We all need on how to pass the time when our day is dragging and boring. Or maybe you’re just looking for something new to do to switch the normal day up. My list of things to do when you’re bored should find something for you to do, when you’re ready to pull your own hair out.

In this day and age, there are hundreds of fun ideas you can try out. Whether you want to pass time starting a new hobby, doing a productive project around the house, or learning a new skill – there is no end of things you can do when you’re bored!

Let’s get started on how you can pass the time.

Things to do at home

Find a New Hobby Take a gander at our giant list of hobbies and interests, and see if anything peaks your interest. One of the more popular hobbies is collecting something unique. You don’t have to become the next big coin collector- you can collect just about anything that comes to mind. Example – My wife has this weird thing about collecting anything to do with glass. Jars and vases…and figures…panes…I could keep going. But it’s one of her favorite hobbies! Check out this list of people who collected some of the weirdest items ever. Estimated Time You Can Pass With a Hobby: Unlimited

Solve a Fun (or Challenging!) Puzzle Puzzles are extremely fun to do when you’re home alone. You can spend hours on some of these entertaining brain teasers. As a side benefit, they’re also extremely good for your mind. Doing puzzles will help your memory, problem solving, and lowering stress – among a few other great benefits. Rubiks Cubes and Jigsaw puzzles are just a few versions of puzzle games there are. Check out this huge list of puzzles if you’re interested. Estimated Time You Can Pass Solving Puzzles:

1+ Hour(s)

Bake Something Sweet! Did you know baking can help fight being in a bad mood or “being blue”? I didn’t either! Baking will keep you busy, your taste buds happy, and your kitchen full of fun treats. There’s always something rewarding about making your own food, too. I can already taste the warm bread and butter now! Or was that cheesecake? I give up – I’ll take it all, please! If you want to kill an hour of time, maybe try your best attempt at one of the following recipes?

35 Easy Baking Recipes Ready in Under an Hour Estimated Time You Can Pass Baking:

1-4 Hour(s)

Cook a favorite meal or Try a new Recipe Just as we mentioned in baking – cooking your own food is a great way to have a sense of accomplishment. Trying to make a new recipe? That’s an even BIGGER accomplishment. Sure, it might not turn out the best your first time around, but you’ll get better over time. If professional chef’s can make great food – so can you! This hobby is as old as time and a great thing to do when you’re bored. There’s a number of reasons to start cooking your own food. It’ll kill some time when you’re bored, but you’ll also have more choice over what you’re eating, the quality of the ingredients used, among a slew of other benefits to cooking. Ready to start cooking? Here are 12 easy recipes anyone can cook, even beginners! Estimated Time You Can Pass Cooking: 1-3+ hour(s)

Try Making Candy Did you know you’re not limited to just cooking and baking great food? You can also make candy! This may be harder than your traditional food crafting, but we are looking for something new to do, right? Making candy can be fickle, so it should occupy you for a least a few hours if you want it to. Here’s a great breakdown of how to get started with candy making! Estimated Time You Can Pass on Making Candy: 2-4 Hour(s)

Play a musical instrument Many, if not most of us, have learned a musical instrument while attending school. When we were young, it may have been more of a chore to play an instrument than an enjoyable activity to do in your free time. I promise you, go back and revisit that old trumpet, flute, violin, or whatever instrument you started when you were younger. Or maybe you have another instrument you’d like to try out as well. Personally I tried my hand at learning guitar. Playing an instrument when you’re bored is great way to kill time when you’re alone or with jamming with friends. It’s also extremely rewarding for a variety of reasons: Keeps you busy

Helps your mental performances and memory

Introduces you to new people

Way to relieve stress

Playing an instrument also increases physical activity

Provides you with a sense of achievement Here are 17 Surprising Health Benefits of Playing an Instrument if you’re not sold on playing that old violin in the closet. Estimated Time You Can Pass Playing an Instrument:

Unlimited

Play a Solo Card Game (Like Solitaire) Did you know there are quite a few different card games you can play alone? Playing cards are one of the easiest, and relaxing, ways to keep yourself busy. Many of these have mobile apps as well. Check out this guide on how to play different solo player card games. Estimated Time You Can Pass Playing a Card Game:

30+ Minutes

Look at old photos & photo albums (or organize them!) Feeling nostalgic about a past relative, or want to remember that fun vacation with an old friend? Take some time to pull out the old photo albums or look at older photos on your devices. We also seem pretty awful at organizing our pictures. They’re spread out on multiple platforms or devices (computer/phones), with no categorization. Save yourself a headache and get those pictures sorted! You took those photos for a reason – so enjoy them when you have some time to kill! Explore these great ways you can sort your photos, so you can enjoy them even more! Estimated Time You Can Pass Looking at / Organizing Photos:

8+ Hours

Sing your favorite songs

Start writing a bucket list Do you know what a bucket list is? It’s an interesting way to set goals for yourself before you die, or get too old to do things you absolutely want to do before you no longer can. Have you ever… Wanted to go skydiving?

Visit a country you always wanted to go to?

Pet a shark or exotic animal?

Learn a fun skill you never had time for? A bucket list can be as short or long as you want it to be, and have literally anything you want on it. Check out bucketlist.net for some ideas to get started on your own bucket list. Estimated Time You Can Pass Writing a Bucket List:

1+ Hours

Play with your Pet Chances are you might have a pet. So why not spend some time with them if you’re bored at home? Believe it or not, owning a pet (mainly a cat or dog) has many positive health benefits – and these benefits are seen more in people that spend personal time with their animals. Spending time with pets have shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, as well as the effects of depression and loneliness in people. Take them for a walk

Wrestle with them

Teach them a new trick

Spoil them with a new treat

Make homemade snacks for them

Groom them The list goes on and on for things to do with your pets. They’re apart of your world for a reason, so use it! And you are literally the world to them – reward them once in a while too. You’ll both feel great afterward. Estimated Time You Can Pass Playing with Your Pet:

1+ Hours

Host a small house party for friends or family Small get-together s are a great way to reconnect or visit with close friends or family. They’re also a really good way to spend a day having fun and enjoying the company of others. So this is actually two great ways to pass time… all in one idea! You have to first plan and prepare for your guests to come over to the house. And then once you’re done prepping and get everyone over – you get to enjoy the party itself! Check out this list of things to do when hosting a small gathering at your home. Estimated Time You Can Pass with Hosting a Party:

8+ Hours

Follow the 39+ step self-love list What’s a self-love list you ask? It’s a list you create or follow, of things that’ll help you be at peace with yourself. Essentially it’s a list of things you can do to help you de-stress and TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! No – you’re not too busy to do this. No you’re not being selfish. Check out the article 39 Self-Care Ideas For Those Who Struggle With Self-Love from Lonerwolf.com to get started on practicing self-love. Stretch or Do Yoga

Call someone you care about

Take a nap

Read a Book or Magazine

things to do online to pass time

Play a Classic or Retro Video Game…For Free! Let’s be honest – we’ve all probably played a Mario Bros. game. If not… Well, that’s something you should remedy! Video games get a bad rap sometimes, but it really shouldn’t. Just like anything else – moderation is key. Video games have many benefits – fun being the biggest – and should be tried. You can absolutely kill an afternoon at home playing a great game. I suggest starting with the classics 🙂 Try Playing Some of These Games: 32 Video Games You Have To Play Before You Die Have a computer controller or keyboard handy?



You can play almost any retro video game from an online Emulator! Check out these two websites to try it out:

playemulator.com&

emulatoronline.com

Estimated Time You Can Pass Playing Retro Video Games:

Endless

Message or Email someone you admire We all have an idol or person we admire. Whether they inspired you to do something new or push yourself to improve in an area of your life you’ve always wanted – writing to them can be a great outlet to show your appreciation. The key is don’t have much expectations in receiving a response, but if you do – it’ll be an amazing feeling! Follow them on Twitter or their Facebook page – write a comment in response to a recent post of theirs, or craft a heartfelt comment. You never know – they may respond! How cool would that be? Read this great article on tips for reaching out to someone you admire. Estimated Time You Can Pass Emailing An Idol:

1 Hour

Browse your social media feeds I really don’t want to suggest this, but browsing social media is one of the most popular things to do when you’re bored. Whether it’s catching up on a friend or family member’s latest baby photos, checking out a news article, posting a funny video, or just doing some good ole’ Facebook stalking – social media is fun for a reason. It connects people and helps them communicate with each other. Just don’t get too caught up spending too much time on social media – as studies have shown too much time spent on social media has negative effects. For a complete list of social media websites, you can try, check out our list of websites to visit when you’re bored. Estimated Time You Can Pass Browsing Social Media:

A few minutes+ (careful with this one!)

Splurge on yourself & go shopping If you have the ability to do so – shopping online is always a fun way to treat yourself! Browsing new things to buy can always kill time, if you want it to. 🙂 For a complete list of social media websites, you can try, check out our list of websites to visit when you’re bored. Estimated Time You Can Pass Shopping Online:

15 minutes+

Bargain hunt for a good deal I classify bargain hunting as being different than just shopping online (as mentioned above). Bargain hunting you’re looking for the BEST deal, while shopping online is just looking for things you need or want. Sure – you want a better price if you can but you’re not going to stress over it. There are a number of websites you can go hunting for bargains online when you’re bored. This one can keep you busy for quite a while, if you’re really digging deep for the best deal on a new item you want. A few websites to visit that I like to go bargain hunting on: Pricegrabber.com

Amazon.com

Slickdeals.net

Retailmenot.com

Woot.com Resource: 9 sites to find the best deals Estimated Time You Can Pass Bargain Hunting:

15 minutes+

Browse for an online learning course

Read up on current events & news Photo by Teuobk I love staying current on new events and news. It’s one of my favorite things to do when killing time at home. Although it may be grim or depressing at times, it’s still important to stay informed about the news and events happening around you. Personally, I browse Reddit a lot, but there are hundreds (if not thousands) of websites you can visit to find the

latest local, or worldwide news. If you’re bored, I highly recommend reading up on the daily news. Reading the news has a myriad of benefits, too.

Reading the news is educational Reading news helps you to develop an open mind Reading news can help slow down aging Reading news can enhance your creativity Reading news is a source of inspiration & knowledge Reading news helps you to improve your own storytelling Reading news improves your language skills Reading news provides interesting conversation with others Estimated Time You Can Pass Reading News:

30 minutes+

Listen to music Listening and creating music has been enjoyable for humans for as far back as history has been written. Chances are you have a favorite artist or music genre, so crank those tunes if you’re sitting around at home bored! Music isn’t just something fun to do – but also has positive effects on your health. According to studies found in an article entitled – Five Ways Music Can Make You Healthier – music has several benefits to our well-being. Check out our giant list of music genres to find something new to listen to! Listening to music has NEVER been easier too. You can listen to the following music sources, for FREE: Spotify

Local Radio

Satellite Radio

Pandora Radio

Apple Musicmusi

Google Play Music

YouTube Estimated Time You Can Pass Listening to Music:

Unlimited

Meditate to a video or audio course Meditating has become much more popular thing to do in recent years, and for good reason! We live in a society that is moving at a million miles an hour – but that’s not always such a great thing for your body and mind. Let yourself slow down and listen to how your mind and body responds. There are TONS of free resources available to get started. So do yourself a favor, and try this out when you’re home alone one on your computer one night. Check out this great article with a number for free meditation resources and courses, or this guided meditation beginner guide.

Listen to a podcast or the Radio Have you gotten into listening to podcasts yet? If not, you might want to check one out if you’re bored at home. It’s becoming a very popular medium of entertainment – check out this crazy stat about podcast numbers! They’re becoming more popular than ever. I’m guilty of at least one of the stats mentioned – “Habitual fans and listeners will listen to at least 7 podcasts per week.” Podcasts have many topics, guests, hosts, and cover pretty much anything that may interest you. Personally, I’d take a topic you absolutely love, search in google for a podcast and see what you can find! Head over to Listennotes.com and search for a topic to get started. Estimated Time You Can Pass Listening to Podcasts:

Unlimited

Trace down your ancestry & family history

Take a relaxing bath or shower

Search for a new website to Visit If you’re bored online, why not try looking for a new website to browse to pass some time? The internet is a BIG place, with millions of websites just waiting to be explored if you’re looking for something to do. We put together a great list of websites to visit when you’re bored to get you started!

(manicure, paint nails, face-mask)

Plan a travel or road trip

Photo by Moyan_Brenn

Traveling is a great way to pass the time – but many times you’ll want to plan these trips ahead of time. This tends to take some time, depending on your destination.

Here’s an amazing, in-depth plan trip guide to help you get started.

Sign up for daily fantasy sports (Draftkings for example)

Take online quizzes

Watch Something fun

Productive Projects & Ideas to Keep Busy

Instead of sitting home doing something for the sake of doing something – try doing something productive instead!

Start an Indoor Garden A not very helpful idea for you to do if you’re reading this in winter (or live in an apartment), but starting a garden is very rewarding. Oh, wait! You can start a garden – if you want to try an indoor garden! You’d be amazing the things you can do at home, if you put your mind to it. Even gardening during winter! Growing plants should absolutely be on that short list of things you should try to undertake to keep busy. Pruning, weeding, feedings, water – there’s a lot to do when caring for a new garden. The satisfaction at the end – so good! Read this article on How to Grow an Indoor Garden and get busy growing some veggies!

Being productive in your downtime will give you peace of mind, and give you a sense of accomplishment.

There are so many things you can do that’s productive – you just need to know where to start.

The best part is doing something productive when you’re bored, is it will make you feel less guilty about splurging on yourself from time to time, and make the time you spend on yourself even more valuable!

Drink a full glass of water or a cup of tea I know this isn’t the most exciting thing on the list of productive things you can do when you’re bored – but it’s an important one! Drinking water and staying hydrated has an insane health benefits that many of us seem to ignore more than we should. An article from Harvard Medical School shows individuals who consumed more water can help control weight gain and improving overall health. This guide on how to drink more water and staying hydrated has some great tips on how to drink more water.

Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable

Something you can do is to challenge yourself in ways you never thought of before.

It’s one great way to force yourself to grow as a person, by being in uncomfortable situations you’d typically avoid.

You’ll experience things you never thought possible, expanding your point of view and your sense of the world.

Resource Guides for Challenging Yourself to be Uncomfortable:

Clean out your closet of old or unused clothes

Of of the best feelings is opening up your closet and your clothes neat and in order.

Do yourself a favor, and take a half hour to go through your closet. Toss anything you haven’t worn in so long you can’t remember the last time you wore it!

Start Cleaning Out Your Closets:How to Clear Out Your Closet Quickly Without Regret

Closet Cleaning Checklist

Clean up your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc What do I mean by “cleaning up your Facebook”, you ask? Unfriend, or follow those annoying people you can’t stand to see on

your social feeds.

your social feeds. Unsubscribe from that a group or page that you never visit anymore.

Check your security settings and ensure they’re set properly.

Updating your personal information if necessary (especially for your LinkedIn profile).

Clean up your emails Having an inbox full of unopened emails is the worst. Chances are you’ve subscribed to at least one newsletter that you have never opened. This is a great, small project you can do in a short amount of time. Again, little things add up – and this will save you a lot of time down the line! Here, let me help you get started on unsubscribing to email lists: Go to Unroll.me and sign in to your

email account

email account Unroll.me will then display a list of subscriptions you have

Choose to unsubscribe from them if you want

You can also choose to “rollup” certain subscriptions as well –

which will combine these emails into one. If you don’t want to go this route with Unroll.me, follow this great guide on how to unsubscribe and de-clutter your email by TheVerge.

Clean and sanitize your phone, laptop, or tablet (and their cases!)

Create a list of books You want to read

Create a vision board for the year

Some of us are extremely visual in how we relate to things.

Creating a vision board helps you visualize different goals or accomplishments you’d like to achieve by a certain point of time.

Check out this great article on how to make a vision board if this sounds like something interesting to do.

De-clutter your house

One of the most productive things you can do when you’re bored is to de-clutter your house.

Similar to cleaning out your closet, getting rid of unneeded items around the house will have a lot of positive benefits on your life.

De-cluttering and reducing the items you have around the house has plenty of benefits, as told by the Mayo clinic.

this will reduce anxiety.

Simplelionheartlife also gives many reasons why living a minimalist life and de-cluttering for self-care is a positive change anyone can make.

Here are a few guides and checklists you can follow to start de-cluttering

your home:

Round up old items to donate

Chances are a salvation army, or other local charity would be more than willing to accept donations.

Exercise your extra energy off

Feng Shui your house

File your taxes

Is it tax season? Did you know that nearly 7 million US Taxpayers fail to file their taxes each year?

That’s nearly 5% of the entire country that fails to file their income taxes…EVERY YEAR! Trust me, you don’t want to be part of that exclusive group.

If it’s tax season, this is definitely a project you can do when you’re bored. If you’re not comfortable doing taxes yourself, start looking for an accountant instead. If you are, there are plenty of ways you can file taxes online now without needing to visit with an accountant.

Find a part-time or freelance job

One of the more productive things you can do in your spare time is finding ways to make extra money.

Finding work online or as a freelance worker has never been easier.

There are several legitimate websites you can visit that offer such opportunities.

Guides to Get Started with Freelancing for Extra Money:

72 Best Freelance Jobs Websites

26 Freelance Jobs to Do from Home

90 Great Websites to Find Freelance Jobs

Find a NEW podcast to listen to

Fine-tune your LinkedIn profile

Even if you’re not actively looking for a new job or to network with people, keeping your LinkedIn profile up-to-date should be a yearly

project.

Millions of people lose their job every year, for reasons outside their control.

So – If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you should absolutely start one.

This is not just another social media website. It’s oriented towards careers and improving connections in whatever field you’re an expert in.

You might have a job right now – but nothing in life is for certain. Jobs are (sadly) lost every day.

Here are a couple guides for you on making an awesome LinkedIn Profile:

10 Ways to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out

The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Professional LinkedIn Profile

Go through the photos on your phone

Groom your pet

One great thing you can do when you’re bored is grooming your

pets!

It’ll give you something to do, and they’ll love you even more than they

already do (unless they’re a cat that’s getting a bath).

No, it’s not always fun. Yes, it’ll kill some time when you’re bored.

Check out this great article on tips for grooming your pets in your downtime.

Write down that invention idea

Join a 30 day challenge

Learn a new language

Learning a new language when you’re bored has never been more easy.

There are tons of websites you can use to learn a language, for free.

Learning a new language can be fun, but even if it wasn’t – it’s absolutely

a productive way to spend your extra time.

Even if you only learn some basics, you can at least boast to your friends

that you can speak more than your native language!

Check out our list of websites to visit for a list of all the different websites and apps you can use to learn a

new language.

Learn a Handyman skill

Learn some computer keyboard shortcuts

Be honest – how many of you reading this know how to copy and paste text on a computer using Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V on your keyboard?

Instead of right clicking, and clicking “copy”. Then right clicking and selecting “paste”, you can just hold a few buttons down! (see above)

If I were to bet, many people don’t know how to use simple keyboard shortcuts – even for copy and paste.

Learning shortcuts on your keyboard (pressing 2 or more keys at the same time to perform a function quickly), can be incredibly helpful at home or

at work.

Learning to use keyboard shortcuts will save you time, and makes your

ability to work on a computer easier and more efficient.

According to Brainscape, people could save up to 8 days of productivity per year by learning basic keyboard shortcuts.

My personal favorites are Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+A.

Those two shortcuts can undo an action, or select all text on a page.

Locking your computer is even easier when you use the Windows key +L function.

Read through this article on the top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know for more shortcuts you can learn.

Make a budget or financial goal

Not everyone likes to use or follow a budget, but they’re incredibly useful in tracking spending, saving, and retirement goals.

A shocking number of people don’t use a budget, and even worse – don’t have any plans for retirement.

Do yourself and your family a solid and get started on a financial budget – even if it’s a very simple one.

If you don’t like budgeting, there are other solutions as well. Using

something like the 50/30/20 budget is a simple way to start thinking about how your money is being used.

You don’t need any fancy apps or websites (though there are a number of them available on the market!), and can easily get by with an excel spreadsheet.

You can even go old school and go paper and pen too! Or try this very simple budget calculator

Here are a few guides to start making a budget:

How To Create A Budget

The Budget Mom – Guides

Express Gratitude towards someone you appreciate

set professional goals for yourself

set Personal goals for yourself

Organize a yard sale

Organize the apps on your phone

Set some personal goals for yourself

Sign up for a local class

Looking for something to do with your significant other?

Try signing up for a local class!

You can learn a number of fun things in local classes, such as dancing, cooking, yoga, painting, self defense – or any other numbers of things to do!

You’re only limited to what’s being offered near you.

Not everything needs to be learned from home. Get out of the house and learn something new in your free time.

If you have a friend or family member to tag along with you – even better!

Update your gadgets

Update your contacts information

Update your Resume

Wash your homes windows

Wash your car

Work on your Amazon wishlist

Start a Journal

Write some online reviews for a recent purchase you made

Write your will

Make a Household Product

Did you know you can make just about anything you need to use to clean your house, among other things?

This is a productive project that will save money, and kill some time in the process.

Source: 50 Products You Can Make at Home to Save Money (and be Healthier)

And since you just learned how to make some household cleaning products…

Clean a neglected place in your house

Follow along with this Guide: 50 Places People Forget to Clean

Creative Things To Do When Bored

We all get the itch to do something creative when we’re bored. It’s just

going to happen.

It’s human nature to let creativity go wild when you’re bored.

Try doing any of the below ideas to flex your creative muscles and have some fun while doing it!

Change up your home décor

Create and fly a paper airplane

So this is a really cool website that gives different airplanes you can make out of paper.

Sort airplane options by difficulty construction and type of airplane on the left hand side of the page to narrow things down.

Check out Foldnfly to make some fun paper airplanes for free!

Color a picture or coloring book (children or adult version)

Create a movie or fun motion picture

Create a scrapbook or photo book

Scrap-booking ticks off a lot of boxes on the creative side of things to do when you’re bored.

You get to play with pictures, paper, and sharp objects! What could go wrong?!

Scrapbooking Guides:

Scrapbook Ideas for Beginners: 25 Inspiring Layouts

How to Make a Scrapbook Page

Create your own candle(s)

Put together a care package

Crochet something

Draw, sketch, or trace a picture

Decorate cookies or a cake that you’ve baked

Do Needle Point

Edit photos for keeping or sharing with others

Knit something fun to stay warm in

Knitting is a great way to pass time and flex your creative muscles.

It has also been shown to help hand eye coordination, reduce stress, and keep your mind busy.

Guides on Learning How to Knit:

Get Started and Learn How to Knit

Knitting 101: Learn How to Knit

Make a collage of pictures

Make a snow globe

Make homemade slime

This may be more for the kids of the house, but you can create homemade slime to play with when you’re bored.

Check out this great guide from homescienetools.com on various ways to make slime.

Make homemade soap

Paint something fun

Record music

Sew something cool

Sculpt an interesting piece out of clay

Write a children’s story

Write a Novel

Write a Poem

Write a letter to yourself in the future

Create one of these Awesome Craft Projects:



42 Craft Ideas from Favecrafts.com

Wrapping Up Things You Can Do When Bored

I hope you’ve found these ideas for things to do helpful.

There are literally hundreds of other things you can be doing other than twiddling your thumbs, hoping for your boredom to go away.

Whether you’re looking for something fun OR productive to do, the possibilities are endless.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions for things people can do when

their bored, please contact me!