What to do when there is nothing to do.

I have spent my Easter holidays in Swale, Kent, and as lovely as it is here (in some places at least), the entertainment provisions here are far from satisfactory. This reminds me of my village holidays when we had a lovely time in the countryside with little to do in the area. I had to come up with ways of entertaining myself without the input of the outside world. And these are things I do when there is nothing to do.

One caveat, I do think that not doing anything is really important sometimes. By this I mean not engaging your brain in a conscious intense mental activity. Instead, sit in a garden, go for a walk or listen to music. But sometime you want to do something that will feel like you are relaxing, but maybe the entertainment opportunities are not available. So here are some simple ideas to try out.

My favourite activity when there is nothing to do is reading. I think that's such a wonderful thing to spend time doing, especially that in a busy world I sometimes rarely have time to sit down with a book and a cup of tea. Although I try to read a handful of pages before bed each evening, having a more extended period of time for reading lets you really get into the story line and imagine all the characters. I'm currently reading War and Peace, so really need many of those extended reading periods to actually finish the book before the summer.

If I'm not reading, writing is another way I spend time when I'm looking for entertainment. I start a lot of ideas for blog posts, doing a little bit of research as well, looking for inspiration or just jotting down random thoughts. I have a place for writing spiritual reflections in my planner as well, so sometimes this is what I might be writing. I find verbalising and writing down your thoughts and emotions so helpful: it allows to you gain different perspectives

Another one is solving puzzles. I'm a bit geeky, so I have a book of logic puzzles and also two books full of Maths puzzles (The Amazing Mathematical Amusement Arcade and Mathematical Funfair, are these titles absolutely wonderful?). This might not be everybody's idea of entertainment, but I find it hard to stop once I get into these. It's just so exciting to be able to do so much with your brain. You may prefer a crossword, cryptic crossword or a cross number like this one here when you simply need to fit all the numbers into the grid.

This might not be everybody's idea of entertainment, but organising is something that I might get on when there is nothing to do. By organising I mean writing down a weekly menu, making a shopping list, organising meetings or coffee dates, going through unwanted house items, folding laundry or anything at all that makes your life a little bit more orderly. 

I don't do arts&crafts very often, but this is another kind of activity you might enjoy. You might keep a supply of materials at home ready to use for your projects, but nothing exceptional is needed really. Origami requires just a piece of paper (I might use old magazines for that), you might want to try colouring (I really enjoy this since I cannot draw myself at all) or maybe you could pick and edit some pictures to add to a scrapbook which you would give to somebody as a gift. I have a colouring book with icons and also a unicorn colouring book I got from Mr Magic, but possibilities are endless for your arts&crafts. Knitting, embroidery, cake decorating, painting... Do whatever makes you happy.

Exploring natural surroundings is such a good idea for now that the weather has finally improved. You don't have to go far, there might be a beautiful park close by, a different neighbourhood or maybe just your own garden if you have one. These days we tend to spend so much time indoors, that I think getting out of the house and enjoying the nature is so important for our wellbeing. I enjoy walks by the sea, I try to do it every Sunday I'm at home. Looking at the waves gives me peace.

I don't include watching movies in this post, even though streaming services are widely available. Movies are the last thing I would choose as entertainment, unless there is something very specific that I would like to watch. I've found that watching movies usually leads me to mindlessly spending a couple of hours and afterwards I don't feel that relaxed at all. I might choose to listen to a podcast though, to learn something new or catch up with the news. But really, the activities above are the ones I tend to go to when there is nothing to do. These help me to unwind and really feel refreshed and enriched. This is what I value and this is what I prioritise.