Dear Emma,

I’ve been at home for a couple months now. Spring semester is done and I’m not taking summer classes. I am running out of things to do, other than watching Netflix. Any tips to cure boredom or make me feel productive?

Sincerely,

“Cabin Fever”

Dear Cabin Fever,

Who knew someone could voice so accurately what I’m feeling at the moment? Joking aside — I’m sorry to hear this summer isn’t going as you had planned.

My first piece of advice is to pick up a hobby if you haven’t done so already. It feels great to do something creative, even if you aren’t very good at it yet. 

In my case, I started knitting early on in quarantine and now I’ve moved on to watercolor painting and making cards. 

You don’t have to do what I did though — choose something you are interested in and work on it. Set goals for yourself so it doesn’t feel like you are doing something pointless. 

If you know the ‘why’ for what you’re doing, doing it will be more fun. Maybe that means learning to cook a new dish so you can serve it to your parents or roommates, drawing portraits so you can make a gift for your significant other, or making a card to brighten someone’s day.

If you’ll look closely, those ideas all have one thing in common: doing something to benefit others. My best recommendation to cure boredom is to do something that isn’t for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, we can all benefit from a “treat yo’self” mindset every now and then, but you’ll get more satisfaction out of doing something for someone else. 

I hope these tips help you cure your boredom! If all else fails, you can always keep watching Netflix. 

Take care, 

Emma