How to Be Less Bored (for Teen Girls)
Find new music., Read., Meditate., Revisit your childhood., Call someone you haven't spoken to in a while., Watch something unusual., Create a schedule., Be bored.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find new music.
Read a new music website, search for playlists by a musician you like, or listen to a website that makes suggestions.
Scroll through your social media and tell yourself you have to listen to the first song any friend has posted.
Listen to that, and if you don't like it do it again.
Look up your favorite music artists and find out who they call an influence.
You might be surprised by the sounds your favorites grew up hearing.
Alternatively, look through your music to find something you haven't listened to in forever.
Take a trip down sonic memory lane. -
Step 2: Meditate.
Read a novel, a comic, or poetry.
Look through bookshelves if there are any in your house.
Read magazine articles online about a topic that intrigues you.
If you don't have any books in the house, visit your local library.
If you can't find the books you want, sometimes you can order them through interlibrary loan: ask your librarian, or look on your library's website.
Read up.
If you're a good reader and are bored with YA, read books written for adults.
If you don't understand everything, don't worry.
There is value in reading difficult literature, and it can often be more interesting to read something you don't understand than something you find easy.
Read some old YA authors.
Before YA was popular, authors like Diana Wynne Jones, Tove Jansson, Roald Dahl, and Noel Streatfeild wrote novels for children that are appropriate for teen and adult readers. , If you can't think of anything to do, try thinking of nothing at all.
Do a concentration meditation in which you focus on one thing, such as a candle flame, a flower, or a repetitive motion.
Focus for several minutes.
When your mind wanders, remind yourself to focus on what you are doing.Do a mindfulness meditation in which you focus on your senses.
Pay attention to your breathing, how each part of your body feels, and what you can hear, see, smell, and taste., Go back to anything that made you happy as a kid.
Build a pillow sheet fort, dig up a long-forgotten stuffed animal, or try to remember and write down an imagination game that used to fascinate you.
Find an old drawing and attempt to recreate it—it's harder than it sounds.
Find an old photo album and learn what your parents thought was fashionable when they were your age.
Pose for your baby pictures again-try to get the lighting, the outfit, the pose and the facial expression just right. , You can call your grandfather or an old friend who moved out of state.
Catch up on this person's life by asking lots of questions.
Ask what he or she has been thinking about lately, worrying about lately, and enjoying lately. , If you normally watch comedies, look up a documentary.
If you normally watch shows, watch a lengthy feature film.
Don't just go for whatever gets suggested: look up lists of the best art house films of all time, the greatest films ever made, the most beautiful animated films, the documentaries that changed the world.
Watch a comedy from the 1930s and wrap your head around the ways humor has changed.
If you need another guideline, pick your film according to a rule.
For instance, use the Bechdel test.
You can only watch a film if it has (1) at least two named female characters who (2) have at least one conversation together (3) about anything other than men., This sounds boring, but think about it: boredom feels like you're in an endless desert of time.
A schedule helps you shape the time you have.
Think about what you need to do today (homework, chores), what you want to do today, and then write yourself up a schedule of those things.
Include the basic stuff, like "lunch."
Boredom is unpleasant, but it can also be useful.
If you were busy or entertained all the time, you wouldn't have time to form any life-changing thoughts.
When you're bored, you unconsciously take stock of your life and set new goals.
If you weren't bored, you wouldn't change, so take it to the next level: think about the things that have made you bored, and figure out what needs to change.For instance, if you are always alone after school, now could be the time to join an after-school organization.
If you are bored because you don't have many friends, making friends could be your new goal.
If you are bored because you have lost interest in the things you like, or you can't focus on anything, you might be depressed.
If you are anxious and bored, you might have ADHD.Talk to an adult or a doctor about your boredom. -
Step 3: Revisit your childhood.
-
Step 4: Call someone you haven't spoken to in a while.
-
Step 5: Watch something unusual.
-
Step 6: Create a schedule.
-
Step 7: Be bored.
Detailed Guide
Read a new music website, search for playlists by a musician you like, or listen to a website that makes suggestions.
Scroll through your social media and tell yourself you have to listen to the first song any friend has posted.
Listen to that, and if you don't like it do it again.
Look up your favorite music artists and find out who they call an influence.
You might be surprised by the sounds your favorites grew up hearing.
Alternatively, look through your music to find something you haven't listened to in forever.
Take a trip down sonic memory lane.
Read a novel, a comic, or poetry.
Look through bookshelves if there are any in your house.
Read magazine articles online about a topic that intrigues you.
If you don't have any books in the house, visit your local library.
If you can't find the books you want, sometimes you can order them through interlibrary loan: ask your librarian, or look on your library's website.
Read up.
If you're a good reader and are bored with YA, read books written for adults.
If you don't understand everything, don't worry.
There is value in reading difficult literature, and it can often be more interesting to read something you don't understand than something you find easy.
Read some old YA authors.
Before YA was popular, authors like Diana Wynne Jones, Tove Jansson, Roald Dahl, and Noel Streatfeild wrote novels for children that are appropriate for teen and adult readers. , If you can't think of anything to do, try thinking of nothing at all.
Do a concentration meditation in which you focus on one thing, such as a candle flame, a flower, or a repetitive motion.
Focus for several minutes.
When your mind wanders, remind yourself to focus on what you are doing.Do a mindfulness meditation in which you focus on your senses.
Pay attention to your breathing, how each part of your body feels, and what you can hear, see, smell, and taste., Go back to anything that made you happy as a kid.
Build a pillow sheet fort, dig up a long-forgotten stuffed animal, or try to remember and write down an imagination game that used to fascinate you.
Find an old drawing and attempt to recreate it—it's harder than it sounds.
Find an old photo album and learn what your parents thought was fashionable when they were your age.
Pose for your baby pictures again-try to get the lighting, the outfit, the pose and the facial expression just right. , You can call your grandfather or an old friend who moved out of state.
Catch up on this person's life by asking lots of questions.
Ask what he or she has been thinking about lately, worrying about lately, and enjoying lately. , If you normally watch comedies, look up a documentary.
If you normally watch shows, watch a lengthy feature film.
Don't just go for whatever gets suggested: look up lists of the best art house films of all time, the greatest films ever made, the most beautiful animated films, the documentaries that changed the world.
Watch a comedy from the 1930s and wrap your head around the ways humor has changed.
If you need another guideline, pick your film according to a rule.
For instance, use the Bechdel test.
You can only watch a film if it has (1) at least two named female characters who (2) have at least one conversation together (3) about anything other than men., This sounds boring, but think about it: boredom feels like you're in an endless desert of time.
A schedule helps you shape the time you have.
Think about what you need to do today (homework, chores), what you want to do today, and then write yourself up a schedule of those things.
Include the basic stuff, like "lunch."
Boredom is unpleasant, but it can also be useful.
If you were busy or entertained all the time, you wouldn't have time to form any life-changing thoughts.
When you're bored, you unconsciously take stock of your life and set new goals.
If you weren't bored, you wouldn't change, so take it to the next level: think about the things that have made you bored, and figure out what needs to change.For instance, if you are always alone after school, now could be the time to join an after-school organization.
If you are bored because you don't have many friends, making friends could be your new goal.
If you are bored because you have lost interest in the things you like, or you can't focus on anything, you might be depressed.
If you are anxious and bored, you might have ADHD.Talk to an adult or a doctor about your boredom.
About the Author
Jeffrey Reed
Experienced content creator specializing in organization guides and tutorials.
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