学会无聊 Learning to be bored

Nǐ shàng yí cì shénme dōu bú zuò, zhǐshì fādāi, shì shénme shíhou? Duì hěn duō rén lái shuō, zhège wèntí kěnéng hěn nán huídá. Děng chē de shíhou shuā shǒujī, chī fàn de shíhou kàn shìpín, shuì qián hái yào zài kàn jǐ yǎn xiāoxi—— wǒmen sìhū yǐjīng wúfǎ rěnshòu nǎpà yì fēnzhōng de wúliáo.

你上一次什么都不做、只是发呆，是什么时候？对很多人来说，这个问题可能很难回答。等车的时候刷手机，吃饭的时候看视频，睡前还要再看几眼消息——我们似乎已经无法忍受哪怕一分钟的无聊。

When was the last time you did nothing at all and just let your mind drift? For many people this is a hard question to answer. We scroll our phones while waiting for the bus, watch videos while eating, and check messages again before sleep. It seems we can no longer bear even a minute of boredom.

Rán’ér, yìxiē xīnlǐ xué yánjiū fāxiàn, shìdàng de wúliáo duì rén qíshí shì yǒu hǎochù de. Dāng dànǎo méiyǒu jiēshōu xīn xìnxī shí, tā bìng méiyǒu tíngzhǐ gōngzuò, ér shì kāishǐ zhěnglǐ guòqù de jīngyàn, bǎ kànsì wúguān de xiǎngfǎ liánxì qǐlái. Hěn duō rén zài xǐzǎo, sànbù shí tūrán xiǎng dào hǎo zhǔyi, yuányīn jiù zài zhèlǐ.

然而，一些心理学研究发现，适当的无聊对人其实是有好处的。当大脑没有接收新信息时，它并没有停止工作，而是开始整理过去的经验，把看似无关的想法联系起来。很多人在洗澡、散步时突然想到好主意，原因就在这里。

Yet some psychological research has found that a certain amount of boredom is actually good for us. When the brain isn’t taking in new information, it doesn’t stop working; it starts sorting through past experience and linking up ideas that seem unrelated. That’s why so many people suddenly have a good idea in the shower or on a walk.

Duì háizi lái shuō, wúliáo yěxǔ gèngjiā zhòngyào. Rúguǒ fùmǔ bǎ háizi de měi yì fēnzhōng dōu ānpái de mǎn mǎn de, háizi jiù shīqù le zìjǐ xúnzhǎo lèqù de jīhuì. Xiāngfǎn, nàxiē yǒu shíjiān"wúsuǒshìshì"de háizi, wǎngwǎng huì zìjǐ fāmíng yóuxì, dòngshǒu zuò dōngxi, xiǎngxiàng lì hé dúlì xìng yě yīncǐ dédào le duànliàn.

对孩子来说，无聊也许更加重要。如果父母把孩子的每一分钟都安排得满满的，孩子就失去了自己寻找乐趣的机会。相反，那些有时间“无所事事”的孩子，往往会自己发明游戏、动手做东西，想象力和独立性也因此得到了锻炼。

For children, boredom may matter even more. If parents fill every minute of a child’s day, the child loses the chance to find fun on their own. By contrast, children who have time with “nothing to do” often invent games and make things themselves, and their imagination and independence get exercise as a result.

Dāngrán, zhè bìng bú shì shuō wǒmen yīnggāi fàng xià shǒujī, zhěng tiān wúsuǒshìshì. Guānjiàn zàiyú gěi zìjǐ liú chū yì diǎn kòngbái: sànbù shí bú dài ěrjī, zuò chē shí kàn kàn chuāng wài, shuì qián ràng dànǎo ānjìng jǐ fēnzhōng. Zhèxiē kànsì làngfèi de shíjiān, huòxǔ zhèng shì wǒmen zuì xūyào de xiūxi.

当然，这并不是说我们应该放下手机、整天无所事事。关键在于给自己留出一点空白：散步时不戴耳机，坐车时看看窗外，睡前让大脑安静几分钟。这些看似浪费的时间，或许正是我们最需要的休息。

Of course, this doesn’t mean we should put our phones down and idle all day. The key is to leave ourselves a little blank space: walk without headphones, look out of the window on the bus, let the mind settle for a few minutes before sleep. This seemingly wasted time may be exactly the rest we need most.