7 Calming Things To Do When You Have Idle Time

Written by: Anabel Cooper

For those who cherish their social side and despise any situation lacking human interaction, a lonely afternoon can be a literal hell on Earth. Inability to meet up and spend some quality time with others can quickly lead people into a downward spiral of ever-increasing boredom, destroying any semblance of good mood and eventually making them frustrated. Such a turn of events can even raise your stress levels and make you less productive the next day.

To avoid this, you need to learn how to cope with boredom even if social activities are impossible at a time. It may sound unappealing to you, but there are, in fact, numerous pleasant ways of killing time without socially interacting with others, including meditating, reading religious texts if you’re a believer, playing Sudoku, listening to music, writing a journal, or simply calling your parents. Read the tips below and never again suffer because of your social side!

Meditation is one of the most proven ways of improving your mood and mental health. It allows you to live in the present moment and enjoy it without concentrating on the past or worrying about the future. Regular meditation may also reduce your stress levels, improve your working memory and decision-making skills, lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduce anxiety and depression, among many other health benefits.

If you’re a believer, reading religious texts will help you get in touch with your spirituality and calm down during lonely afternoons. Reading about different stories contained within religious texts like Bible or Quran will make you realize that life is filled with hardships, but there is always hope in the end. Also, if your religion teaches about life after death, reading about it will make you feel more confident in yourself and your abilities.

A short nap is the best way to kill time during an afternoon when you have nothing to do, for it will refresh your mind and relax your body. Napping helps you to feel less tired and to recover faster from stress. If you’re a student or a programmer, a short nap may help you improve your studying or working results.

Moreover, according to recent studies, a short power nap can make you more creative since it helps to store new memories from your surroundings. But don’t take a nap too long – this will only make you feel worse after waking up. 10-20 minutes is enough for a short nap to be efficient.

Listening to music can also help you forget about boredom if there are no social activities at the moment. Listen to some music that makes you feel good or most suitable for your taste to occupy your mind with something pleasant.

Some people prefer classical music, while others enjoy listening to rock or pop songs. Make sure that you choose music that doesn’t irritate your ears so that you won’t be distracted by any negative emotions caused by unpleasant sounds.

You can play Sudoku online or on paper for free practically everywhere, so it’s the perfect way to kill time when you don’t have anything else interesting to do. When playing Sudoku, don’t overthink while solving the puzzles – just try to solve them step by step without thinking too much about how you should proceed next, for this will likely lead to frustration and inefficient performance.

Just focus on finding the right numbers in the right places without focusing too much on it. When solving Sudoku puzzles, go through all four possible options for every digit in every empty space on the grid before choosing one of them as the solution. This way, you won’t get stuck on a puzzle for too long and will be able to progress faster.

Writing a journal will allow you to express all the destructive emotions caused by being bored. Writing down your thoughts will help you organize them better and get rid of negative emotions that are likely to affect your mood negatively in the long term or even cause depression later on. Journaling also allows you to get in touch with yourself better, and this way, you’ll notice what causes these feelings of boredom in you to avoid them in the future.

Note that keeping a journal will not only help you cope with boredom and make you more confident in yourself and your abilities since it doesn’t require any special skills and knowledge.

Calling your parents or any other relatives will allow you to get in touch with your family members and get some emotional support from them. If you’re feeling lonely, calling your family will help you to get over it faster. Moreover, if you have some problematic issues that you’re worrying about, talking to your parents will allow you to get some advice on how to address them in the right way to make things better.

Also, if you’re shy, calling your parents will help you get in touch with your social side in a more natural way since they are the only people who treat you like a child, not like someone older than them.

Being alone and bored during the day can be a painful experience for those who cherish their social side, but you can avoid it by using the tips mentioned above. They will help you kill time without any human interaction and improve your mood so that you won’t go into a state of frustration or anxiety caused by being bored.

The more often you use them, the better you’ll become at dealing with boredom, for you will learn to cope with it even if there are no social activities at hand. Good luck!

This post was written by Anabel Cooper and originated on Your Coffee Break.