Curiosity: The Good, the Bad, and the Time-Wasting
Curiosity is often perceived as an unqualified positive. While it can lead to valuable insights and discoveries, it can also negatively affect our lives.
It can motivate us to go down unproductive rabbit holes. We can waste massive amounts of time because we blindly follow our curiosity impulse.
Social media is an example of how developers have intentionally exploited our propensity for curiosity to grab and keep our attention for their profit. They provide links based on your history, designed to pique your curiosity and get you to click and keep clicking. YouTube feeds you an unending stream of related videos.
Why Curiosity Feels Irresistible
The reality is that when we’re curious about something, it can be almost irresistible. We’re wired to be curious. Anne-Laure Le Cunff wrote recently, “When we feel an urge to know something, the same circuits that respond to food, money, and other rewards light up. This is why curiosity can feel irresistible: we’re wired to seek information just as we seek pleasure.” Curiosity Snacks: How to Redirect Your Impulse to Know , Ness Labs newsletter, February 6, 2025
So while curiosity can be great and almost irresistible, it also needs to be controlled or channeled.
4 Ways to Direct Your Curiosity for Growth, Not Distraction
“Just like with food, curiosity can be either nourishing or junk. And just like with food, we can design our environment to encourage the right kind of curiosity.”
Anne-Laure Le Cunff
You can channel your curiosity to avoid the negatives and gain the positives:
1. Curate Your Feed, Don’t Let It Control You. There is a veritable firehose of sources available to us. It’s impossible for us to read them all. We need to curate them carefully so that the kind of sources that spark our curiosity are those that are likely to have positive results.
I use the ReadWise Reader to subscribe to blogs and newsletters. However, I carefully select the blogs and newsletters I subscribe to. This is not a one-time process. Sources and interests change, so I have to continue monitoring and removing materials I no longer want to read.
2. Read with Purpose: How to Choose Books That Matter. Put some thought into what you choose to read. Don’t just impulsively grab a book and go from there.
Sometimes, it helps to take a curious look at books recommended by friends. They probably know you better than anybody else. And maybe they’re friends who share some of the same interests that you do. You can also look at book reviews or subscribe to a book summary service. I often select books based on the recommendations of writers or podcasters I trust.
3. Tame the Curiosity Traps on Your Phone or iPad. Make it difficult to follow those curiosity motivators that very often result in wasted time. These can include social media and news apps. If you find them irresistible, turn off all notifications or delete the apps.
4. Schedule time for curiosity. A certain amount of free-flowing curiosity can be a good thing. It allows your mind to flow, be open, and look into many different areas. Sometimes, some excellent insights result from that. But you don’t want to let it take over your time.
One method is to make it part of your morning routine. That’s what I do. I read several sources. When I have time, I’ll follow some of those sources and then look at links in those articles.
Others schedule a block of time for curious exploration. This way, it doesn’t take over the time you need to be working on things but gives you time to explore whatever you’re curious about guilt-free.
Final Thought: Make Curiosity Work for You, Not Against You
Curiosity is a powerful force. It can drive us to learn, explore, and grow—but if left unchecked, it can also lead us down endless rabbit holes of distraction.
The key is not to suppress curiosity but to direct it. By curating your information sources, being intentional with your reading, and setting boundaries, you can make curiosity a tool for personal and professional growth rather than a time-wasting indulgence.
The next time you feel the pull of curiosity, ask yourself: Is this leading me toward something valuable, or just keeping me busy?
AI Note: I wrote this blog post myself, using my own words for the initial draft. I used AI only to suggest headlines, section headings, and improvements to the text.
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