The “What To Do When You’re Bored” list

I can honestly say that I cannot remember a time when I was actually bored. I’ve heard many people say that they get bored, especially younger people, and it baffles me. Isn’t the world filled with more than enough things to do to save us from boredom?

I thought I’d take the time to jot down a list of things that you can do if you find yourself bored. I’ve ordered them in what I consider to be the best use of your time if you find yourself with either nothing to do or simply bored with what you’re doing and need a break.

1. Learn – Life is a never ending learning process. You will never know it all. You may want to take time to learn something you already know a bit better or maybe learn something completely new.
2. Be in nature – Being in nature is best possible medicine for human beings. Walk, run, ride. Take your shoes off. Jump in a cold river. Get bug bit. See a sunrise.
3. Educate – Knowledge is and always will be our most profitable asset. Share it. Pick something that you’ve learned and have a fairly good grasp of and share it with someone else. On today’s self-publishing web it is now easier than ever to share knowledge in a way that could last a very long time. But don’t take face-to-face education for granted either.
4. Create – Make something. Make a list of all things you’d enjoy making (art, music, a website, a garden, your favorite food) and attack that list at every opportunity.
5. Exercise – A healthy body is a healthy brain. Exercise has proven to increase one’s capacity to learn as well as keep your body’s chemicals balanced. Feeling sort of ‘eh’? Go for a walk.
6. Travel – Travel helps to expand our own mental horizons. Keep an eye on how much time you spend alone or in a specific setting. If you haven’t seen a raging river, been in a busy city, worked at a local coworking place – get out and interact with the world and people in it.
7. Entertain – Sometimes you just want to be entertained. You don’t want to learn something, you don’t want to teach anything, you don’t have the energy to make something, you just want to “veg”. However, choose your entertainment wisely as it has profound effects on the person that you are. The best form of entertainment is one that leaves you refreshed and ready to do #1 – #6 and not the opposite. Pick a form of entertainment that inspires.

Stop thinking “I’m bored, what am I going to do?” and start thinking “There’s so much do to, what am I going to do next?”.

(This post was updated in 2025.)