Boredom at work could boost creativity

Bored Despair- Lenah Makgeledisa, an employee of Spar in Morningside, is at a loss as to what to do after electricity outages in many parts of Johannesburg. The management of Spar had to turn away customers due to the tills not functioning. JHB. 18/01/07 Picture: Alon Skuy

Bored Despair- Lenah Makgeledisa, an employee of Spar in Morningside, is at a loss as to what to do after electricity outages in many parts of Johannesburg. The management of Spar had to turn away customers due to the tills not functioning. JHB. 18/01/07 Picture: Alon Skuy

Published Jan 9, 2013

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London - Staring into space at work could help you become more creative, psychologists have claimed.

All those boring meetings might serve a useful purpose after all, they say, because they give the mind a chance to wander.

Two studies carried out by researchers at the University of Central Lancashire suggest daydreaming in work time could boost your brain’s creativity and even help the business.

Senior psychology lecturer Dr Sandi Mann said: “There is a stigma attached to boredom – parents are always worried about their kids being bored – but it gives your mind a chance to wander.

“Our work shows that daydreaming could be potentially beneficial in the workplace, as it allows lateral thinking that could assist with problem solving.”

In the studies, volunteers were given a deliberately boring task to complete. They were then given another task to measure their creativity – and fared better than those who had not performed the boring task beforehand.

Dr Mann, whose findings will be presented today at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society Division of Occupational Psychology in Chester, said having a stimulating job that never allowed the brain any “down time” could be counter-productive. - Daily Mail

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