Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bored

Projects for Christmas-weary adults?

ollyolly — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:43:24 -0800

Monopoly and decorating cookies aren't interesting enough to woo my relatives away from their naps. What are some fun projects, challenges, and DIY kits the adults in my extended family can do together for entertainment over Christmas week? I'll be spending Christmas with my extended family, which is mostly adults (teenagers through 60ish). We'd like some group activities for when the conversation lulls--preferably, fun things we can do together around a table, tasks that require some creativity or mental challenge. These can be individual tasks we all do at the same time, or things that require group effort.

Things we've enjoyed in the past (but that are getting old):
-carving pumpkins
-gingerbread and card houses, cookie decorating
-sculpting with clay
-working on logic and Microsoft Puzzle Challenge problems

I'd like some more ideas in this vein--things that take up enough mental effort that everyone has something to do if conversation lulls. Bonus points for anything mildly competitive (e.g. highest card tower) or producing a finalized product worth keeping or eating (this bunch likes puzzles and Make-style DIY kits).

The Bored Psychologist

chaoscutie — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:19:34 -0800

Please help me fill up my time. I am a psychologist in private practice, and thanks to the recession, I have multiple times during the week with nothing to do--this is a new experience for me, and aside from the anxiety of not working as much as I need to, I am also bored to tears. Unfortunately, it is an hour here and an hour there--never any good block of time, and although in the future I may have to rearrange my schedule and put all my hours together, at the moment I am trying to maintain hope that I will be able to fill those hours with new patients. I am sick of surfing the internet, going for walks, updating patient files, and reading whatever (professional literature, novels). Any suggestions, Mefites, for how I can spend my time more productively, or at least entertainingly?

NFL Bingo

theichibun — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:09:34 -0800

The wife and I are going to a friend's house to watch (American) football tomorrow. I'll be watching the game. She won't. Is there anywhere online where I can find football bingo for non fans? She doesn't like football, everyone else there does. I'm already taking it as a good sign that she's willing to go and hang out with us doing something she doesn't like.

What I'm looking for is something similar to Wal-Mart Bingo where she doesn't have to understand what's going on in the actual game but where she does have to pay attention to the TV.

But if I can't find something already made I'm willing to make some cards myself, so ideas for things that can go on the card would also be great.

I doodled SO MUCH today. Then I fed pigeons.

showbiz_liz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:21:13 -0800

What fun thing can I do with my hands at work? My new job consists of standing around all day being bored out of my mind. My job is to stand outside and help people use a new model of parking meter. I speak to maybe one person every half hour, and the rest of the time I just have to stand there. Books and ipods are not allowed, because they could cause me to miss a customer.

I want to pick up some kind of hobby or activity that I can do at work. It needs to be something that will allow me to keep an eye out for approaching customers, and that I can put down quickly when somebody comes up to me. At the same time, I'd like it to be something that could take a while to master. It would be amazing if, after this summer, I had a brand new skill to show off.

Things I've thought of so far are trick coin flipping, juggling, and knitting. Things I considered and rejected include harmonica (too loud), Zippo tricks (too dangerous), and whittling (same).

Help us survive a boring summer!

One Second Before Awakening — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:53:23 -0800

What are some fun things to do as a teenager in a small-ish town? I'm a teenager living in Sarasota, FL, and my friends and I are constantly lamenting how little there is to do in this town. We're bound here for the duration of the summer, and lacking the social amenities of our respective colleges. The main thing people our age seem to do around here is sit around outside a starbucks and waste time, or sit around on the beach and waste time.

For anyone who grew up in this situation, what did you do? What are some fun ways I and my friends can spend time? Especially appreciated would be easy-to-orchestrate activities that can be repeated fairly often. Don't worry about censoring your own experiences or suggestions. References to drug use or other illicit activities aren't going to offend or corrupt.

News at 9: I'm bored.

abdulf — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:58:35 -0800

What do you do on weeknights to pass the time? As a recap: I live in Amarillo, Texas. It's a small-medium sized city in the Texas Panhandle.

I've found a way to keep myself engaged after work and on the weekends.

However, weeknights are a different story. After work and exercise, I have nothing to do when 8 or 9pm comes around. Most places close at 9pm in town.

Many people I know watch TV, but that feels like a waste of time. There's also surfing the internet, which is what I'm doing right now. It also feels unsatisfying. Sometimes I take a walk and stare at the stars. That works half the time. The other half I feel alone and insignificant in the universe.

This is a relatively minor problem. Maybe you have an evening routine that can help me.

We're board, need games

c:\awesome — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:40:42 -0800

What's your favorite two-person game? We're currently buried in snow, and my SO and I are getting sick of playing Trivial Pursuit. What are your favorite two-person games? These can be:

-Video games
-Card games
-Board games
-Etc.

If it mixes well with beer, all the better! Preferably nothing too stereotypically gender specific (e.g. Sex and the City board game; Doom 3)

Spending a long weekend alone.

inatizzy — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:25:50 -0800

I'm off work the next four days over the New Year's holiday & weekend. I am usually a very social person, but I live alone and I don't have much of anything planned this weekend. And I'm worried about spending the whole weekend alone, because I think I will get really lonely and unhappy. How can I enjoy myself? I've reached out to a few friends to hang out, but have no commitments yet and may get none. I usually go out swing dancing on the weekend, which gives me lots of social interaction, but there's nothing this weekend. I live alone in a 2-room studio that can sometimes feel a little claustrophobic/isolating and I get cabin fever if I spend too much time alone there, especially if I don't have something social to look forward to.

So I'm worried about getting bored and depressed and feeling lonely the whole time this weekend, which would be pretty awful and unbearable. I usually keep myself pretty busy outside the house, probably in order to avoid this type of discomfort, so with this weekend not having much in the way of busy-ness, I'm at a loss for what to do with myself and how to cope.

I have the option to spend a few hundred dollars and go away to a dance conference at a hotel for these days, which would surround me with people and activities. (Mostly people I don't know, but there’d be a couple of friends.) But I am afraid I'd just be running away from a problem that I would benefit from solving.

It can get pretty bad with long times alone at home without plans. Feeling very sorry for myself, like no one loves me, like I am all alone and no one cares, like I am wasting my time, like I am trapped there alone and unhappy. To alleviate this on normal weekends, I often go to a cafe with my laptop just so I can be around people. But I can only do that for so long (not for 4 days!) and we're looking at bad weather this weekend (snow and extreme cold) so it won't be easy to go out of the house. Plus, most public places will be closed tomorrow for New Year’s holiday.

So I guess my question is, is there a way that I can overcome this loneliness/sadness/worry this weekend and really enjoy all this unstructured responsibility-free alone time? How would I spend the time? It sounds like it should be a wonderful thing but it is just making me really anxious, as you can tell.

Or would it just be better for me to give in to my need to be around people and go to this dance conference? Sorry for the length; I appreciate your advice!

What to do in the Laurel, Maryland area for College student on summer break?

Javed_Ahamed — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:48:02 -0800

What to do in the Laurel, Maryland area for College student on summer break? That is the question. I am sitting at home everyday just playing games and reading and it is extremely boring. I do have a car and love nature but can never find any good areas. Anything that can be done alone is also a plus since most of my friends are away.

Am I a sucker?

LiveToEat — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:26:32 -0800

Am I a sucker or will this actually make me some money? I work an entry level, boring, cubicle-confined job. I was looking at Craigslist to see if there's anything interesting I can do to make some extra pocket money and I found these sites:
http://www.dealsncash.com/
http://hits4pay.com/

I've seen a lot of these kinds of ads on CL and I can't help but be curious. Are they scams? How do they work? I figure if I can make some money while sitting around at my desk or in my free time, it might be worth it. I wouldn't do anything that required a credit card number, obviously. Has anyone else done this?

Ideas to get over being bored

humanawho — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:17:35 -0800

Time off between jobs; what are some fun things to do? I have some time off and am already bored, what would you do with a day alone with nothing to do, interesting day trips(from Denver) in Colorado that are not popular (that their is a good chance i haven't done) but i can't take a "real" trip, things to do around the house (not maintenance or gardening).

Any ideas for things to do for the next week

I am 21 and bored with life

thegmann — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:45:52 -0800

I am 21, male, and I'm pretty bored with life, I feel stressed about doing nothing. I am having trouble figuring out what it is I really want to do with all of the time I have right now, and I've definitely been stagnating. Give me some advice! I've run a small computer business since I was about 14, and now I've gotten completely bored with it, but I have so much of it automated and outsourced at this point I really do very little (probably 4-6 hours a week) and all of my bills get paid, and I have enough to let me be comfortable for the month (hang with friends, go out, etc.). I recently got my motorcycle license because riding a motorcycle sounds like a ton of fun to me and I've been looking at motorcycles but I can't afford to pay cash for one. I don't want to take on the debt of a loan for something I could possibly destroy within weeks of owning it.

I've always been very motivated but I tend to love having a creative outlet. In high school I was in every play I could get into and I would take extracurricular classes that sounded interesting. I didn't apply for any schools after high school as I was working, but now I am planning on starting at my local CC come fall because I miss the social environment school gave me. In my current work I don't meet anyone new and my daily life is for the most part spent inside or out with my old high school buddies doing nothing very productive.

I have a huge urge to travel but again money comes to mind. I don't want to get a salaried job- I've only worked one in my entire life and while it was an interesting place to be in it didn't challenge me at all.

I feel like I'm just rambling now, I know I'm lucky to be in the position I'm in, I'm in Southern California with all of the time in the world, given my position, what would you do?

Help me make better use of these 24 hours.

cyanide — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:26:34 -0800

Seems like I cannot figure out what to do with the 24 hours I'm given. Help me make use of every minute I have by doing positive and fun things, and at the same time, move on from my failed relationship. Previous. Seems like I was wrong. Due of various factors, I cannot move on from this failed relationship.

I have 24 hours in a day, like everyone else. Sleeping takes up about 5 hours from that (midnight to 5am). I wake up at 5am, get ready and leave for walking/jogging at about 5.30am. I walk/jog for about 3 miles, enjoy a hot cup of coffee alone and jog back to my home by about 7am. After that, it's time to take a shower and get ready for the first empty patch in my day. From about 8am to 1pm, I'm doing pretty much nothing apart from browsing a few websites/blogs/news sites, catching up with whatever happened in the last eight hours, and random browsing.

After having lunch, it's the same, except for a bit of studying thrown in, plus checking out various bugtrackers and similar sites for new software patches/bugs and the like (drilling this habit into my daily life since I'm studying to become a network/systems admin). This lasts till about 5pm when it's time to hit the gym. I work out for about an hour and 20 minutes, get back home and take a shower + coffee and maybe a small meal. Now comes the most boring part of my day, from about 7pm to midnight.

Studying seems to take my mind off this girl for a while, but the matter that I'm studying tends to saturate and tire my brain after about 2 hours of reading. If I'm lucky, my friends will not be too busy to go out with me for a couple of drinks. If I'm unlucky, there's this big empty patch again where I'm doing pretty much nothing. The last hour of my day is spent gaming (rFactor mostly), after which I go to sleep, having spent another useless day.

This has been going on for a while now, and is frustrating me. Since there's nothing much to do throughout the day, I keep thinking about this girl all the time. I decided to take three blind mice's advice about staying in her orbit and seeing what the future brings. I met her a couple of times after asking that previous question. The last time, a bunch of us went clubbing and she seemed to want to party with me, and kissed me when both of us were very drunk. This has destroyed whatever progress I had made in trying to move on.

If you're still reading, thanks! I want to move on (cannot see myself in a relationship with this trainwreck of a girl), but cannot seem to find enough things to do which will make me forget her, or atleast think less about her.

I love reading books (fiction mostly), listening to rock music, learning new things related to computers/networking and free software, working out/jogging, and going out with a few friends. I have a guitar that has been collecting dust for a while now (effing procrastination). Would like suggestions from the hive mind on what I can do to fill up the day and not feel that I've wasted it. Learning playing the guitar would be a very obvious suggestion, but for the fact that I don't have money to spend on a teacher, and I've read a lot of free teaching material on the internet, but cannot seem to move forward from my newbie-ish level.

Thanks again for reading!

What do to in Chicago on a lazy Friday?

LSK — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:50:01 -0800

What can I do on an idle Friday in Chicago? The Chicago Public School that I go to has a day off today, and I don't have anything to do. Remarkably, I don't have any homework. What can one do in Chicago on a decent Friday?

Need a neat gallery or exhibit on Sat. April 5th.

allthewhile — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:20:25 -0800

I'm in Chicago alone and bored tomorrow Saturday April 5th looking for interesting galleries, showings, art exhibits, etc. What would you recommend? Near an el is a + :) Looking for something outside the usual touristy museums or stops.

Am I selfish for wanting to leave because I'm bored?

Talez — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:39:40 -0800

I'm a really weird person who just absorbs knowledge like a sponge. If I'm not learning in a job I quickly become bored, frustrated, irritable and miserable in general. I'm thinking of leaving my current position with a great team because of the above. Am I selfish because I want to do this?

Looking for a good place or a group/organization to meet people in Seattle.

lattiboy — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:05:01 -0800

So, I moved to lovely Seattle more than a year ago and I have found it near impossible to meet people (I now understand the "Seattle Ice"). Any ideas? I have a good job, a decent apartment, and have my own hobbies, however, I'm past going out to bars and concerts to hopefully find folks. Any ideas from the Seattlites here? I really love the city, its just a bit intimidating.

Help my cat retain his sanity!

arnicae — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 13:55:13 -0800

My FIV+ cat is bored. Help! Last week we adopted a 3-5 y/o large (16 lb) grey cat, who had previously been living on the streets. He was captured in a spay/neuter operation, and it was discovered that he had a wound on his leg. While being treated for the wound, the vet discovered that the cat is FIV+.

Last week, I asked the hive mind about whether to adopt this cat, and about the health problems associated- we have adopted the cat, and now, he seems to be bored. Much of the time, he is content to snuggle with us or solo on his cat bed, or prowl around the apartment. In the afternoons, however, he gets grumpy. He bites us, so we give him space. And it gradually escalates to the cat bouncing off the walls, launching himself from ladder to fish tank to chair to furiously attack it (or other stationary objects).

I've had cats before and this seems much more than normal play-time. The cat seems frustrated and bored. In between bouts of hyper-activity he will sit staring fixedly at a stationary object. After some time, he will visibly sigh and look away.

I checked out all the cat-play-related posts previously- when he is interested in us, he is more than happy to play with the toys he has strewn about the apartment. He likes his thing-on-a-string-on-a-stick as well as his mice and his raffia-covered-shakey-easter-egg as well as all of our shoes, which he believes are either hats or bomb shelters, depending on his mood.

I'm just not getting what we can do beyond stay out of the destruction zone. Should we try taking him for walks? Would that be safe? Should I get him a cat-sized hamster wheel? Should we ignore the teeth and claws and play with him when he's in this frustrated, angry mood?

We cannot get a second cat. Our landlords (who live across the hall) have decreed it is not an option.

How to keep from going insane from boredom.

235w103 — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:27:30 -0800

Trapped overnight in a Super 8 in the desolate part of Chicago. What to do? Stupid, stupid airlines have left me in a Super 8 surrounded by, uh, nothing- just a couple of fast food restaurants. I can't get a rental car- my license is expired, which is why I'm heading home in the first place. My calls to the few people I know in Chicago have been fruitless. What should I do?

Is there anything to do in Hilton Head, SC if you're NOT into golf or tennis?

vrdx — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:23:39 -0800

Is there anything awesome to do in Hilton Head, SC for someone that's not interested in golf, or tennis, and who is well... not retried? Alright, so I've searched a few results, and found mixed answers to my quandry. I'll be in Hilton Head this weekend, as a mini vacation.. Long story how it ended up being there, but nonetheless. I'm looking for something cool to do in HH, or even around SC, since I'm going there and like I said, not interested in the golf scene. I'm young and single and love a great bar or place to relax at, so I'm open to suggestions! I'm also a history buff, so that might be something to consider as well if there's some cool historical things around the area that I can do when I'm not on the beach. Bonus if they're single-person friendly, as I'll be on a solo adventure!

Got broadband - now what?

obiwanwasabi — Mon, 21 May 2007 02:59:39 -0800

After an eternity with dial-up net access, I've finally made the move to (24Mbit / 20gb month) ADSL broadband. What should I do with it? I video chat with my mum in Florida, which is cool, and I'll get around to hooking up the VOIP thingy. I installed Google Earth, and was briefly amused by zooming in and out of various international locations, but I don't really get what the fuss is about. I watched a couple of trailers at Apple. I had a look at YouTube, but it seems to be cats all the way down. I don't have Usenet access, and I'm scared I'll get sued if I download telly with torrents.

It's just a bit...well, underwhelming. Has anything changed since the last time this question was asked back in 2005? What am I missing? Intel Mac and an old Win2K laptop, if it matters.

The Bored Chorus

I EAT TAPAS — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 20:58:17 -0800

In the 70's (and very early 80's), a common pop music trope was to have a chorus of female vocalists who sounded, well... monotone. Or perhaps a bit bored. Clipped, a tad nasal. The most flamboyant example of this is likely's M's Pop Muzik[youtube], but there are others. Help me find more. Examples: ELO's Living Thing. To some extent, Jigsaw's Who Do You Think You Are?. The Human League, on several tracks. The Postal Service's Nothing Better comes close, but doesn't quite achieve exactly the same effect.

Are there more out there?

I need to do all the normal things that constitute life, but I sit on my butt!

stormygrey — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:05:41 -0800

Please help me get my schedule organized... or something, whatever you call it. I am extremely flighty or forgetful or spacey, whatever you want to call it. I very rarely remember to do things like take my medicine, pack work out clothes, etc.

For example I make lists like:
Brush teeth 3 minutes
Jump rope 5 minutes
Elliptical 15 minutes
Wash face 2 minutes
Retin A, Vitamins, Meds, 2 min
Get dressed 7 min
Drive to work 18 min

Now, I make these lists twice a week or more to try to get me on track and yet I never do these things, ever. I get up 10 minutes or less before I need to be at work, throw on clothes and put on my make up in the car. ALL THE TIME. So I make another list at work about going to the gym, cooking a healthy dinner, applying self tanner or whatever. I obsess at work about all the things I didn't do and all the things I am not doing, see cause I just sit and don't do anything at work too. Then I get home and sit on the couch. ALL THE TIME.

The weird thing is if I have to do something its not a problem. For example, I just hired a personal trainer, she shows up at my house twice a week at 5:45, we work out to 6:45, I take a shower and get to work by 7:30. Or on the weekends, I bartend and I do all the things that go along with it just fine, then I go home and sit.

I just wish I could be productive at home and at my "real job" like I am at bartending or what not. Bartending is easy because really their is no question what needs to be done next. I pick up after myself and my customers and serve with gusto, why am I so crippled at home?

I do a little better with Adderall, but I have a crazy high heart rate and just got a prescription for Beta Blockers, so no go on the stimulants right now. We'll see if that does anything at all.

I am looking for practical solutions like "tape the list to the mirror in the morning" to little rituals, or what worked for you, or whatever. I have talked to doctors about this, but since I am seen as "high functioning" or whatever they see it as more of a quirk than anything else and say things like "well, I'll make you a deal, if you go back to school, I will prescribe you adderall." I already have one master's and graduate certificate, I am not really in a place where I can go back to school at this point.

I know this is long and rambling. I am just feeling a little frenetic right now. I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Single activities in paradise?

TheNewWazoo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:38:09 -0800

A week in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawai'i. All expenses paid. Solo. What the hell do I do until Saturday? Obviously, there's I travel for a living, and my job currently has me in Honolulu until Saturday. I'm staying on Waikiki. Sounds great, yeah? It would be, except that my girlfriend isn't here, and I have no friends in HI. Normally, I seek out all the hippest vegetarian restaurants, catch a play or other indie production, and haunt cool local coffeeshops in whatever city I'm in, which is all great to do solo in a city like Chicago or Nashville. The vibe here, it seems, is markedly different.

I'm reticent to do the "typical" touristy things like catch a lounge act or go on a tour, both because I want to "save" that sort of stuff for when I come back with my girl, and also because I don't think I'd enjoy it very much while alone. I could go bar-hopping, but I'm not interested in picking up girls for a deep, meaningful one-night relationship. I could lay out on the beach (and I plan to!), but I would like my memories to be more substantial than the same stuff I can do in Florida.

So, hive mind, I deplore you, what's a young, not-single guy to do with his free week in Hawai'i? I can only take so much of my coworkers/supervisors/clients.

How to maintain consistency at work and not get bored?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 21:04:56 -0800

How to maintain consistency on the job and not get bored? I'm one of those people who has trouble maintaining consistency at work. I guess I'm just not a corporate person in the sense that I work hard but I tend to work more in "spurts" and have a hard time maintaining a rigid schedule (9-5) for years at a time at the same company. I've always been pretty independent and would prefer the type of job that allows flexible hours and working from home, but my profession doesn't really allow this.

Usually once I get used to a job I get so bored that I move on, resulting in job changes every year or two. Sometimes I have wondered if I have ADD. It's just hard for me to maintain concentration unless I'm constantly being challenged and stimulated. However, most jobs just don't provide this.

Whether or not this an issue related to ADD, what I'm getting at is, are there any methods/habits you suggest I develop in order to keep myself motivated and learn to stick with it when the going gets tough (boring)? I think if I would stick with the same company for longer I'd be much more likely to get promoted.