You know that feeling when the world seems to slow down and time begins to trudge along through a pool of molasses? Your eyes glaze over and a bit of drool dribbles down your chin? We’ve all been there at some point.

Look around you; boredom is everywhere. It’s at school, at work, at a bad movie. The reason half of you are reading this article is because you’re bored.

But if you delve a bit below the surface of a word, you often stumble upon facets you’ve never noticed before. As I write this, I discover two ideas about boredom. The first is the way people misuse the term. Not many truly understand the concept of boredom, nor do they stop to consider what being bored actually entails. Allow me.

One issue is that the term “boring” is far too often used as a criticism. Boredom is high on the list of people’s criteria for disapproval. People will often automatically call something “boring” with little thought or effort behind it. Saying that the movie was “boring” reflects nothing except that you were too lazy to think of an actual criticism. I might go so far as to call your critique boring for the lack of effort.

Instead, actually explain why you found the movie uninteresting. It’s also important to note that what doesn’t interest you might interest someone else, so using this unhelpful blanket statement only lends itself to you.

People also commonly mistake the average case of procrastination with a sense of jadedness. They abuse boredom and use it as an excuse. No, you’re not bored because you have nothing to do; you’re “bored” because the effort of the task at hand was too much and you’re ready-made excuse is that you were tired of it.

You wouldn’t have stopped doing those math problems if you thought they were incredibly easy. If a job becomes too taxing, admit it, and take a short break before diving back in.

Boredom is the spawn of inactivity, so if you want to alleviate the dullness of your day, make something happen. You can’t sit around waiting for excitement to walk through the door in a flashy hat.

And certainly don’t try to infect other people with your tedium. Take the liberty upon yourself to rid your mind of the monotony. If you can’t find a way to entertain yourself then I’m sorry, but you might just be a boring person.

My second realization is that, despite all the negatives, good boredom does exist. It can and should be used as a tool. If you would describe yourself as bored at any given moment, it hopefully means that you’ve succeeded.

Let me explain. You’ve completed all your designated tasks for that time period and now find yourself with a bit of downtime that you don’t know what to do with. Well, this is nothing to complain about.

You can use this time to do something revolutionary that will change the world—or just relax for a bit. If you’re one of those people who constantly has to be doing something, then just take a step back every once in a while, and allow the soothing comfort of boredom to flow through your veins. Embrace boredom like a fine book, and curl up with it beside the fire.

There will be times in your life when you are well and truly bored and there will be times when you think you’re bored but you’re really not. There will be times when you vehemently resist boredom and times when you eagerly strive for it. Educate yourselves on the facets of boredom, and use it to rid yourself of monotony.