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We all get bored at some point. One survey found that the average American adult experiences 131 days of boredom per year, and most of it happens at work. Another study revealed that employees are bored on the job for more than 10 hours per week. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Scientists say that being bored gives our brain a moment to pause, rest, and reset. It also creates space for daydreaming. And that, in turn, can boost creativity. Long bouts of boredom could even set us on a different life path, especially if we end up pondering whether we are adding value to the world or merely wasting our time doing what we do.

Of course, boredom can also lead you to places you might not have gone and help you to discover things you might not have known before. If you ended up reading this as a result of being bored, your brain could be thanking you in a few minutes. Bored Panda recently came across an Insta page called Fact By Science. It has over 566 thousand followers and shares super interesting tidbits from around the world. Keep scrolling for a list of our favorites, and don't forget to upvote the ones that blew your mind.

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Occasional boredom isn’t bad, but according to Psychology Today, frequent boredom can be associated with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, lower achievement at school or work, and involvement in unhealthy relationships. It can even drive people to indulge in substance abuse, or reckless and antisocial behaviors.

The site defines boredom as a “state of mind characterized by a lack of interest, motivation, and engagement with the world around us,” adding that “when we’re bored, we may feel restless, irritable, and unfulfilled. We may also experience physical symptoms like fatigue, lethargy, and a lack of energy.”

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Experts say that doing things that keep you actively engaged is a good way to beat boredom. It’ll stop you from focusing on how bored you really are. And if the activity you choose involves learning something new, even better. That’s why we highly recommend scrolling through this list of random but really interesting facts from around the world, and reading what experts say about boredom below. If you’re looking for more fun, informative, and cool facts afterward, you can find them here.

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Dr. Alan Castel is a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of California. He says that boredom can lead to curiosity, and that curiosity is often piqued when we encounter something unusual, interesting, or unexpected—like when scrolling through our social media feeds. Castel adds that curiosity is great for the brain.

“Humans have a need to forage for information and a desire to learn,” he wrote. “This starts at an early age and can be fostered and maintained well into older age. Critically engaging in this process and satisfying our learning interests can keep our brains developing at any age.”

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Castel adds that general knowledge quizzes or fact listicles can engage your brain and trigger dopamine responses. “There is a good reason why trivia night is so popular at pubs and senior centers and why people eagerly tune in to the popular game show Jeopardy!” he said. Or why articles like the one you’re reading now are a hit with Pandas.

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You need to be mindful of what you seek out online to beat boredom. Research has found that, in some cases, scrolling through media can make you feel more bored, not less. “For example, longer-form content, such as narratives, allows for deeper engagement, whereas short-form videos often lack a compelling story arc, leading to increased scrolling, switching, and, ultimately, boredom,” explained Dr. Pamela Rutledge, the Director of the Media Psychology Research Center.

Rutledge adds that digital media can be a convenient way to alter our environment, or beat boredom—but not if we’re on autopilot. “The benefits of digital media rest on how we use it, and intention and mindfulness are at the core of these behaviors,” she said.

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Erin Westgate is another expert on boredom. As an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, she studies boredom, interest, and why some thoughts are more engaging than others. Westgate says the boredom is an emotion, just like anger or sadness, but one that people hate feeling. She once found that people despise being bored so much that they’d rather suffer an electric shock.

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Westgate was conducting a study into boredom when she came across an interesting finding. Her team had gathered participants in a laboratory and asked them to daydream. “We tell them, ‘Sit down, try to think of a pleasure, but if you want, you can shock yourself with this little electric shock here.’ About 67% of the men and 25% of the women chose to shock themselves, rather than just sit and think,” she revealed during a podcast. “When we asked them why, they looked at us like, ‘Well, duh, it was really boring.'”