Bored? Listless? Help is at hand!
Pass away long, pointless hours with our bumper list of things to
do when you're well and truly bored
1. THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
Blink wildly and then close your eyes really tight for an
interesting light show
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
See a variety of blobs, stars and flashes. Try to make out shapes
and see if your subconscious is trying to send you a message
(perhaps that funny shape is saying, 'send all your money to
urban75.com'?)
See how long you can hold a note
(Amusement Potential: 4-20 minutes)
Not that much fun, but it sure passes the time. Play with a friend,
or try to beat your own personal best. Inhale deeply and then try
and make a noise for as long as you can. Earn extra points for
making your partner laugh or ending on an amusing note.
Try to not think about penguins
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
This is especially hard, because by trying too much, you remember
what you were trying to avoid thinking of. If you try too little,
you end up thinking about penguins anyway.
Use your secret mind power
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Pick a passing by and try to use your mind power to command them do
something, like drop their bag or knock into someone. The law of
averages dictates that sooner or later one of your mind commands
will come true, so you can convince yourself that you really have
super human powers and waste even more time trying them out.
Pretend you're a robot
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Walk down the street with mechanical movements, adding
'zzzzzt' sounds with each motion. Pretending to have a
motor broken in, say, your left hand can add at least 30 seconds
more entertainment.
Scratch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Go ahead, scratch yourself now. Even if nothing itches, go ahead.
Doesn't that feel pretty good?
Rate passers by
(Amusement Potential: 10-15 minutes)
Secretly award passers by marks out of ten as you go along,
offering (unsaid) expert criticism over their clothing, hairstyle
and footwear choices.
Repeat the same word over and over until it loses its
meaning
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Pick a random word out of a magazine and say it aloud to yourself
until it becomes a meaningless set of noises.
Pinch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
What is pain? Why is it unpleasant? There's nothing physical
about it - it's all in your mind. Plus, after pinching yourself
for awhile, boredom will seem nice next to being in pain.
Try to swallow your tongue
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
There's not much to say about this one. It is possible, but
really stupid.
Pretend to be a car
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Make appropriate revving noises in your head as you walk along and
add a racing commentary as you pass strangers in the street. Use
blinking eyes as indicators for extra authenticity.
Make Star Trek door noises
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
Stand by an electric door to a bank or something and make that
silly "Scccccccchwop" sound heard whenever people popped
on to the bridge to hang with Captain Kirk.
Look at something for awhile, shut eyes, study after
image
(Amusement Potential: 2-5 minutes)
Another great time waster. It takes about 30 seconds of staring to
create an after image, and the image is then viewable for about the
same length of time. Fun to combine this one with pushing on your
eyes.
Get yourself as nauseated as possible
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Best achieved by looking straight up and spinning around. Try to be
so dizzy you can't even stand up. This is also entertaining due
to the "makes boredom seem a lot better" effect
Invent a weird twitch
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Adopt a bizarre twitch (e.g. flicking your head irregularly,
twitching with eye or busting out sporadic cough noises) and try it
out when you go shopping.
Make a low buzzing noise
(Amusement Potential: 15-30 minutes)
Hours of fun in libraries! Keeping a totally straight face and
looking nonchalant, make a low pitch humming/buzzing noise and see
who reacts.