Things to do when bored, without a screen

Small, screen-free ideas for a slow afternoon. Choose how long you have, and take one idea at a time.

How to use these ideas

Choose how long you have, where you’d like to be, and whether you’re on your own. Then take the idea you’re given, or ask for another. You’ll see every idea that fits before any of them comes around again. Save the ones you like for another day; they’re kept in this browser.

Why try something without a screen?

When you’re bored, a phone is the quickest way out. These ideas are a slower way: something to do with your hands, your ears or your feet, like peeling an orange in one ribbon, dusting a single shelf, or walking with no destination. Most need nothing more than what’s already around you.

Things to do when bored at home

Half the ideas work indoors. Some are five minutes long, like listening for the furthest sound you can hear. Others take an afternoon, like a vegetable broth left to simmer on low heat.

Things to do when bored outside

The outdoor ideas need little more than a park, a garden or a street: stand barefoot in the grass, watch clouds, skip stones, or hunt for small details on the houses near you.

All 40 screen-free ideas

Things to do at home alone

Listen for the furthest sound (5 minutes). Close your eyes in your room. Don’t listen to the immediate sounds; reach with your ears for the furthest sound you can identify: distant traffic, a wind gust, a neighbor’s chime.
Peel an orange in one ribbon (5 minutes). Take a small orange or clementine. Peel it slowly in one single unbroken ribbon. Inhale the bright citrus oils left on your fingertips.
The window watch (5 minutes). Sit in a chair next to the nearest window. Watch the sky, branches, or street without touching any device until you see three birds fly past.
Dust a single bookshelf (20 minutes). Choose just one shelf. Take down each book, wipe the wood, and turn each book over in your hands. Remember where you were when you read it.
A slow pot of loose-leaf tea (20 minutes). Boil fresh water. Put loose tea leaves or chamomile in a clear pot or mug. Watch the dried leaves uncurl and swirl as water warms them. Drink without music or screens.
Wipe the leaves of a houseplant (20 minutes). Take a soft damp rag and tenderly wipe the dust from each leaf of a houseplant. Notice the veins and emerald hues up close.
Lie on the floor and watch the ceiling (an hour). Lie flat on the floor with a folded towel beneath your head. Look up at the ceiling plaster or shadows. Let your thoughts drift without trying to solve anything.
Sketch one kitchen object (an hour). Pick up an ordinary wooden spoon or an egg. With a simple pencil, draw its contours and shadow on scrap paper. Not for art class; just to look deeply.
A nap under a heavy quilt (an afternoon). Pull the curtains halfway to create an amber glow. Crawl under a heavy quilt with no alarm set. If you sleep, sleep; if you just rest your eyes, that counts too.
An unhurried simmering pot (an afternoon). Chop carrots, leeks, and onions with steady, deliberate knife strokes. Let a vegetable broth simmer on low heat for hours, filling your rooms with rich warmth.

Things to do at home with someone

Five minutes back to back (5 minutes). Sit on a rug back-to-back with someone. Close your eyes and feel the rise and fall of each other’s breathing for five quiet minutes.
Read poems aloud in low light (20 minutes). Light a single beeswax candle. Take turns reading three short poems or book passages aloud to each other while listening without interruption.
Doodle together on one big sheet (20 minutes). Place a large sheet of butcher paper on the floor. Without speaking, draw winding lines, houses, and trees together using colored pencils or crayons.
Sort a drawer of forgotten trinkets (20 minutes). Empty a junk drawer, button tin, or key bowl onto the kitchen table together. Sort them into small ceramic dishes and tell the story behind each odd token.
A slow tea tasting (20 minutes). Brew two different herbal teas in mugs. Close your eyes and take turns guessing which herbs are in each cup purely by scent and warmth.
Turn the pages of old photo albums (an hour). Pull down physical photo albums, shoeboxes, or postcards. Look at them together, asking questions about forgotten haircuts, old cars, and faraway places.
Read side by side (an hour). Sit in the same room with someone you love. Both of you read physical books or magazines with phones placed in another room. No conversation needed; just shared quiet.
Bake bread from scratch (an afternoon). Knead yeast dough on a floured surface. Feel the elastic bounce beneath your palms, let it rise under a kitchen towel, and share the first hot heel with butter.
A board game afternoon (an afternoon). Dust off an old Scrabble, chess, or deck of playing cards. Make a pot of tea and play slowly on the rug with nowhere to be.
Make pasta or fold dumplings together (an afternoon). Mix flour and water by hand on the kitchen counter. Roll dough thin with a partner and fold little parcels together while chatting in soft voices.

Things to do outside on your own

Stand barefoot in the grass (5 minutes). Step into a backyard or park patch without socks or shoes. Stand still for five minutes. Feel the cool, damp earth and the dew under your feet.
Count the colors in the sky (5 minutes). Look straight up into the open sky. Count how many subtle gradients of blue, gray, white, or apricot you can identify before you look away.
Rest your hands on a tree (5 minutes). Find a mature tree. Place both hands flat against its trunk. Feel the deep ridges, lichen softness, and solid stillness that has stood through decades of weather.
Gather fallen treasures (20 minutes). Walk a block or garden path collecting small fallen items: an acorn cap, a dried pinecone, a feather, a striated pebble. Arrange them on your windowsill.
A pocket notebook in the sun (20 minutes). Take a small blank pad and pencil to the steps or patio. Write down five mundane things happening right now that will never happen in this exact way again.
Sit on a park bench and watch (20 minutes). Sit on a wooden bench under a tree. Watch dogs sniff grass, children chase leaves, and cyclists glide past. Hold no judgment, only gentle curiosity.
Watch clouds from a hillside (an hour). Lay a blanket over a patch of grass. Look up at the cumulus clouds shifting, dissolving, and reshaping over the horizon. Let your eyelids grow heavy.
A walk with no destination (an hour). Leave your phone on the kitchen table. Step outside your front door and turn left or right entirely on whim. Walk slow enough that a snail wouldn’t feel rushed.
Weed a garden bed by hand (an hour). Kneel in the garden bed or planter box. Pull intrusive weeds roots and all. Smell the dark loam on your hands and water the root crowns gently.
Follow a creek or shoreline (an afternoon). Follow a creek, river path, or shoreline on foot. Listen to moving water bubbling over stones. Stop to skip three flat stones across a still eddy.

Things to do outside with a friend

Listen to birdsong and whistle back (20 minutes). Sit under dense branches. Listen closely to bird calls. Try quietly whistling back or guessing what bird species is answering from the canopy.
Skip stones at the water (20 minutes). Search the shoreline together for smooth, flat slate stones. See who can achieve four gentle skips across the glassy surface.
Sit and watch the sunset (20 minutes). Walk to a westward-facing hilltop or park bench 15 minutes before sunset. Sit side-by-side in silence watching the sun slip beneath the skyline.
A neighborhood details hunt (an hour). Stroll through a residential neighborhood together. Spot stained glass windows, wrought iron gates, sleeping cats on porches, and vintage door knockers.
Plant seeds or bulbs together (an hour). Dig small furrows in the earth side by side. Place tulip bulbs or sweet pea seeds into the soil, cover them with earth, and water the garden together.
Sketch what’s behind each other (an hour). Sit facing each other in a park or courtyard. Without showing until the end, spend 30 minutes sketching the background scenery behind the other person.
Lie back and stargaze (an hour). Wrap yourselves in warm sweaters after dusk. Lie back on a dry tarp and look up into the night sky. Find a constellation you know, a slow-moving satellite, or a shooting star.
A thermos walk (an hour). Fill a metal thermos with hot coffee or ginger tea. Walk with a companion without phones. Find a scenic stoop or log to share the hot cup and warm conversation.
A picnic on a wool blanket (an afternoon). Pack simple provisions: sharp cheese, crusty sourdough, grapes, and cold cider. Spread a woolen blanket under an oak tree and eat with your fingers.
A slow farmers market wander (an afternoon). Walk slowly through an open-air market. Smell ripe peaches, run your fingers over artisan wooden bowls, and pick up fresh wildflowers together.