Hot Takes is Spark Foundry Australia’s new sharp, culture-savvy editorial series where strategists unpack human behaviour through candid conversations with thought leaders, stakeholders and commentators—serving up fresh perspectives that flip the convention and spotlight what really moves us. In this op-ed, chief strategy officer Caroline Hugall discusses the virtues of boredom author and social commentator Tim Duggan.
There was a time when we didn’t view every moment as a battleground for productivity. When we could let our minds wander without guilt, when stillness wasn’t a commodity to be bartered. But in today’s hyper-optimised world, boredom has become the enemy. In a society that thrives on constant motion, we’ve lost sight of the immense value of boredom.
This shift is especially pronounced in the media and marketing industry, where creativity and original thinking, so often inspired by the wanderings of a bored mind, are prized more than ever. Yet, we’ve entered an era where even downtime feels like a task to be conquered. Whether it’s five minutes between meetings or a lunch break interrupted by Teams messages, we’ve forgotten how to be bored.
‘Time Confetti’ – The Rise of Unconscious Time Use
In a recent conversation with Tim Duggan, author of best-selling business books including Cult Status, Killer Thinking and Work Backwards, he urged us to be more proactive and intentional with our time. Defaulting to whatever is in front of us is resulting in an overall feeling of time famine, where our attention is perpetually divided and our ability to focus or reflect is diminished.
This phenomenon has been given a name: ‘time confetti’—those tiny, fragmented moments of supposed leisure that get swallowed by the demands of modern life. These slivers of free time often feel more like obligations than opportunities for rest.
“Time famine is sort of tied up with this idea of almost artificial busyness. All of these micro behaviours… they are habits, which is perhaps what makes it so challenging to break,” Tim explained.
This disconnection between our time and our needs isn’t just impacting productivity—it’s eroding our humanity. In a culture that values creativity, the loss of boredom signals a real danger. The best ideas don’t come from crowded meetings or pressure-filled deadlines. They emerge from quiet moments: a walk in the park, a few minutes of idle daydreaming, or even, (can we say it?) doing absolutely nothing.
Why Brands Need Boredom
The question then becomes: how can brands use boredom and unstructured time to their advantage?
As companies, creatives, and media strategists, we often find ourselves scrambling for the next idea or the next big trend. But as counterintuitive as it might sound, by stepping away from the constant rush to be ‘on’, brands can make space for the most important asset of all—creativity. It’s these moments of stillness that hold the power to spark innovation.
As Tim said: “Time affluence is when you have time… Time famine is when you feel like you’re constantly trying to keep up with yourself. And most of us don’t think about time as a currency – we think it just happens.”
Getting Bored 101
So, what if we were to resist the lure of ‘time confetti’, or ‘busy work’, and instead carefully carve out space to focus on the challenges that require true creative thought?
Start small. Notice the confetti. Those five-minute windows? Don’t fill them. Allow your mind the freedom to wander.
Encourage your teams to give themselves permission to be still. How could AI help to free them from the shackles of the urgent tasks, so they can spend more time developing a macro view?
For leaders in media and marketing, this is a strategic imperative. If we want to foster more innovative ideas, braver campaigns, and deeper strategies, we need to prioritise the conditions that allow these moments of reflection to happen.
One of the things our team is doing to develop our long-range perspective is Hot Takes. Every month, we’ll step away from the day-to-day to shine a spotlight on big macro-behavioural trends happening in culture by talking to the people shaping them. In this series, we’ll explore the shifts in how people are thinking, living, and engaging with the world, and how brands can leverage these insights to connect more authentically with their audiences.
In our conversation, Tim put it best: “Boredom is the space between the dots — and if you don’t have space, the dots never connect.”
