Apathy is the enemy of creativity. As the summer season kicks in it is all too easy to find ourselves on autopilot. Whether boiling our brains on the Northern Line, or navigating the mental gymnastics of summer childcare logistics, summer can be a difficult time to maintain momentum. For creativity and curiosity to thrive we need rest and inspiration. Be it recommending a book, a breathing method or developing a craft, this summer BITE is asking leaders to share how they are making the space to nurture their creativity and find their pace.

Bruno Gomiero, Global Strategy Manager at LOLA MullenLowe, discusses the importance of boredom for producing our most creative ideas.

As someone born and raised in Brazil, at first it was hard to see why summer is such a driving force in the northern hemisphere. This eagerness is not so strong where I come from. I mean, we have summer days and summer moments all year round.

But there’s nothing like a trip to London to bring me down to earth and help me understand. If I were to wake up and the first thing I saw was that grey sky, I’d count the days to see the sun again too.

It wasn’t a shock when I experienced my first European summer and the streets of Madrid matched the weather: everywhere looked like a desert. Everyone was gone, streets were empty, stores closed for the season, and most emails I sent bounced back with an automatic reply. Obviously, when summer hits, everyone leaves to enjoy the sunny times while they last. And I did the same.

During the first days of vacation, I started finishing every chore I’d been postponing because I didn’t have time or energy during my routine. But then, I had nothing left to do. Even during a summer trip, we inevitably found ourselves bored.

We are used to multitasking all the time, in life and at work. All of a sudden, I had nothing to do. As I approached my phone to kill that boredom, it got me thinking: why can't we bear the idea of being bored anymore?

Every time we feel bored, the first thing we do is grab our phones searching for something to entertain us. But boredom is a necessity, we need to be bored to stimulate our brain and imagination. When I was a kid I got bored all the time, and it was during these moments that I came up with the craziest games to play.

During summer, when we’re taking some time off, it’s also when we get more opportunities to be bored. And to keep our creativity to the roof, embracing it is exactly what we should do.

When life (and work) slows down, boredom becomes a fuel for our creativity.

To spend time focusing on nothing means opening up space to see things differently, to ask the right questions and challenge ourselves to find the best answers. 

Let’s go out for a walk with no phone, just us and our boredom, and see what can come from it. Let’s go eat in a restaurant alone, and enjoy a meal while observing life happening. Sit in a park and observe people living, chatting, playing. Or do none of the above.

There are no rules on being bored. Just embrace it.

As everyone loves travelling to Italy during summer, why not use this opportunity to also enjoy another part of Italian culture: “Il dolce far niente”, or the sweetness of doing nothing.