A Pretty Good List of Things to Do When You Are Bored

+ Bonus: Why you actually want to be bored

• Fix that one squeaky door at your home. It really just takes five minutes.

• Remember the one time you and a friend had an extraordinarily good time a few years ago. Write a letter telling that story. Mail it to them. You will make their day.

• Sit on the balcony, or terrace or look out a window and observe your surroundings. Channel your inner elderly (don’t shout at people, please! Not sure why I had this connection instantly…). Marvel at the complexity of life right outside your window.

• Leave the house with nothing but your house keys. Wander. Sounds scary? More reason to do it.

• Get a cheap disposable camera. Go out and shoot the most artsy pictures you can think of. Get them developed. Enjoy them in a few weeks. Maybe have a laugh.

• Go for a run and leave your watch at home. Go by feel. Be uncomfortable either by pace or by the unease you feel because you can’t gauge your effort.

• Rest on the biggest carpet you have in your house. Lay flat. Take deep breaths in and out. Depending on your household you might be joined by dogs, cats or a wondering spouse or kid. It might also be perfectly normal at your home (It is at ours)! What do I know?

• Try to stand on one leg for as long as you can, then the other. Wonder why it’s so different and how you can fix it.

• Take a piece of paper and write down 100 dreams. Yes, so many. Throw it away and write a new one with the one that resonated the most. Read it daily.

• Call that one person that you know you want to call for ages. Don’t chat on the phone. Figure out a day and meet. In person.

• Sit comfortably in front of a wall. Stare at it for 30 minutes. Redefine boredom. Explore your resilience and thoughts. Come out of it a different person – promised.

• Tidy out hat one shelf, cupboard compartment or storage room. Mine is called Schrank der Schande (cabinet of shame). I should really do it…

• Go on a walk (as before without anything) but this time go right when you normally go left. You might find a new favourite route. You might find a dead end.

• Again, piece of paper. Draw something. Anything. Don’t overthink it. You can throw it away afterwards. If you have kids you might be able to hang it next to their drawings on the fridge. Nobody will know the difference! No in all seriousness: Do it just for the sake of doing it. It will be relaxing.

• Last but not least; Clean up the drying rack. The clothes can’t get any drier. I might project something from our household here…

Be Bored More Often

As you might have realised the things on the list are things you do. They also don’t involve your phone, tablet or television. For a reason.

I was sick the last seven days and spent (most of) my days lying on the couch, watching a show, playing a video game or mindlessly surfing the web or watching reels. I became insanely agitated by myself. I realised that not only when I’m sick I doomscroll on my phone for way too much time.

I do it to not become bored. It’s a way of staying occupied by doing something. Just not the (imagined) uncomfortable things like cleaning out your Schrank der Schande. In the end, doing those tasks is rarely uncomfortable nor annoying. You feel good after doing something. Scrolling on your phone isn’t really doing something. It’s no active choice. The algorithm chooses for you.

After a week on the couch, I’m fed up with that behaviour. I can’t stand it anymore. I need a change.

After some thought (obviously, your brain lights up the moment you hit the sheets and then you contemplate your life and every possible past and future decision right here and there for hours until you think you can’t ruminate anymore and fall asleep out of exhaustion), I realised a lot of it boils down to not being bored anymore.

• Waiting at the bus station. Phone.

• Sitting on the toilet. Phone.

• Planned to nap on the couch interrupted by, you guessed it – the phone.

When was the last time you were bored?

The Freedom of Boredom

For the next day, I decided I would identify what I default to when I feel the tiniest form of boredom. As you guessed it’s mostly my phone. Next is grabbing my laptop and watching interest-related YouTube videos (but honestly also mostly recommended by the algorithm. A push instead of a pull principle). That was about it. The last one was reading a book but I don’t mind that. Most books aren’t finished within the blink of an eye and magically warp the next one into my hands. It’s a pull principle. I decide what to read and for how long.

To find out yourself the easiest is to sit down somewhere without any intention of doing anything and observe what urges come up. Simple as that.

What to do next?

Remove the option to default to those urges. Make accessing the unwanted behaviour as cumbersome as you can think of.

Put the phone in a drawer when at home. Block certain websites on your laptop.

This takes some effort. It will also feel strange for a while.

But once you do, oh boy. I tell you it’s one of the most freeing things to do. Seriously, doing laundry isn’t so bad anymore when the alternative is boredom. Somehow boredom inherits an incredible action potential. The longer you are bored the lower the resistance to doing the thing you normally dread. And also the higher the enjoyment of doing the actual thing.

Boredom helps you do things. If you numb it with your phone you will have a much harder time doing things.

Seeking Boredom

Being bored will not automagically fix your life. That being said, I’m sure it’s a feeling we don’t have often enough.

Your mind opens up when you don’t narrow it down to a 6-inch screen held in your hand.

You suddenly think of doing things from that list above. It’s a list you will automatically come up with. You will search for options to do. If they don’t involve your phone or any kind of mindless input you will automatically decide to go for a walk, do a little run, call a friend, talk to your significant other, clean up the kitchen, dive back into the hobby you always wanted to maintain, draw a funny face on a piece of paper and so much more.

I rarely use a language that uses absolutes because I believe that mostly everything isn’t black and white but here I’m sure:

You need to seek out boredom in your life. Funnily enough, it will make your life less boring.

The more often you are bored the more things you will do from your random list. The more variance you bring to your life. The richer your life will feel. It’s a win-win. I never thought I would say that about being bored.

One last thing to note: To just being bored is a completely valid state, too. Being bored just for the sake of relaxing and doing nothing is probably the best sate of boredom you can be in.

Ah and let me know if you do anything from my list!

See you next week. Until then I wish you a week full of boredom.