that stuff.
I was reading my weekly brain food from Shane Parrish, and I saw this quote:
“It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea. By giving my brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, take me by surprise”
In fact, here is what came before this quote:
"Multitasking, in short, is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. Not learning other people’s ideas, or memorizing a body of information, however much those may sometimes be useful. Developing your own ideas. In short, thinking for yourself. You simply cannot do that in bursts of 20 seconds at a time, constantly interrupted by Facebook messages or Twitter tweets, or fiddling with your iPod, or watching something on YouTube.
I find for myself that my first thought is never my best thought. My first thought is always someone else’s; it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom.”
I love this. I don’t do enough of this, what you call sitting quietly and thinking.
Here is the article from Shane that got me thinking.
When you finish reading the article, just think…
Seriously.
Just think.
