But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

~Luke 5:16 NLT

The Boredom

Be bored, be creative, be busy. There’s something to be said about that.

By today’s standards, my cousin and I were bored country boys. We lived before technology had crept in and covered so much of our every waking minutes. We, however, still needed something to do, like some of my grandsons who live in the country and are not allowed much screentime. So we dreamed things and dared them into reality, again, like some of my grandsons.

Among our creative antics was building a clubhouse that no one else was allowed in. Not that any other kids lived anywhere near my grandparents. Another was sharpening limbs from Chinaberry trees. We, in turn, threw these spears at our grandfather’s hogs, incurring my grandmother’s wrath in the process. Then, of course, there were the bicycle rides we hadn’t asked permission to go on and the visit to the nearby pool hall—definitely a no-no for two middle-school-aged boys. I’m sure I could think of other things, but you get the picture. We were bored, so we became creative, and then we got busy.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century. The average American picks up their smartphone 186 times daily and spends over seven hours staring at screens. That averages out to once every five minutes during waking hours.

By doing so, we’ve accomplished something no other generation has done: eliminated boredom. We fill every idle moment with a screen. But what if boredom is good? And, as it turns out, it is. When we aren’t focused on anything, our brain enters the default mode network.

The Creativity

In this mode, the magic happens. Our brain connects dots that it can’t when we’re busy. Here, we process emotions, replay memories, rehearse the future, and wonder. Creativity, problem-solving, and self-reflection also live here. But to activate, we need a pause. Boredom.

Before technology took over our lives, we found this gap in places such as the bus stop, the doctor’s office, or the back seat of a car. Now we have filled those moments with screens. My dad called the screen the “one-eyed monster,” except in my day, it was the television.

A landmark study by the College of William & Mary analyzed nearly 300,000 creativity test scores that spanned decades. The results showed creativity rose steadily over the years, alongside IQ, until around 1990. The time screens began controlling us. At that point, creativity took a nosedive and hasn’t stopped.

The Cure

Although Jesus didn’t need to pray because he was bored—and certainly not because he was bored for lack of having a screen to look at—He did need a gap. Time away for silence. Without it—and with being hounded by crowds who wanted to hear Him teach, taunt the hypocritical religious leaders, or heal the sick and afflicted—He could not hear his Father and know His next mission. And in that silence, creativity was borne, which led Him to busyness—but intentional busyness that accomplished His Father’s plan.

If Jesus needed to be bored, surely we do as well. We need time alone. Gap time. A time where our focus turns to the Father and His plan for us. A time when He can fill us with creativity that will, in turn, send us out with intentional busyness to further His kingdom’s work.

So go ahead. Be bored so you can be creative so you can be busy doing the right things.

Father, help me to find those gap times so I can hear you and receive your creative plan.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2026: Be Bored, Be Creative, Be Busy: Martin Wiles: All Rights Reserved.