How to Stay Curious as Adults

Curiosity might have killed the cat but it is what makes us human.

Children don’t know how to not be curious. Yet as we grow older, we lose this innately human skill.

But how do you stay curious as adults? How do you shift from learning being a means to achieve something (a better job/ promotion etc) and learn for the love of learning?

Here are 3 ways that have worked for me:

1/ Get Bored Often 🥱

It might sound really stupid, but if you can do this - you don’t need to read the other two.

You see as adults (myself included!) we chase productivity. And in our quest to be our most productive selves, we tend to fill in our days (right to the last second) with tasks. With every second of our day mapped out - we don’t have time to get bored and that is exactly what we need to stay curious.

We need to let our mind wander.

We need it to breathe.

We need to leave room for serendipity.

In short, we need to get bored!

2/ Everyday Studio Time 🕰️

Studio Time is essentially an hour of your time blocked everyday for ‘unplanned productivity’. You don’t plan what you’re going to do in that time until you show up to that hour.

On some days you might feel like painting something, on others it could be just a walk or even take a nap to catch-up on your sleep. By not planning in advance what you might want to do - you’re almost teaching yourself to give into serendipity!

3/ 12 Favourite Problems 🙋🏻

A friend recently introduced me to Feynman’s 12 Favourite Problems - so full disclosure, this is still a work-in-progress for me! In a nutshell, this means -

“You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see whether it helps.” (Source)

Think of what your 12 favourite problems are and chase them incessantly!

In a Nutshell 🌰

Curiosity is a fundamental trait that drives human growth and exploration. As adults, maintaining curiosity can be hard but not impossible.

Keep cultivating curiosity!