Tips for dealing with boredom

I don’t think anyone has ever escaped the feeling of boredom. It finds us no matter how hard we try to hide. When those holiday days just seem to go on a little too long, or when we’ve counted the 500th tree through the car window, or simply when we have been sitting on our bed and have absolutely no clue what to do next and just painstakingly watch the seconds tick by. Trust me I completely understand that feeling – somehow when your life gets busy and you have loads of things to do, and you’re finally free, boredom can set in too and that’s normal. Except I don’t think that’s boredom… maybe a weird version of PTSD?? 

However, in this day and age with what most of us have access to, there is absolutely no excuse to be bored. Now don’t panic! This is not going to be like a lecture. I have spent many hours suffering from boredom so am not really in any position to chastise any of you for the same thing. This little article is rather my way of saying that there is so much to do – so why sit vegetating in front of a wall? Whether you are bored at home, bored during your holiday or bored while driving in the car, this is a friendly guide to aiding you on your way to curing boredom so that you don’t feel ready to strangle yourself if you spend one more minute counting the dust particles. So next time you feel like you may be slipping into the lapse of this disease, remember my words and you may soon find that you are cured of boredom forever (or at least for now).

Get active!

No this is not a gym advert, and the global doctors association has not paid me to say this.  I am just saying this because it is a simple and undeniable truth. If you find yourself bored with nothing to do, then the simplest solution is to get up and get active. Now, this doesn’t mean going for a 10km run because that may be a little extreme for the majority of us (but for those of you who enjoy running, then stop standing about and start moving). Maybe, if you have a puppy or a dog, take them for a walk around the neighbourhood or even dedicate thirty minutes of your time to running around your garden with them, rolling around in the grass or playing fetch. Not only will this make your dog super happy, but you’ll also feel emotionally satisfied because hey, who doesn’t love a play date with a puppy? 

Another idea for those of us who are not particularly gym equipment inclined (like myself), would be to turn on your favourite tunes and do a dance workout. There seems to be a myth floating around that dancing is not a proper workout, but anyone who has been part of a musical or any form of dance performance knows that it is an exhausting, full body workout that comes with a great collection of songs. Plug in your speaker, pull on some sweats and get groovy. Something you’ll soon find out is that these bursts of physical activity may leave you momentarily tired, but you’ll have more energy for the day, as well as be more mentally awake. P.S. this is also an excellent way to keep people off your back when you decide to treat yourself afterwards to a movie marathon because you have been physically active. Who can’t see the benefit in that?

Learn something new

One of my favourite mantras is that ‘ you learn something new everyday’ so if you find yourself counting the freckles on your forearm in an attempt to pass the time, why not try learning something new that you’ve always wanted to know? This can be as big as learning a new instrument or a new sport, but it can also be something on the smaller-scheme side of the scale. Maybe you play an instrument already and have got a new favourite song floating around in your head. Instead of listening to it over and over again, why not teach yourself how to play it? Not only will it be a way for you to pass the time but it will also give you a newfound appreciation for this song you’ve fallen in love with. Another suggestion would be to teach yourself a new skill – pour through Pinterest and see if there is anything you desperately want to learn to do. Knitting is always an envy-worthy hobby when winter comes around; Calligraphy is so much fun and speaking another language will definitely come in handy. Have fun with it and do something new that speaks to you! Yes, it may seem too much like hard work at the beginning, but if you really get into it, you may soon find that learning this skill was the best thing that ever happened to you. Don’t knock it until you try it right?

Make something fun

If you’re a person who loves to get their hands dirty, then why not break out the glitter-glue and have an arts and crafts day or break out the toolkit to make something interesting. Personalised gifts are always better received, but you may just want to create a new decoration or form of wall art for your room. The Internet is full of good ideas, and so is your imagination if you let it run wild for a few hours and you never know, you might create something better than any of the modern artists’ works. What if there is some shelf or craft that you want to make that goes beyond having a decorative touch? Don’t just sit about – sometimes objects are a lot easier to make than they originally seem (and they are often quite a bit cheaper to make than to buy) so I’d encourage trying this out. Or maybe that’s taking your skill set a little too far. Why not try making something in the kitchen? You don’t have to be an excellent chef, find something that you really want to make and follow the recipe. This would be my activity of choice because it kills time, is actually a lot of fun and you get something delicious to eat at the end of it. Now, this is the perfect example of having your cake and eating it too.

Treat yourself to some “ME TIME.”

One thing that is definitely true for most of us busy individuals is that we don’t take enough time to unwind and relax. We are always focused on getting stuff done or sorting out problems or bending over backwards to help other people, and so we forget to book some time to make ourselves number one priority – so why not now? Download and watch your favourite movie; treat yourself to an at-home spa day complete with a facial and a pedicure; if you’ve had a particularly healthy week and don’t think it sounds too reckless, order your favourite takeaway meal and just spend some quality time with ‘me, myself and I’. If you love to exercise then go for a run and spend some time with your thoughts or even go for a walk through the park. Yes, I know this seems like a bit of an oxymoron when you are bored because you are by yourself and have nothing to do, but stay with me — being bored means you don’t know what to do and are just sitting. Treating yourself to an hour of reading or watching a movie may not be much more active than what you were doing before, but you are making the conscious effort to do something that you enjoy and are not just sitting about hoping for the minutes to pass faster. Remember, you are always your first priority, so take this period of boredom and turn it into a period of bonding with yourself.

Do something relaxing

We never stop moving so since you’ve got time to kill, why don’t you stop all together? Think about all of the things that you find most relaxing, make yourself a list and get going! For me, the perfect time to do something along these lines would be when you get a holiday because isn’t the point of a holiday to get you all relaxed again before you are tossed right back into the pressures of work or school? Maybe you have a list of movies or books that you’ve desperately wanted to read/watch, but you never seemed to have the time – now is that time. Maybe you love nature so why not set up a hammock or deck chair and sit under a tree for the day listening to the world go by around you. This may sound a lot like the point above but believe me, it is not. Doing something relaxing and treating yourself to some ‘me-time’ can often be very different things for most people so think about it for you and don’t compare what you are doing to anyone else. This is all relative to you and who you are, so do the things that make you tick, and you’ll never go wrong.

So hopefully this has been helpful to anyone suffering from boredom, cabin fever or simply need a little nudge to do something different from your usual routine. You can never get time back once it’s gone, is something my dad has told me too many times to count, so instead of letting it slip by now and wishing you could do something later, why not use the time now? Use the time now and have fun while doing it, and pretty soon you’ll be an expert in areas you never thought you would be. I hope you all enjoyed today’s blog post, and I’ll see you all on Saturday for the last post of Feb, and to mark the start of my 3rd year blogging! 

Lots of Love

Blondey on a Mission xxx