Casual Conversation

I set up a media server and started digitizing my media collection. It takes up way too much time, and is a good mix of satisfying and frustrating.

Contribute to something. Help people.

Learn something. Anything. Learn to juggle. Get pretty good at yo-yo. Solve a Rubik's cube. By a random RPG and play it solo if you can't convince others to play with you. Learn math better than you know. Pick an instrument at random and learn that.

And after you learn about whatever you choose, learn something else. Collect skills and knowledge.

Do you want a day activity, or are you looking for something to enjoy long term? Long term, something like exercising, learning to cook, learning to code, Linux, woodworking, and others can be pretty fulfilling. However, if you just seem to be bored (or slightly depressed) and want to have a day, maybe try going to the library, or a day trip hiking, or something you've had even a passing interest in before, assuming it doesn't require too much preparation (I'm not going to suggest climbing a mountain if you've never done that before) or is out of your budget, just try doing it.

Do you have any creative outlets available?

When I feel like that, I usually use the energy on resuming one of the bazillion projects I have (lately it's been an RC aircraft autopilot system I'm building), or I sit down and noodle on my guitar.

I suggest embrace the boredom. Sit with it for an hour. Introspect.

In my experience feeling intense boredom is usually a sign of anxiety over something and that feeling of boredom is actually me desperately wanting to distract myself from feeling. Sit with the boredom. Acknowledge the anxiety and what ever else you're feeling.

Maybe even dig into that a bit and explore why you’re feeling anxious or whatever. Then you can address it and feel much better!

I just start looking for interesting things I wouldn't normally see. Gives you some odd things to talk about as well.

A few examples:

I searched for magazines from the month/year of my birth and read through the digital scans I could find online. Looking through the old articles and ads was fun for a bit.

Looked up old advertisements for each of the vehicles I've owned from when they were brand new.

Started watching old Thanksgiving day parade videos on YouTube. Best part is that you can fast-forward through the worst parts. You see some interesting things. Like seeing a very young Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton from Fresh Prince) singing and dancing well: https://youtu.be/UNRAxGXncvs (Skip to 1:03:04 for the start of his float in the video)

Found videos of old TV shows that were interesting. Here's one of Colonel Sanders on a game show called What's My Line: https://youtu.be/Wk4Eq8IcQMk

Cost me a grand total of $0 additional dollars. Kept me busy for hours.

A really easy thing to pick up that can be kind of addicting is whittling. Literally any pocket knife, or even a non-serrated kitchen knife can get you going and all you need to do to start is shave the bark off of a stick.

From there just try making designs or shapes and use your imagination. There's a ton of good information on the internet, just don't listen too closely to the tool snobs. People will tell you it's no use to even try without expensive equipment that really isn't necessary. (Every hobby has gate-keepers lol)

Just be careful, and always cut away from yourself, especially at the beginning. Like with anything, once you get the hang of it you can start to bend the rules a bit.

"Cut towards your chum, not towards your thumb"

What's fun for you? A videogame? A crafts project? A short course in something? Gotta narrow it down a bit. At least say what's not fun for you

For me a typical Sunday is coffee shop, library with a book, walk through the park. Just walking around and being around other helps. I just left the gym today and surprisingly did not feel horrible. Actually feel a little worn out but good, would recommend.

What do you want to do?

I can think of like a million potential hobbies that I would do, from art and music, to open source software projects, to woodworking, learning languages, photography, write a story or sketch out a comic, etc...

Also, start exercising. Go on walks and lift some weights. You can channel your boredom into something healthy and productive.

What are your current hobbies? Build off of them.

If you like playing video games maybe you'd like to learn modding or game development. Maybe you could get into speedrunning or a competitive scene. And so on...

Finally, try to recognize the relationship between boredom and depression. You may be depressed, and the feeling of boredom can be a side effect of that, causing you to no longer feel the fun and joy in things you've previously liked. If that sounds right, you need to address the root causes of your depression.

I’m really into visible mending these days, and I’ve been alternating between darning my endless pile of socks with holes in them and sewing patches onto my ripped pajama bottoms. I really enjoy picking out what color combinations I’m going to use next! I also like having a functional object after I’m done, and that I’ve extended the life of a piece instead of sending it to the dump.

I’m not particularly skilled at any of this and it’s easy to pick up and make a functional repair, even if it’s not perfect, as long as you take your time. You can do basically anything you want if you learn the running stitch, backstitch, whip stitch, and blanket stitch. And everyone probably already knows the running stitch: it’s just passing the needle up and down through fabric!