Boredom can make us more creative. That is the conclusion of one of the experts interviewed in a feature on the condition by Ella Rhodes in the April issue of The Psychologist.

Dr Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire has researched the suppression of emotions, including boredom, at work. In one experiment she found participants who had been asked to complete a boring writing task were more creative afterwards than a control group who had done more interesting work.

Dr Mann believes it is important for children to be bored. "Unlike so many parents today, I am quite happy when my kids whine that they are bored. Finding ways to amuse themselves is an important skill."

However, there are ways that boredom may not be good for us. Dr Mann also found that people eat chocolate when they are bored at work - "Not a surprising finding, but the extent to which boredom is propping up the confectionery industry is staggering."

Article: The exciting side of boredom, Ella Rhodes, The Psychologist, published 25 March 2015.