Ask HN: What do you do when you are bored outside work? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What do you do when you are bored outside work?

7 pointsincongruento9 comments

I have a decent job. I have fun at work. It is after the working hours that I can't bear. I am bored constantly. I don't like to engage in mindless crap like Netflix or anything on internet TBH. And I don't like to engage in anything too intellectually exhausting like reading novels.

The long term effects of this are showing up. I go to bed unrelaxed, so don't have a great sleep. What do you folks do which is enriching and relaxing at the same time to kill off boredom?

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I used to go indoor bouldering. Now too tired unfortunately. I have been climbing a bit (indoor as well) and if I could spare 3 hours two times a week, it would have been awesome hoby :) Right ammount of strength, endurance and puzzle-solving :P And many places have support for solo climibng as well.

These days I often just drink a pint of beer and play a simple boardame with my wife, after we managed to get our daughter to sleep :)

Long walks in nature. Long enough to get you physically tired. The green surroundings are scientifically proven to have calming and soothing effect (no music/podcasts on the go though!). However, in my climate it's viable for maybe 6 months in a year. The other six months suck - that's when I get sad and gain weight.

In a world inwhich the gap between reading a book and watching tv is the difference between mindless and exhausting your options are pretty limited.

Maybe weight lifting / other fitness related activity? If nothing else you should sleep well if you're getting physical activity in.

I do some bike riding (Mountain biking, road biking, and/or BMX), and lift weights. I also like to hang out at the local hackerspace occasionally and just talk to people there, see what projects other people are working on, etc.

Mostly I work though. Aside from the 40'ish hours a week I put in at the day-job, I put in probably around another 40 hours a week working on my side project. So I don't really have a lot of idle time. I do try to get some reading in though... usually for 45 minutes or so before I fall asleep at night, or ever now and then I'll take a long, hot, bath and read in the tub.

"KILLING TIME!" roared the dog—so furiously that his alarm went off. "It's bad enough wasting time without killing it." And he shuddered at the thought.

Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Have you found anything that strikes a good balance between intellectual stimulation and relaxation?

I've found a number of hobbies that help with this. Two that come to mind that work for different reasons are exercise and drawing. Exercise lets my mind wander, builds dexterity, and tires me out (among many other benefits), and I find that drawing is a great way to relax and think in a different mode than my day job.

Honestly, if you find "reading novels" intellectually exhausting, you're setting the bar pretty low :) Maybe some sport?

Personally I like to build little aircraft models, read, or play board games with my wife.

Board games are a good one. I recently started picking them up again after not playing since childhood.

You get to socialize, get a varying level of mental strategy in there, and it's fun. Depending on how tired or what mood you are in, you can pick a different game. Also, like you mentioned, a great bonding experience with your SO and/or friends.

Yoga, meditation, music production, writing, high CBD cannabis.

I haven't been to work in 2 years...

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