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Comment by ed25519FUUU | Hacker News Reader

I was just remarking the other day while doing my morning constitutional that I can't remember what I used to do while sitting on the john when I didn't have a cell phone. I honestly couldn't remember. Probably just sit quietly and think and be bored.

I wonder if boredom is good for us. Our brains probably need time not to be engaged with our eyes do mental housecleaning. Meditation is good but it's not the same as sitting and being bored.

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Maybe boredom is beneficial because it can drive you to do something productive, and then the relief from boredom is coupled to the productivity.

The "Opponent process theory"[0] really rings true for me, and I think could be used to argue that experiencing boredom has some benefits.

[0] https://gettingstronger.org/2010/05/opponent-process-theory/

> was just remarking the other day while doing my morning constitutional that I can't remember what I used to do while sitting on the john when I didn't have a cell phone. I honestly couldn't remember. Probably just sit quietly and think and be bored.

As a suggestion, take a book you've been wanting to read and keep it in the bathroom. And while you're sitting on the pot, read the book.

That's what I do, and I find it to be quite satisfying. What's more, just going in there puts me right back in the middle of whatever I'm reading.

Or not. That works nicely for me, but might or might not for you.

Read the ingredients on a shampoo bottle

WOW flashback! I absolutely remember doing that, and wondering what "shea butter" was (obviously I couldn't quickly google it).

You don't leave a book in the bathroom? I have gotten through so many books in my to-read list just by leaving it in the bathroom. It takes very little mental effort to not bring a smartphone to the john when there is a book waiting, at least for me.

I've always wondered about people who take smartphones to the bathroom. Unless I am desperately sick I don't think I spend long enough on the toilet to even get through the first two lines of marketing blurb on a shampoo bottle before "I'm done."

I think boredom is good for us. Personal opinion. Though I am terrified of being bored. So I go find a productive distraction. But I also think, again, personal opinion, people are afraid to be alone with their own thoughts.

There's a reason people have their ideas in the shower. That's the last place on earth that is still not invaded by the smartphone. And that's why showers > baths.

Books and magazines

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