Gen Z Is Going Viral for Sitting Alone and Doing Absolutely Nothing
Leave it to TikTok to make staring at a wall a wellness trend.
The latest thing taking over the internet is called "rawdogging boredom" — and before you ask, yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. You sit by yourself, put the phone down, turn off the TV, skip the music, and just... exist. No stimulation. No scrolling. No noise. Just you and whatever your brain decides to do with the silence.
Videos of people visibly squirming through the challenge have racked up views, and the comments are about what you'd expect. More than a few people have pointed out that Gen Z has essentially repackaged meditation and slapped a new name on it.
Why This Actually Works
Stephanie Sarkis, a psychotherapist who specializes in ADHD and anxiety, isn't rolling her eyes at the trend. She's kind of on board with it.
"Anytime that we can unplug and just be in the present moment is a healthy thing," she says. "When we aren't doing something, and we're sitting just with our thoughts, it can really help us process things that have happened to us, process feelings."
She makes a point that's worth sitting with — a lot of people use their devices specifically to avoid feeling things. Reaching for the phone the second an uncomfortable emotion surfaces is basically a reflex at this point. Rawdogging boredom is the deliberate act of not doing that. Letting whatever needs to surface, surface.
"Before we had social media, we did sometimes just sit and process things," Sarkis says. "That's a big part of life, is just not doing things."
That's not a revolutionary concept. It's just one we've collectively forgotten how to do.
The Attention Span Problem Is Real
The erosion of attention spans via short-form video isn't just a running joke — research actually backs it up. TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts — they're genuinely changing how long people can focus on a single thing without reaching for another hit of stimulation.
Nobody's saying delete the apps. But the case for balancing constant technological input with intentional stillness is getting harder to argue against.
"A lot of people have reached a saturation point with social media, and we're looking for ways to incorporate staying in the present moment," Sarkis says. "We know that mindfulness does have research behind it showing that it can help improve quality of life."
Rawdogging boredom, goofy name aside, is basically just that.
How to Actually Do It Without Losing Your Mind
If the idea of sitting alone in silence for any extended period of time sounds genuinely awful — that's probably a sign you need it more than most. Start small. Meditation experts recommend beginning with as little as two minutes before working up to longer stretches.
Find a quiet spot, get comfortable, and close your eyes. Focus on your breathing — the inhale, the exhale — and when your brain starts firing off its to-do list or replaying that embarrassing thing you said in 2014, just let it. Don't chase the thoughts. Don't pull out your phone. Just breathe through it.
Then do it again tomorrow, maybe for three minutes. Then five. The goal isn't to achieve some zen state on day one — it's to rebuild a tolerance for being alone with yourself that most people have quietly lost.
The Bottom Line
Gen Z didn't invent silence. But if a TikTok trend is what it takes to get people to put their phones down for ten minutes and let their brains breathe — honestly, that's a win. Call it rawdogging boredom, call it meditation, call it whatever gets you to actually do it.
Your attention span will thank you. Eventually.
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