> letting myself get bored enough to stimulate serious creativity.

I think this is another key takeaway. We're so scared of being bored that we instantly reach for our phone as a means to fill this seemingly unwanted void. As if boredom has this negative connotation attached to it.

It is shockingly unpleasant.

But our lives should contain some unpleasantness, I think. Some difficulty.

We fear death and we overvalue productivity. This is a cycle for never-ending anxiety -- the itch to always do something. We value productivity almost to the point where it is considered virtuous. We look at someone who is productive and think, "wow what a great person, must really have their life together".