Photography can be frustrating.

Like any creative discipline, it’s a long process that requires time, effort, attention to detail, and patience.

And there are moments along the way where we can just get tired of it all.

Where the motivation and inspiration we once had starts to wane.

We stop going out to take photos and it’s not as “fun” anymore.

Or we get caught up in life, forget about photography, and the $1000 camera we bought sits on our shelf collecting dust.

This is a problem not only photographers have but people in general have, with life.

And it’s what makes it feel like something is always “missing”.

The answer to this is actually quite simple:

Just be bored and take better photos.

You could also phrase it as: just be bored and live a better life.

Now this may sound confusing at first, but I’ll break it down so you can better understand it.

Once we get through this, it’ll make sense and you’ll be able to use boredom to your advantage to not only improve your photography, but also your life.

Let’s get started.

Boredom is the Secret

Many people don’t realize is that boredom is the secret to creativity.

It’s not motivation.

It’s not inspiration.

It’s boredom.

Boredom is the feeling that leads us to doing stuff, learning stuff, and making stuff.

If we were never bored, we’d never do anything.

Plus boredom can be a great hack to get us to be creative.

An example of this is Seinfeld’s writing process.

I’ve mentioned this example a few times before, but I’ll say it again.

When sitting down to write, Seinfeld doesn’t always feel motivated.

He doesn’t always feel inspired.

But he still manages to get his work done.

How?

Through boredom.

He’s set up certain parameters that allow him to work past his brain.

Those parameters being: either write or do nothing.

You don’t have to write, but you can’t do anything else.

A few minutes of uncomfortable silence later and he’s off doing something productive.

Why?

Because the brain quickly realizes: it’d rather write than be bored.

And that’s one way you can use boredom to be more creative.

Now you may be thinking:

“Well that’s great and all Andre, but that doesn’t work for me. I’m bored all the time and I still don’t do anything about it.”

Let’s dive into that.

Dopamine Fueled Consumerism

The greatest trap of the 21st century is technology.

While technology has made our lives better in many ways, it has also made it worse.

Why?

Because now, with this little device in your pocket, you’ll never be bored.

If you’re sitting on the train during a long commute, you can just stare at your phone.

If you’re in between sets at the gym, you can just stare at your phone.

If you have work to do but you don’t want to do it, you can just stare at your phone.

This was one of the things that stood out to me in my month in Japan last year.

Every bus, every train, no matter where I was, everyone was on their phones.

Kids, adults, and sometimes even grandmas and grandpas.

Part of it is obviously because there’s not much talking on trains.

But I think it’s more because people struggle to sit in silence.

So they whip out their phones to pass the time, fill the space, and before they know it, they’ve reached their destination.

The same goes for creative stuff.

Why would you go outside and take photos when you could just scroll on your phone?

Why would you work on this creative project you always wanted to when you could just scroll on your phone?

You see, in times where the solution for boredom would be to make something, it’s been replaced by the smartphone.

There’s always something to look at, something to distract ourselves with, something to save us from discomfort.

That’s the dopamine cycle and it steals our creative energy.

Because instead of funneling that into making something, our brain is satisfied with the temporary surge of dopamine.

And then we curb the feeling over and over until we reach our destination - death.

It’s like an addiction.

It is an addiction.

This is why boredom no longer works.

What was once supposed to fuel and spur our creativity has now been hijacked by other stuff.

And this isn’t to blame or point fingers.

It’s not technology’s fault.

It’s our fault for misusing technology.

Social media and technology are sharp knives.

Even if you’re a master chef, a sharp knife is a sharp knife and must be handled with care, unless you wanna cut yourself.

If you aren’t careful with social media and technology, you’ll pollute your brain and ruin your life.

Just think of your friends that have an 8+hour screen time (you might be one of them).

That’s a full time job!

Some people don’t even sleep that much!

The moment you understand this and actively start moving in the other direction, you can make progress on your goals, whether it be working out more, eating healthier, or becoming a better photographer.

It’s a choice, and we choose every single day.

Less Consuming, More Creating

This whole talk of consuming and creating brings me back to one of my favorite personal frameworks:

Less consuming, more creating.

My original intention behind this was to encourage people to focus less on consuming and more on creating.

But in this context, the phrase could be better said as:

The less you consume, the more you create.

It’s a cause and effect thing.

“Creativity” is a natural byproduct of consuming less.

Because instead of scrolling on your phone when you’re bored, you’ll make something.

So with this phrase, you don’t actually have to fixate or focus on creating.

Rather creativity and productivity will happen on their own once you break the spell of consumption.

How do we break this spell?

It’s simple in theory, but many of us feel helpless and at the mercy of the almighty great and powerful algorithm.

And even if we know we shouldn’t be doing it, we do it anyways.

Part of our brain likes it, and that’s normal.

So I’m not telling you to cut out social media, technology, and entertainment from your life for the rest of your life.

Rather, it’s about building a healthier relationship with it.

Or else you’ll wake up when you’re 70 and realize you wasted your entire life.

So here’s how to do it.

Let’s be bored and take better photos.

Shift Your Actions

If we want to break the cycle, consume less, and create more, the first step is to shift our actions.

Whenever we feel bored, our first instinct is to lift our phones, turn on the tv, whatever it might be.

We need to change this impulse into something else.

The ideal being:

If I’m bored, I’ll go outside and take some photos.

If I’m bored I’ll start editing some photos.

If I’m bored I’ll work on that photography zine I said I would ages ago.

There’s a stimulus response to everything.

The stimulus here is boredom.

And we gotta switch our response from unhealthy activities to productive creative stuff.

Now because this is an ingrained habit already, it’ll be hard to break.

So we’re not gonna cold turkey it.

Rather, what I’d recommend doing is: set up a time when you’re not allowed to use your phone.

It can’t just be “I can use my phone whenever wherever” or else you will use your phone whenever wherever.

Instead, tell yourself:

“I can only use my phone when my work’s done.”

“I can only use my phone during 6-10PM.”

“I can use my phone, but never when I’m doing creative stuff.”

“I’ll leave my phone somewhere else so I can’t use it when I wake up.”

I personally do this and it works.

I’ll spend mornings until 1PM doing creative stuff like writing, making YouTube videos, and photo editing.

And during this time I’m not allowed to scroll, look at social media, etc.

Then, because I don’t wanna do the work either, I’ll sit there bored.

But eventually, my mind gets to work and I become quite productive.

Because I’d rather do the work than be bored, right?

That’s what has helped me break the bad habits and slowly change my relationship with my phone.

It was a tough transition at first, but my brain is pretty good at it now.

Something else that may help is to tell your brain: “later”.

Tell it: “Don’t worry, we can look at our phone later. But right now, this is more important.”

This reassurance allows your brain to understand you’re not eliminating your phone, there’s just a time and place for it.

And right now is not the right time and place.

So it’s kind of like negotiating with your inner child.

As the days pass, it’ll get easier and easier, and you’ll find yourself getting more done.

Focus on small increments: every day a little more creative stuff, a little less dopamine fueled consumerism.

Pretend it’s a skill you’re working on and you’ll soon find yourself taking better photos.

Because logically, if I took 1000 more intentional photos, I’d be better than I was before.

If I edited 1000 more photos, I’d get better at editing, which would give me feedback and improve my photography.

That’s no secret - the more reps you do, the better you get.

It’s also how we find fulfillment through photography, and through life.

This is how we rewire the cycle of dopamine and bad habits.

Instead of boredom leading to phone use, it’s now boredom leading to creative work.

More creative time > more stuff getting done.

More stuff getting done > more completed projects.

More completed projects > dopamine rewards for your brain.

Dopamine > wanting to do more creative work.

It’s the same cycle, we’ve just repurposed it into a creative discipline like photography, and not our phones which are a dead end.

If you need some extra juice, remember:

It’s not inspiration that leads to action.

It’s action that leads to inspiration.

And action comes from boredom.

So now you understand the cycle between boredom, dopamine, and creativity.

I talk about this for photography, but you can apply this to any and everything in your life from going to the gym and getting jacked or improving your relationships.

Funnel this energy into areas of your life that you want to improve, instead of your phone, and your life will improve.

That way, you can just be bored and take better photos.

I hope you found this useful, if you did, please share this with a friend.

If you want to learn more about photography, go to Photography Essentials - it’s free.

If you want to help support me, you can add to the travel fund or get a copy of my latest zine “The Sinking Sun”.

Thanks as always for reading, have a great day.