The experience of waiting

We spend a lot of our lives waiting.

Waiting for someone to arrive. Waiting in a queue. Waiting for the kettle to boil. Waiting for an appointment, a reply or the traffic to move. There was a time when waiting simply meant waiting.

Now we can fill almost every gap.

I’m curious about what happens to our experience of waiting when there is always something else we can turn our attention to.

When we have nothing to do

Waiting can feel uncomfortable.

We might look at the time. Wonder how much longer it will be. Notice that we are getting impatient. Or we might reach for our phone. A few seconds of waiting can become a chance to check a message, scroll through something or see what is happening elsewhere.

The waiting disappears into something else.

When we fill the space

Our phones have given us something to do whenever there is a pause. We can look at a screen while waiting for the bus, sitting in a waiting room or standing in a queue. Sometimes that's useful.

Sometimes I wonder what it means when we rarely have to simply wait anymore.

What happens when we wait?

Waiting gives us time that isn't already filled.

We might notice the people around us. Look out the window. Hear what's happening nearby. We might think about something that has been on our mind. We might even sit there and do nothing.

We don't always need to fill the space.

The feeling of waiting

Waiting can bring up all sorts of feelings.

Boredom. Restlessness. Impatience. Anticipation. We might notice how quickly we want the waiting to be over. Yet perhaps that's part of the experience too.

Noticing how we feel while we wait, rather than immediately finding something to distract us from it.

Perhaps we can wait

We don't have to put our phones away every time we are waiting. There will be times when we want to check something or pass the time.

Yet sometimes we can leave the space empty. Let the kettle boil. Watch the traffic. Wait for the person we're meeting.

Our attention will naturally drift.

Waiting gives us a chance to notice where it goes when nothing is asking for it.

I wonder what you might notice the next time you find yourself waiting, and don't immediately reach for your phone.