Scott Anderson, Ph.D.

I spent most of my adult life running from boredom. When people commented on how busy I was, I often replied by saying  at least I won’t be bored . I hoped that reply brought some levity to the reality of my often stuffed-full schedule, though in hindsight I see the fear embedded within it.   As a kid I remember being bored quite a lot. Maybe it was due to being an only child living the American Dream (huge house with a fenced yard), or maybe boredom was more a part of postwar childhoods? Either way, many of my childhood memories involved boredom. Once I became more autonomous as a young adult, the pendulum swung the other direction, and I actively eschewed boredom.   This active avoidance of boredom took many forms, including the accretion of all sorts of gear. As a younger adult, I had athletic equipment for every possible condition. Different skis for every imaginable snow condition, bikes for every road/trail condition, and when it was too windy to bike or ski, my win...

Reducing exposure to daytime distractors helps me sleep better. In my last posting, I mentioned this result in passing, and was curious to see if it held up. Yes, this preliminary result has for-sure held up. Moderating the amount of daytime information streaming into my   attentional holes   has most assuredly supported getting restful sleep. As we age, sleep tends to deteriorate.  I scarcely remember  not  sleeping through the night when I was in my 20s. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I’d place my head on the pillow, and wake up 8-hours or so later feeling entirely rested and ready to go. Unfortunately, this deep and restful sleep became progressively scarcer as I got into my 40s and 50s. Not every night involved staring vacantly at the ceiling at 2:30am, though far too many did. And when I would sleep through the night, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that I’d feel rested. Some days yes… some days, not so much.   Sleep is very importa...