Twenty-two years ago, when I became an adman, advertising was not a career you chose – it chose you. Dramatic, I know, cinematic, even. It felt like being among the chosen ones in the movies. The brightest minds of our generation would line up, sometimes even cold-calling agencies they aspired to work at, just for a shot. The magic was real. The allure, the mystique – it was glorious! But somewhere along the way, well… we know exactly where, but let’s save that for another piece, that charm began to fade.

Today, that same industry no longer holds the power to attract top talent. Some agencies work hard to fight this, offering perks you would expect from MNCs – campus drives, benefits and comprehensive trainee programmes. Others survive by continuously poaching talent from each other, wherever they can find it. Ask any agency head today, and they will tell you the same story: recruiting and retaining talent is a struggle.

Why the struggle? The reasons are as diverse as they are telling. The advertising industry is caught in a losing battle for top talent. Perceptions of instability, lower salaries and a decline in creative autonomy – especially compared to tech-driven fields – are making advertising less attractive. But it’s not just a talent problem; it’s a moral one. In fact, the IPSOS Veracity Index 2024 shows that our profession ranks second from the bottom in trustworthiness, nestled between social media influencers (dead last) and politicians (just above us).

Yep, politicians rank better than us. Let that sink in. We are underpaying (and sometimes not paying on time), stifling creativity and when we are called out, we wave it off as a ‘Gen Z’ problem. After all, they are the ones always complaining, right? But, here’s the thing – what they are complaining about is not trivial. It’s the toxic work environments, the lack of creative freedom and, most importantly, the fact that their work has become boring.

They are not the only ones who are bored. In fact, we are all suffering from a collective allergy to boredom. We fill every idle moment with our phones, with endless streams of notifications, apps and mindless scrolling. True boredom, the kind that used to fuel our creativity, is on life support. We are so afraid of ‘doing nothing’ that we have forgotten how to sit with ourselves.

And here’s the kicker: what we are losing in our rush to fill every second with stimulation is far more valuable than we realise. Our ability to think deeply, to create, to innovate.

Let’s face it, nobody likes being bored. But we have entered an era where it’s nearly impossible to even get bored unless we deliberately seek it out. The attention economy has turned boredom into a relic of the past. Every platform and algorithm is designed to keep us entertained, distracted, and ultimately, numb. But boredom – real, honest boredom – is not the enemy. In fact, it is the opposite. Boredom is a powerful force. When we are bored, our minds start to wander, and that wandering is where creativity happens. A 2014 study by the University of Central Lancashire found that participants who completed a boring task – copying numbers from a phone book – performed better on creative tasks afterwards than those who didn’t.

Boredom is your brain’s way of telling you that it’s ready for something new, something fresh. But in our distraction-fuelled world, we have shut that door, and with it, the opportunity for creative breakthroughs. The worst part, however, is that we are orchestrating a world without windows and doors for the next generation, filling all their time like ad breaks on linear TV.

And we are not just dodging boredom in our personal lives – we are demonising it at work, especially in advertising agencies. A bored employee is seen as a problem to fix, an idle worker a liability. Agencies pride themselves on overloading teams, labelling it ‘efficiency’ and ‘productivity’. Yet, in our rush to keep everyone ‘busy’, we have forgotten something crucial: busywork does not spark creativity; boredom does.

I have always been a fan of DDB’s ‘Four Freedoms’. Freedom from Fear, Freedom to Fail, Freedom from Chaos, and Freedom to Be. We need to add a fifth: Freedom to Get Bored.

If you are running an agency and hoping to stay relevant in 2025, it’s time to start investing in boredom.

Give your teams the freedom to sit still, to think, and to let their minds wander. Creativity is not born miraculously from chaos alone; it comes from the quiet moments in between chaos and order. It is time to rethink your team’s workload – avoid filling every minute with back-to-back tasks and deadlines. Encourage downtime for reflection and creative exploration, whether through dedicated brainstorming sessions, ‘quiet hours’, or simply allowing people to unplug without guilt. Foster a culture of creativity where stepping back to think is not seen as slacking but as essential for innovation.

If you are working in an agency and itching to quit because the work feels mundane, I have news for you: the most exciting opportunities in this business always come around the corner when you least expect them. But to seize them, you need to be ready – boredom and all. So, before you hand in your resignation, take a beat, embrace the quiet, and get comfortable with the boredom. You might just surprise yourself with what comes next.

Start by giving yourself space to think – unplug from distractions, even for just 20 minutes a day. Use that time to reflect, daydream or tackle a task you have been avoiding. Get curious about the mundane – often, the most innovative ideas emerge when you are not actively chasing them. The trick is to switch things up. It is not just about working in a different environment or mixing up your routine to jolt your brain out of autopilot, but about spending time with people you usually don’t bother with at work. Finally, don’t be afraid to take on ‘boring’ projects. Approach them as creative challenges, where the real opportunity lies in turning something ordinary into something extraordinary.

Finally, to clients, I would just say this: your need for brilliant, creative ideas is in direct conflict with your desire to see the presentation yesterday (and pay for it in 90 to 120 days). What does this look like in practice? As clichéd as it may sound, resist the urge to rush the process. Give your agency realistic timelines that allow for thoughtful ideation. Creativity needs incubation, not instant results. Commit to timely payments – an agency that is worried about cash flow is not going to produce its best work. One of my ad world mentors used to say, “It’s all about communication.” By all means, engage regularly with your creative partners, but also give them the space to explore and experiment. If you prioritise quality over speed, invest in your creative partners, give them room to breathe, and help them harness the power of boredom. I guarantee you the magic, the allure, and the creativity will return!

“If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you cannot accomplish. It is the key to modern life” – David Foster Wallace.

Umair Saeed is Chief of Strategy, Surpass Consulting Group.  umairsaeed.vf@iobm.edu.pk