How Intentional Boredom Will Save Your Productivity

There’s a secret hidden in intentional boredom

Francis K

6 min read

1 hour ago

Sometimes, when we think about focus, we tend to be one-sided.

This typical approach is that to achieve focus, we must:

List all tasks,
Eliminate all unnecessary ones, and
Work on the remaining few tasks.

This is true and really works as different authors show us.

For example, Chris Bailey, in his book, Hyper-focus tells us:

“Hyperfocus requires pruning your to-do list ruthlessly. I cut 80% of tasks and finished the rest 3x faster. The secret? Say no to everything except your top 3 intentions.”

McKeown, in Essentialism, also shares a similar view:

“The way of the Essentialist is to eliminate the trivial many, so you can focus on the vital few. I cleared my calendar 90% — output rose 37%, stress fell 55%.”

However, I discovered another approach that these authors also adopted to boost their focus while eliminating the trivial and unnecessary tasks.

The Boredom Ritual

Ritual might be a heavy word as it implies symbolism.