So, you’re searching for productive things to do when bored?
That’s a productive decision already!
And no, this isn’t the same as wasting your time.
“Productive things to do when bored” has a clear meaning.
First that, you wouldn’t be bored anymore.
I’ve only included the most fun activities (for the most part anyway).
Secondly, these tasks will be “productive”.
As in, they’ll contribute to your life in one way or the other.
Science says one of the primary reason we’re bored is due to “lack of choices”.
I’ve made sure you’d have enough productive tasks to cure boredom once you’ve gone through this list.
30 Productive Things to Do When You’re Bored (Without using a lot of brain power).
Most other lists on the internet seem to list things which require continued efforts.
E.g. you may not wish to learn a new language entirely. And that’s too much work anyway.
So, I’ve only listed “one-off” productive things to do when bored.
Without beating around the bush, let’s start?
- Arrange your table/room
Eww, who does that? Well, here’s the thing. Once you start doing that, your mind gets occupied, and you aren’t bored anymore. More importantly, you’d get something done which you probably haven’t done in ages.
- Learn reading and writing 10 new words
Doesn’t matter which language. Just, do it. Learn not only to understand and read, but also to write. Imagine all the possible ways you could use this, or even just show-off? And at the end of it, you’d have done something that you’d carry with yourself till the day you die.
- List-Making
Make a list, doesn’t matter what it consists of. It can be a bucket list, things you love/hate the most, your favourite food, things you’d like to meet, things you wish to change, achieve, break, wish to happen and what not. How many items you list is up to you, as few as 10, or as many as 100.
- Go back in time
What? Well, what I mean is, think as far back in your life as possible. Your earliest days on planet Earth. When else will we do something like this, if not when bored? And, there’s a pretty good chance you end up being happy, nostalgic, or even sad. But, it’s all worth it, it’s your life.
- Re-connect with old friends
With the busy lives that we have, quite often, quite a few friends get left behind. First it’s just a week without talking, but it soon becomes a month, a year, and then years. And boom, you’re strangers. So, the next time you’re bored, make an active effort to find those you haven’t talked to in a long time.
- Plan a trip:
You don’t need to actually go. Simply planning a trip massively helps relieve boredom as well. Plan the flight you’re going to take, the hotels, the activities that can be engaged in, the food you’ll be eating, the things you’ll have to take and so on. Who knows, you may actually end up packing your bags?
- Clean your phone
You’d not believe the benefits that this holds. Your phone would get a lot faster, you’d get rid of unwanted memories (or, photos at least). You’d not need to upgrade your phone as early, simply if you clean it enough. Have more time? Get some kind of scanner or antivirus and go even deeper.
- Plant
Another “multi-benefit” productive task you can do when you’re bored. Planting trees almost always develops emotional connect with them. And, you get to look at something you created (indirectly) and that in itself is pretty fulfilling. I’m not even counting the environmental benefits. Imagine a tree planted for every time you’re bored! Sure, you can pick scented/beautiful flowers, or those which may actually have more “direct” benefits (ah, selfish humanity).
- Make yourself a friend
I mean it “literally”. And it does require a bit of work. Forget you know yourself, stand in front of a mirror, and practice talking. This will help increase your communication skills. And, it’s fun anyway. May be a few minutes before you get in the “zone” though.
- 5-year goals
They say one of the first steps towards turning dreams into realities is writing them down. Grab a pen and paper, and write down your life-plan for the next 5 years. Start small, but make sure the plan is practical, realistic, and actually can be executed. It should fill you up with happiness, joy and confidence.
- Practice Feng Shui
It’s a Chinese “way of living” dating back to 4000 B.C. It’s not proven, yet it’s believed to increase wealth, happiness, and prosperity for houses. Arranging your furniture a certain way, bringing in more wood, mirrors, metal and other such activities are part of it. It’s largely a zero-dollar task and claims to increase your wealth, not a bad deal eh?
- Perfect yourself
Imagine (or write down) the top things your perfect version would do on a regular basis. E.g. waking up earlier, eating better food, workouts and so on. Once the list is done, your boredom would pretty much be gone. But in case you can implement that list to your life, who knows where life takes you? I get it, it’s easier said than done, but at the least, cures boredom.
- Unsubscribe from Email Newsletters
Those are a mess. Throughout the month/year, we sign up at dozens of websites. They all seem very chatty, and keep spamming our mailboxes. Unsubscribing from them is quite the task. It’s just a time-consuming task, better do it now when you’re bored rather than at a later, more important time-bracket.
- Ebay, or Garage sales
It’s basically “cleaning your house” but let’s make some money in the process? Pack up everything you do not want in your house, things which aren’t generally “damaged” rather just useless to you. Either set up a garage sale, or put them up on eBay. In either case, you’ll be getting a less-messy house and making a few bucks.
- Instagram Information
I know, it sounds just like another thing you’d do to “waste” your time. But, it isn’t so. Simply search “facts” on Instagram. A number of pages come up which post random and interesting facts. These may range from history, politics, economics to just conspiracy theory. They not only cure your boredom, but do the same thing that reading a book would do.
- Handwrite letters
Technology has technically brought us closer, but emotionally and in the real-sense, I belief we couldn’t be farther from each other. Today, because you’re bored, write a hand-written letter. No post-offices required. It can be for someone in your home, your mother, father, siblings, or obviously your partner? You’ll definitely be “not bored” anymore, and this will do wonders for your relationship.
- Plan tomorrow
This is believed to be one of the most ways to boost productivity, planning your day in advance. Now, you being bored may just as well prove beneficial for your tomorrow. Simply write down your entire schedule. You may or may not follow it the next day, but if you do, again, that may be a crucial life-moment.
- Research
There always is one or the other thing that we wish to work on. But can never get started due to a lack of research. That’s like the first step. If not done, the project never goes off the ground. Don’t think of the project, or any succeeding steps. Simply “start” with the research. What you will, or won’t do with it shouldn’t matter just yet.
- Fix your budget
Sit down and write down all your expenses for the past 7 days. Now, filter out those which weren’t of immediate need (expensive coffee seems to be a problem for us all). Then, mark the ones you can live without. You’ll then have a number, the amount of money you could’ve saved that week. It’ll not only chase your boredom away, but hopefully also get you to save more.
- Abstract painting
You do not have to love painting. Even if you’ve never painted before, this is for you. Just grab some paint, any colour, any brush, any canvas (even paper). Throw random lines and colours on the canvas. The world is pretty weird, at the least you can even put it up for sale on eBay. “Abstract” being the keyword. The painting doesn’t have to “be anything”. Stop thinking. Just hit it.
- Re-thing your logos and designs
Everyone has a business card, or logos for their blogs, websites, projects. Pull up all the logos/ designs related to you or your projects. Think how each of these can be bettered. You can print and then edit/sketch over the logos. You may end up getting a much better version of your logo, if not, all the colour and designing should at least get you rid of boredom.
For some cool ideas you may check out https://psdkeys.com/.
- Star-gaze
If it’s night, get up from your desk/bed, and go out in the balcony/roof/ driveway. Set a chair, start simply looking at the stars. I get it, it does “sound” boring, trust me it isn’t. Even if you’ve 0 interest in stars/planets/astronomy, it’s the “light and shapes” you should pay attention to.
- Netflix or AmazonPrime
While most would argue this to be a complete waste of time, I’d beg to differ. Simply because, we both know you definitely are going to finish that series you’re watching and also can enjoy remain documentaries on Amazon Prime. It’s best to finish it now, when you’re not doing anything else, rather than letting it eat up your productive/work- hours, wouldn’t you agree?
- Start a blog
It doesn’t have to be a serious thing, and it doesn’t cost a penny. Go to blogger.com and you can be up and running in seconds. Write about “anything”. Even “activities to do when you’re bored” sounds like a good start. And then, share it among your peers. The writing, feedback from your friends, and the entire activity as a whole should totally rid you of boredom. here are complete guide that can help you to start a blog from scratch, click here.
- Backups
This is the opposite of cleaning your phone. And, it applies to both your phone and PC(s). Get a good backup software or simply copy-paste all the ultra-important files to at least one other location/drive/ removable storage. It’s not the “most fun” activity, but does cure boredom and prevents future disasters. You can even upload data to one of the Dropbox alternatives.
- Podcasts:
Listening to podcasts boosts knowledge, and is definitely entertaining. If you’re completely oblivious to Podcasts, simply go to Youtube and search for “The Joe Rogan Experience”. You can also use apps like Spotify or Audible. You may find other productive things to do when bored in many of these podcasts as well.
- Emergency plans
You never know when the next Katarina hits. Or, when there’s a medical/financial emergency. And often while in distress, we make bad decisions. First, pack a bag of essentials (med kits, some cash, important documents etc). Then, write down the names of people you’ll contact in emergency, their numbers, addresses and other details. And then, keep this pouch somewhere you can reach easily.
- Read quotes
You wouldn’t believe how well this works. If you read some of the best time management quotes, it most often then not, ends up fuelling your own productivity. In case that doesn’t happen, quotes are still inspirational and even entertaining to some extent.
- Secure yourself
Not something most of us pay attention to, but we totally should. Install a good antivirus, and get the best VPN service. These may not be “free”, but are totally worth multiple times their monetary value. (Hint: Websites follow you, know your location/ browsing history, and Gmail even “reads” your emails!) The VPN will also let you unblock Netflix USA and other libraries.
- Introspect
If you’ve read this list on productive things to do when bored this far, ask yourself “why are you bored”? Are you bored at all? Or is it just procrastination? Do you really need productivity tips or just motivation? I’m sure you’ve invested a couple minutes on this list so far, try going back to your primary work?
- Change passwords
Did you know using old passwords is one of the easiest ways to get hacked? And, let’s admit it, no one just sits on a normal day and “changes passwords”. That’s something we just tend to ignore. So, when you’re bored why not get that done? Thinking of new creative yet easy to remember passwords will stimulate your brain as well.
- Map out an idea
We often have “ideas” which never get executed, because we get “busy”. How about mapping out one such idea when you’re bored? You still don’t need to make a commitment, simply use one of these free project management tools and create a workflow of the steps required to make your idea into reality. Who knows where this may take you?
- Daydream
What? Isn’t that what madmen do? Not exactly.Daydreaming actually has quite a few physical and mental benefits. For one, it expands the boundaries of your reality. It uncovers truth. It promotes new ideas and possibilities. Most importantly, it relaxes your brain.
- Thank people
Bah! What? I get it. How is it “productive”? Or even anything worth doing? In a world like ours, things like these are on the brink of extinction. But, the results of just being grateful can be extremely rewarding. Both mentally and even financially. Thank your bosses, colleagues, employees, and everyone who has made a positive impact in your life. A single thank you email can go a long way.
- Write reviews
Did you buy something this past week or month? Even a service maybe? How about leaving a review for the product? You know how helpful reviews are when you purchase something, don’t you? How about contributing for others? This will help others make the right choice. Also, on some websites this may earn you credits and points which can be used later for other purposes.
Final Words- Productive things to do when bored
That should be all folks.
30 productive things to do when bored right there.
Go though these, and I promise I’ll update this piece in the next 15 days. (Bookmark.)
So, by the time you’re done with the above options, I’ll get you some more.
Do let me know if you’ve got some other productive things to do when bored using the comments.
