Welcome to Amplify with Jess Ekstrom, a show designed to help women get out of their head and into their zone of influence. Happy Monday everyone. Here’s some food for thought to start your week.

Do you notice that you get more ideas when you’re driving or maybe you’re on a plane or you’re taking a shower? My team knows that when I’ve been on a long drive or a long flight, once I’m back in communication, I am a champagne bottle bubbling over with ideas. So why is this? But before I answer that question, let me ask you another question. Do you remember the last time you were bored? Like truly bored, nothing to read, nothing to scroll, nothing to listen to, but your own thoughts. Those moments of bored stillness are now a rarity in this digital age that we live in. There are algorithms, apps, notifications, and all these products designed to keep us from ourselves. I once read that you swiped down on a newsfeed and that ticker that starts loading it is just designed for this dopamine hit. They could load new notifications automatically, but social media is designed to have you keep checking, keep swiping, keep scrolling, which makes being bored an effort, which sounds silly.

Why would we want to put effort into being bored? Because boredom works. Boredom is necessary for our neural pathways to just breathe. And I’m not talking about productive boredom that helps you think of your next big idea, boredom. That just lets you play a song in your head. Or think about a really great sandwich that you made a few weeks ago or reminds you that you should probably call your grandma to check. In an era where everything is designed to keep us occupied and away from ourselves, that means boredom is an effort that we need to make. So this week I want you to think about how can I bring more boredom into my life? Maybe that means just not taking your phone into the bathroom or reserving quiet time for yourself, even if it’s just a five minute timer. Or maybe that means being more intentional about your commitments and overfilling your calendar, which I am a culprit of. What is one thing you can do this week to be bored because you deserve it? I’ll leave you with this. Being alone with your thoughts can feel like a new relationship. Awkward at first, but once you get to know each other, you realize the importance and value of time together.

Thanks for listening to Amplify. If you are a fan of the show, show us some podcast love by giving us a rating and review and give us a follow at Mic Drop workshop and coming up on Amplify.

When someone gives you a pomegranate, you don’t get mad at the person because they gave you that leathery red part of the fruit. You crack it open and you look for the juicy seeds in it. So you eat the seeds and you discard the peel. And I love that because with every piece of feedback, there are seeds, juicy seeds that you can use, and there’s peels that are literally not useful.

This episode was edited and produced by Ear Fluence. And I’m Jess Ekstrom, your host. Remember that You deserve the biggest stage. So let’s find out how to get you there. I’ll see you again soon.