The Four Stages of Boredom: How to Keep From Going Stir Crazy at Home
In November, a friend jokingly told me the apocalypse was coming. Now just a few months later, that joke feels all too real. While there are no zombies, our new normal is unsettling. As we struggle to figure out a new routine for ourselves and our housebound families, the big question floating around is “What now?”
If you’ve ever wished for life to slow down for a second so you could catch up, now is your chance. You can check things off that long to-do list that only ever seems to get longer. But eventually you will reach the bottom. Or, if you don’t, it will be because everyone in your house is going crazy with nothing to do and preventing you from getting anything done.
The first stage of boredom is when you start thinking of the normal things: read a book, watch a TV show, play a board game. Unfortunately, Monopoly is only fun until the same person wins five times.
Then you’re in the second stage of boredom, in which somewhat less usual activities are called for. Second-stage pastimes include hosting a baking competition or staging a photo shoot.
Time passes. You don’t burn down the house (congrats), but you can only bake so much. Now the third stage of boredom commences. In this stage, your activities will become slightly more extreme. You might cook a homemade hibachi-style dinner on a small griddle, or build a track-like obstacle course for a ball to roll down, extending from the third floor of your house all the way down to the basement, where the ball plunks neatly into a cup (fun until you have to clean it up).
Stage four — the final stage of boredom — must be avoided at all costs. Typical symptoms include staring blankly at walls, the inability to solve 20-piece puzzles, and obsession with fire.
These phases are not exclusive to teenagers. They manifest in young children as well, but present different symptoms (of which one must still be wary). Thankfully, small children are easy to please. Just whip out a good baking soda experiment in the kitchen, or set up a quick obstacle course and they will be very happy…as long as you have a minimum of twenty backup plans for when their attention span runs out.
What to Do During Quarantine – for Teens (and Adults Too)
Hold a baking competition.
Make a reading list … or finally read the books on your current one.
Clean out your closet, donate clothes you don’t want anymore.
Complete an unfinished project.
Go camping in your backyard, cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows over a fire.
Make your own ball run.
Create your own Escape the Room.
Learn a new instrument — there are lots of how-to videos online.
Solve a Rubik’s Cube.
See which of your favorite artists is live-streaming.
Download Duolingo or an app similar and learn a new language. (Can you have a dinner conversation in that language?)
Start your own YouTube channel.
Have you ever done at-home yoga? Maybe it’s time to start.
Make bath salts and have a relaxing bubble bath.
Call your grandparents.
Discover new artists.
Host an online (or family) Scrabble tournament.
Cook a homestyle hibachi grill for dinner.
Play Family Feud: kids vs. adults.
Make a movie.
Make a podcast.
Learn magic tricks.
Stage a photoshoot.
Teach your pet a new trick.
What to Do During Quarantine – for Young Kids (Still Good for Teens and Adults!)
Do science projects and experiments.
Make a home zoo with your stuffed animals. (What do you know about these animals? Learn about them and teach your family!)
Gymnastics at home. Tape on the floor as a balance beam. Move furniture for space to put down soft cushions and try some cartwheels.
Play hot lava or fish out of water.
Create an at-home obstacle course.
Have a dance class.
Make your own ball run.
Paint, draw, and sculpt, then host an art show at the end of the week.
Plant some seeds and watch them grow.
Pack a suitcase and travel to different rooms in your house.
Paper airplane contest? (Is it fast? Accurate? Sleek?)
Draw a comic book.
Write a story.
Make instruments from old cans and rubber bands.
Put on a play… are the costumes good? The scenery? The plot?
Make a bug home and go on a bug hunt.
Use recycled objects to build a bridge.
Have an indoor picnic.
Go camping inside or in the backyard.
Build a pillow fort.
Play a board game.
Have a dance party.
Make a scavenger hunt.
Go indoor bowling with old bottles and a soft ball.
Flatten out a box and draw roads for Matchbox cars to drive on.
Megan Lowry is a first-year student at Barnard College studying economics and French.
