IS IT GOOD TO BE BORED*?

Small children often complain that they are bored. When this happens, their parents immediately play with them or give them something to do. However, children are not the only ones who hate to be bored. Nowadays, most people want to spend all their time doing something interesting. When they don't have anything interesting to do, they often take out their smartphones and watch a movie or send messages to friends. But is it always a good idea to avoid being bored?(lines 1–9)
New studies show that feeling bored can actually be good for us. In one experiment, for example, scientists tested two groups of people. The people in the first group did a boring* activity – they wrote the same word again and again. The people in the second group did something interesting – they played a game on their smartphones. Each group did its activity for five minutes. Then the scientists gave the people in both groups a test to find out how creative they were. The results of the test showed that the people in the first group were more creative.(lines 10–15)
"When I read about this, I wasn't surprised," says brain scientist Dr. Jane Crawford. "I've heard interviews with famous writers, who explained how they thought of ideas for their books. Many of them said that they got their ideas when they were doing a boring activity, such as washing dishes."(lines 16–18)
But why do boring activities help us to be creative? "It's because being bored has a positive effect on the brain," explains Crawford. "When we are not doing anything interesting, our brains get some rest. This makes it much easier for us to get new ideas." Scientists also discovered that being bored has other benefits. After people spend time doing something boring, they can concentrate better. Surprisingly, they can even feel less worried.(lines 19–23)
"Of course, if you want these benefits, you must be willing to feel bored," says Crawford. "Many people hate that feeling, but I think we should all try to spend five or ten minutes every day being bored. I'm sure we'll see that it can help us."(lines 24–26)