Dealing With Boredom 101

I know this might sound funny, but when I’m bored, I always try to avoid picking up two things-scissors and a matchbox or lighter. Boredom can make us do crazy things, and I’m no different. My two rules for dealing with boredom are simple: avoid playing with scissors and never pick up a matchbox. About a month ago, I was at home and idle. I had just completed my semester’s exams, and was home, doing nothing. My parents, siblings, cousins, and friends were not with me. So, it was just me and the house. In situations like these, your cellphone is the best device to help battle and win against boredom. To make matters worse, my cellphone was dead. Our transformer had been faulty for days, so my devices were dead with no hope of charging them.

Of course, in such a situation, I would’ve thought of reading or re-reading a book I had already read, but I didn’t go home with any book. All odds were against me that day. I’d spent minutes counting the ceilings. “Character” is a game I play with my furniture when I’m bored. I give them cool names and engage with them. That day, I got tired of doing that and even the furniture was tired of me. After minutes of staying and doing nothing, I got up and walked to the kitchen. I caught sight of a matchbox and I picked it. The next moment, I’m in the sitting room, burning papers and enjoying the sight. I took it too far that I almost burnt a part of the cotton. On another occasion when this happened, I got hold of a pair of scissors and cut my hair. The next day, I went to the salon to correct it. Now, you know why I avoid scissors and matchboxes when I’m bored?

Truly, boredom can be the worst thing to happen to a person. It can make you do crazy things. It is severe for people who are especially active. So, what do you do when you are bored? How do you treat boredom? To make things clear, I don’t think I can ever be bored if I have my cellphone with me and it is loaded with data. All I need to do is to download anime or watch cool reels on Instagram. So, I’ll answer this question from the perspective that my cell phone is not with me.

When it comes to battling boredom, the best thing that helps the most is sleep. This has proven to be effective more than 70 percent of the time. When my phone is dead and I have nothing to do at all, the best thing to do is to take a cold shower and sleep. Unfortunately, some people find it difficult to sleep during the day. It is even better when the weather is cold and nice, but when it is not, it disrupts the “flow of sleep.”

Another thing I do when I’m bored is read books. Here in school, I have so many unread books- most of which I stole from my mom’s library. I have noticed that when I’m bored, instead of starting a new book, I prefer reading old books. I prefer to read particular pages. I can’t count the number of times I have read my favorite novel- Night Train by Judith Clarke. Whenever I am bored and my devices are dead, I read the first and last chapters. On rare days, I read Lord of the Flies.

There you have it. These are the things I do to treat boredom.

Thanks for reading.