What to Do When Bored: 100 Ideas by Place, Time and Energy

What should you do when you are bored?

Do one small thing that takes your full attention for a few minutes: move your body, make something, tidy one spot or talk to a person. Pick by how much time you have and how much energy you have left, not by what sounds impressive. The picker above chooses one for you; the lists below group the best ideas by place.

Boredom is not a sign that something is wrong with you. Psychologists describe it as wanting to be engaged but not finding anything that holds your attention. That is why the fix is rarely "more entertainment". It is usually one activity that asks a little more of you than scrolling does.

Things to do when bored at home

Home is where most boredom happens, and where the phone is closest. These ideas need nothing you do not already have.

• Tidy one small area. One drawer, one shelf or the top of your desk. Set a 5-minute timer and stop when it rings.
• Cook or bake something new with what is in the cupboard: pancakes, flatbread, a soup from leftover vegetables.
• Move for five minutes. Three rounds of 10 squats, 10 push-ups against the counter and a short plank.
• Start a jigsaw puzzle and leave it out so you can come back to it all week.
• Fix one thing you have been ignoring: a loose button, a squeaky hinge, a wobbly chair.
• Read the first chapter of a book you own but never started. If it does not grab you, try the next one on the shelf.
• Learn three chords or ten words from a free video or app, then stop while it is still fun.
• Make a playlist for a mood, a season or a person, and send it to them.
• Plant something: herbs or a few seeds in a pot on the windowsill.
• Plan next week on one page, with a focus, three priorities a day and one habit, using the free weekly planner.

Things to do when bored outside

A change of place changes what you pay attention to, which is often enough to end boredom by itself.

• Walk down a street near you that you have never walked down.
• Take 10 photos on one theme, such as doors, shadows or anything red.
• Visit the library and borrow something outside your usual genre.
• Try a coffee shop or bakery you have walked past for years and read there.
• Go to a free museum, gallery or local event.
• Ride a bike with no destination and turn wherever looks interesting.
• Sit on a bench for five minutes and list every sound you hear.
• Pick up litter in a park for 20 minutes; you will see the results right away.

Things to do when bored with friends

Doing something together beats watching something together, because it asks more of everyone.

• Cook a meal from a cuisine none of you has tried.
• Play a board or card game you have not played in years, or write quiz questions for each other.
• Host a small potluck where everyone brings one dish.
• Go on a photo walk and swap your best three shots at the end.
• Teach each other one skill: a card trick, a recipe, a dance step.
• Plan a day trip: choose a place within an hour and put a date on it.

Things to do when bored alone

Being alone with nothing to do is the kind of boredom people find hardest. Give yourself a task with a clear finish.

• Journal for 10 minutes about what is taking up space in your head. Stuck for a start? Use the journal prompt finder.
• Write a short story that begins with the last message you received.
• Draw a map of your neighborhood from memory, then check it.
• Learn a card trick or three-ball juggling from a video.
• Look up something you have always wondered about and write down three facts.
• Delete every app you have not opened in a month.

Things to do when bored at work or school

Boredom at a desk usually means the task is either too easy or too hard to hold your attention. Change the task, not the tab.

• Write the next tiny step for the task you are avoiding, then do only that step.
• Clear your desk, your downloads folder or your inbox for five minutes.
• Walk the long way to refill your water, or take the stairs.
• Learn one keyboard shortcut you will use every day.
• Turn your notes for one class or project into 10 flashcards.
• Set a 25-minute timer and finish one small task before it rings.

Things to do when bored at night

At night, pick calm activities that do not end in another hour on a screen.

• Take a warm shower or bath and leave the phone in another room.
• Listen to one full album with the lights low.
• Do a crossword, sudoku or word search on paper.
• Write tomorrow's top 3 on a sticky note and put it by the door.
• Knit, draw or color while you listen to a podcast.
• Write down three things you are grateful for today.

Pick by the time and energy you have

Most lists ignore the two questions that decide what you will actually do: how long you have and how tired you are.

If you cannot decide, choose the one that takes the least effort to start. Starting is often the hardest part.

Why boredom sends you to your phone

Boredom feels unpleasant on purpose: it pushes you to find something more engaging. The phone is the fastest answer, so it becomes the default. In a survey of 298 US college students, Elhai et al. (2018) found that people who get bored more easily also reported more problematic smartphone use. The study measured both at one point in time, so it shows a link, not that boredom causes heavy phone use.

People also find doing nothing harder than they expect. Across 11 studies, Wilson et al. (2014) found that most participants did not enjoy spending 6 to 15 minutes alone with only their thoughts. In one study, about two-thirds of the men and a quarter of the women gave themselves at least one mild electric shock rather than sit with nothing to do. These were short lab sessions with small groups, but they help explain why a spare minute so often turns into a scroll.

Boredom is not only bad news. In two small experiments, Mann and Cadman (2014) had people copy or read numbers from a phone book before a creativity task; they came up with more uses for a pair of plastic cups than people who skipped the dull task, and the most bored group came up with the most. That is a narrow lab result, not proof that boredom makes you creative in general, but it is a reason not to fill every quiet minute.

The meaning-and-attention model of boredom by Westgate and Wilson (2018) gives a useful rule of thumb: you get bored when an activity does not hold your attention, because it is too easy or too hard, or when it does not feel meaningful to you. That is why the fix is to adjust the challenge or pick something that matters to you, not to find a louder distraction. An earlier review by Eastwood et al. (2012) described boredom as the unpleasant state of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity.

How to turn boredom into a habit instead of a scroll

If boredom usually ends with your phone, plan the swap in advance. It takes about five minutes.

1. Notice your boredom moment. When does it usually happen: after dinner, on a slow afternoon at work, on Sunday? Pick the most common one.
2. Choose two swaps from the lists above, one for low energy and one for more energy. Keep them small enough to start in under a minute.
3. Write an if-then line. "If I am bored after dinner, then I read one chapter on the couch." In a meta-analysis of 94 tests, Gollwitzer and Sheeran (2006) found that specific if-then plans like this improved follow-through compared with a goal alone.
4. Put the swap within reach. Leave the book on the couch, the puzzle on the table, the shoes by the door. Put the phone in another room.
5. Try it for a week, then adjust. If the swap never happens, make it smaller or move it closer.

If you want to go further, turn one swap into a daily practice with the 30-day challenge generator, or see how much time your phone takes now with the screen time calculator. Our guides on how to reduce screen time and how to stop checking your phone constantly cover the phone side in more depth.

Common mistakes

• Reaching for bigger stimulation. A second screen or a louder video usually leaves you more restless. Pick something that asks for a little effort instead.
• Choosing an idea that is too big. "Learn Spanish" does not help at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday. "Learn ten words" does.
• Treating all boredom as a problem. A few minutes of daydreaming on a walk or in line can be useful. You do not have to fill every gap.
• Ignoring constant boredom. If you feel bored and flat most days, lose interest in things you used to enjoy, or feel low for weeks, talk to a doctor or a licensed therapist. That can be a sign of something a professional can help with.

Where to go from here

Pick one idea from the picker and do it now, then write your if-then swap for the next time boredom hits. For a month of small daily steps, start the 30-day screen time reduction plan or build a plan around your own boredom moment. More guides live in the phone and screen time hub.