On Sunday, a Facebook friend sent me a message saying he was bored. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of things and couldn't break away to do some creative thinking and message suggestions to him.
But his message did get me thinking: What do you do with a bored adult to amuse them, especially if the bored adult is you?
Maybe with a kid you'd give them Cheerios or tell them to get outside and do something. Or maybe you'd suggest they get some paper and draw something. And maybe those same ideas would work for an adult.
Creative Thinking and 34 Ideas for a Bored Adult
But just in case this ever happens again . . . to someone else or to me . . . here are 34 ideas for things bored adults can do when they are unable to come up with ideas to beat boredom. By the way, this creative thinking post was written in the middle of the night when I woke up with a sore throat and couldn’t go right back to sleep, but figured I could do some creative thinking to put me back to sleep.
So if you’re a bored adult, how about trying any of these to beat boredom?
- Walking around the neighborhood
- Watching a completely different TV show or streaming service than you ever watch
- Doing something that will make you laugh
- Taking a nap
- Cooking something . . . even if you can't cook very well
- Going to a bookstore or the magazine rack at a store and start perusing new publications
- Having a meal – not a bunch of snacks – but a real, hot meal
- Going to church
- Talking with someone in person
- Chatting with someone online
- Helping someone who could use your assistance
- Doodling whatever comes to mind
- Being completely silent
- Making a list about some topic and come up with at least 25 items for your list
- Working a crossword puzzle
- Doing a task you find completely mindless and let your mind wander as you do it
- Going and getting sweaty . . . your choice of how you do it
- Playing with a dog (or a cat if you’re a cat person)
- Visiting someplace completely new where you'll see other people - a museum, a park, a store, a restaurant, an amusement park, etc.
- Writing a list of all your blessings (and yes, you have to come up with 25 of them)
- Asking someone else what they do to get past boredom
- Having sex
- Calling a friend you haven't talked to in ages
- Writing a story about a fond memory in your life
- Listening to exciting or stimulating music
- Relaxing by sitting still and emptying your mind of worries, concerns, and expectations
- Forcing yourself to do the thing that is MOST boring to you right now
- Getting away from the computer for a few hours or the rest of the day
- Using a creative tool that's completely new or that at least you haven't used for some time
- Writing, drawing, videoing, or somehow otherwise capturing information about how to do something you do better than anyone else
- Playing with kids and letting them set the rules for whatever you are playing
- Putting someone else in charge for a bit, i.e., letting them tell you what to do, deciding what you'll have for lunch or dinner, suggesting ideas to get past your boredom
- Taking a long shower
- Making yourself write a blog post (or anything else that you'll find a productive use of your bored time)
If I had been able to do the creative thinking then and respond directly to my friend (who used to be a DJ at a club back in my hometown) when he sent the Facebook message, I'd have put together a couple of these ideas and suggested he write a guest blog post for Brainzooming about what made great dance music when he was a DJ and if the criteria are any different now. That might have got him out of his boredom and saved me some blogging time, too. You gotta love the mutual benefits of that idea! - Mike Brown
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