Boredom Is My Secret Weapon

It's human nature to procrastinate. We are wired to resist the things that would be good for us.

Today, I don't really feel like writing this newsletter. I know it would be good for me to continue my streak, grow my brand, and share my experiences with tens of thousands of people. Usually, writing is a pleasure and not so much a chore.

But today, I don't want to.

So I used my secret weapon: boredom.

At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, researchers enlisted numerous undergraduates and community volunteers for sessions dubbed "thinking periods." Participants were seated in minimally decorated rooms and instructed to remove personal items like cell phones and pens.

They allowed participants to spend 15 minutes in a laboratory room by themselves, where they had the option to press a button to shock themselves if they wished.

The findings were surprising: Despite previously expressing a willingness to pay money to avoid electric shocks, 67% of the men and 25% of the women opted to s…