137 Best Things to Do When You’re Bored

Are you stuck at home, bored with nothing to do? Or maybe you have stuff to do but you don’t feel like doing it. This list is exactly what you need! 137 interesting things to do when you’re bored at home, school, or work. Maybe one of these ideas and activities will change your life forever. Seriously, some of the world’s best inventions grew out of boredom (necessity, actually, but who’s listening? Not the inventors.). The key is not getting too bored because you’ll fall asleep instead of creating something the world needs.

The best thing to do when you’re bored right now is to count the number of things on this list. There are actually many more than 137 things to do; I doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled several numbers. The final number is 137 but there are, for example, at least four 21s and two 54s. If you’re seriously bored, here’s what to do: count the number of actual activities and ideas on this list, and share your tally in the comments section. Maybe it’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but let’s face it: What else have you got do to?

Here’s what I do when I’m bored: I daydream about my next vacation. I was supposed to go to New Orleans next month for a travel writers conference, but it’s postponed. Pandemic. Nasty little virus. If you’re stuck at home and love to travel, read 18 Ideas for Creative, Meaningful Theme Vacations. Start planning your next family trip or solo journey! Use your imagination, get wild and crazy. You might even make a collage from previous vacations, travel magazines, or picture books.

Before you start counting the actual number of things to do when you’re bored, make a note to read through the comments section at the end. A few readers shared their hobbies and favorite things to do when boredom is driving them mad…you may find something life-changing or even just mildly interesting there.

What is the Best Thing to Do When You’re Bored?

One of my friends builds guitars. Drawing, planning, constructing, sanding, painting – that’s the best thing for him to do when he’s bored. Not me. I have lots of writing to do, ideas to mindmap, blog posts to delete, and interesting vacations to plan. I also play a flute, give my dogs haircuts, and spend time in silence with God. And walk! I could walk all day long and never get tired.

The key to finding the best thing to do when you’re bored is to know yourself. If you don’t know what interests you or brings you alive, then no list of fun things to do will make you unbored! What do you like to do? Here’s something to do: make a list of your 20 favorite activities. Include everything from surfing (the waves in the ocean, not the internet) to eating popcorn (yum!) to writing song lyrics (no thank you, not for me). Creating your own list of things to do when you have nothing to do is the best way to beat boredom.

You could try learning a musical instrument – it’s good for your brain and it’ll give you something interesting to do. I recently started playing the flute, and will be joining an orchestra soon. If you like to listen to music, you might love learning how to play an instrument. Or maybe it’s time to research your college classes – or start researching the best jobs for college students. I was never bored when I was a kid because I started working when I was 11 years old (only as a babysitter, but still! It was a job!). And I loved to read, and write a little. But mostly read. So I was actually never bored.

1. Count the actual number of best things to do when you are bored on this list. How many duplicate numbers have I planted in this list? There are lots more than 137. When I first created this list I had 137 things, but then I kept adding activities and ideas. I’m just too lazy busy to re-number the list properly. So, how many boredom busters do you count?

1. Where is Aritzia? Look up faraway places and names in a print atlas. You’d be surprised at some of the names you find!

2. Make chocolate or hemp soap as a gift for someone

2. Make up your own reality show

3. Make up with someone you’re fighting with

4. Write something. Does writing bore you? Read How to Stay Motivated When You’re Writing About Something Boring

4. Look up funny quotes. “Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.”

5. Look up inspirational quotes. “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.” – Anne Frank.

5. Clean out your junk drawer or medicine cabinet

6. Set financial goals

6. Pluck your eyebrows

7. Make a list of things you love about someone you love

8. Listen to hard or soft rock music

9. Write a mystery thriller or juicy romance novel (a boredom buster for budding bloggers)

10.  Write your the story of your life. Read How to Write When You Have No Ideas if your life is too boring to write about

11.  Update your email list

12.  Email your friends and ask for their favorite things to do when they’re bored

13.  Trade Wii games and gear with your friends — or try the newest Wii games

14.  Write an apology to someone you’ve been avoiding

14. Make homemade lavender ice cream (or bacon ice cream, or whisky ice cream)

15. Learn what your favourite dog breed reveals about your personality

15.  Bake oatmeal chocolate chunk coconut cookies

16.  Memorize 5 new words from the dictionary (boring, even for a writer geek like me)

17.  Play sudoku – thanks @BJMuntain for this boredom buster

18.  Organize your recipes

19.  Read your old diaries (one of my favorite things to do when I’m bored)

20.  Find a volunteer job – read 6 Reasons You’ll Love Volunteering as a Big Sister or Big Brother

20. Write a song – maybe this will be the start of a new career!

21.  Try aromatherapy

21. Learn a new magic trick

21. Capture a cricket

21. Teach your cricket the new magic trick

21. Make a mini stage for crickets who like performing for crowds

22.  Make your Christmas wish list

23. Plan your 100th birthday party so it’s not boring

23.  Freewrite everything that pops into your head

24.  Clean the bathroom

25. Learn how to deal with controlling parents

25.  Do an office workout (if you’re bored at work or on a long car ride)

26.  Make a list of things to do before you die

27.  Make a standup desk for your computer

28.  Tell God what you’re glad He created

29. Count your money

30. Cry

30.  Give yourself a manicure or pedicure

31.  Give your mom or dad a manicure or pedicure

32.  Find a new hobby

33.  Brainstorm new ways to make new friends

34.  Find someone to cheer up

35.  Solve the biggest problem in your life.  If your biggest problem is finding the best thing to do when you’re bored, you have a pretty easy life!

35. Get a more interesting life

36.  Start planning your mom or dad’s next birthday party

37.  Go outside and play that game that people play when they’re bored

38.  Pretend you’re a tourist in your own city

39.  Wash your dog

40.  Brush your cat

41.  Brush your mom’s hair

42.  Go to the library (one of my favorite things to do when I’m bored)

42. Learn how to be a volunteer mentor through Big Sisters/Big Brothers

43.  Clean out your closet

44.  Donate your preloved clothes to charity

44. Remember something you forgot

45.  Watch old movies

46.  Learn how vision boards help you achieve your goals

47.  Join a MeetUp group

48.  Start a MeetUp group called What is the Best Thing to Do When You’re Bored?

48. Visit your library’s website and read the free digital magazines.

49. Search the internet for classic science experiments, crafts and upcycling ideas, board game hacking, code-cracking, geocaching, skateboard repair, yarn-bombing, stop-action movie-making, best-of lists, and much much much more

49.  Clean out your kitchen cupboards

50.  Write a letter

51.  Update your resume

51. Make low-fat high-fiber pancakes that don’t taste as boring as they sound

52.  Google old friends

53.  Play Lexulous on Facebook – thanks @venusvision for this boredom buster

54.  Clip your nose hairs

55. Write a letter to your mom, telling her what you love about her

56.  Rearrange your living room or bedroom

57.  Go to the dog park

58.  Face your demons

59.  Call your grandma or grandpa

60. Look up funny animal quotes. “Dogs have masters. Cats have staff.”

60.  Make a list of things your Guardian Angel has protected you from so far

61.  Practice self-hypnosis

62.  Plan your next vacation – read my Africa travel tips article – I lived there for three years!

63. Read When You’re Bored, Do These 15 Productive Things (but only if you actually want to declutter your closet or work on your physical health) 

63.  Make a “to do” list for tomorrow, so you’re not bored again tomorrow

64.  Read poetry

65.  Learn to crochet or knit

64. Start thinking about your scholarship applications

65.  Research your family tree

66.  Make a household budget

67.  Take a bubble bath

68.  Download your photos – maybe you’ll see you haven’t had such a boring life after all

69.  Knit

70.  Organize your finances

71.  Clean up a mess

72. Write a letter to your dad, telling him what you love about him

72.  Write a short story

73.  Pretend you’re asleep

74.  Learn 12 small ways to get healthy that make a big difference (is this a boring thing to do when you’re already bored?)

75.  Draw your bedroom on the back of a postage stamp

76.  Sort through old photos (one of my favorite things to do when I’m bored)

77.  Make a scrapbook

78.  Play online trivia games

79.  Go for a walk

79. Tell me: what is the best thing that ever happened to you?

80. Tell me: who do you wish was sitting beside you right now?

80.  Pick up trash in your neighborhood

81.  Get a job (unless you’re looking for things to do because you’re bored at work! Then look for a new job)

82.  Write a song

82. Read How to Know What to Do With Your Life and give me more ideas for that list of things to do for bored people 

83.  Start a blog (but not a boring one)

84.  Write a blog post about how boring your life is

85.  Change your blog theme

85. Read through the comments on this blog post – add to the collection of things to do when you’re bored at home

86.  Dust the shelves

87.  Listen to talk radio

88.  Talk a walk down memory lane

89.  Figure out what your dream job is

90.  Grab a yoga mat, focus on deep breathing, and re-energize with deep stretching – thanks @catlover1964 for this boredom buster

91.  Do crossword puzzles

92.  Wax your upper lip

93. Choose a life verse. Here’s mine: “I am like a tree planted along the riverbank with roots reaching deep into the water. I do not fear when the heat comes or worry in long seasons of drought. My leaves stay green and never fail to produce fruit.” ~ Jeremiah 17:8.

93.  Give yourself a massage

94.  Create a unique board game

95.  Pray. Ask God to give you direction, hope, wisdom, joy, peace!  

95. Read How to Stay Positive When Your Life Sucks

96.  Clean out your old computer files and make room on your phone or tablet for more junk

97.  Paint a self portrait

98.  Learn to juggle (one of my husband’s favorite things to do when he’s bored)

99.  Read old magazines

100. Tweet messages of encouragement and hope

101. Lie on the grass

102. Lie in the snow

103. Lie in the rain

104. Don’t lie to yourself or your mother

104. Toilet train your cat

104. Learn why life is more interesting when you hold on tight to God

105. Listen to different types of music

106. Try to make it through an hour without touching the floor (thanks Eliza for sharing this creative thing to do when you’re bored!)

107. Make silver coins with foil, and create a treasure hunt (thanks Renee for this boredom buster!)

108. Turn the music up LOUD and DANCE your boredom away (thanks Macie for this fun thing to do when you’re bored!)

109. Tell me how many “things to do when you’re bored” are actually on this list (I honestly have no idea, because of the duplicates)

110. Tell me one way to improve this blog – what would you do differently if it was yours?

110. Decide what you’d go to college for

111. Watch Zoolander but don’t do what they did when they were bored at the beginning of the movie!

112. Rewrite the ending of your favorite movie

113. Plan a treasure hunt for your dog or cat: Hide treats in strategic areas around the yard. But not if you have a problem with rats or raccoons.

Ok, back to Square One. Did you count the actual number of best things to do when you are bored? How many duplicate numbers did I plant in this list?

Your turn. What do you do when you’re bored?

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