be by yourself with nothing to do
I’ve always thought it necessary to spend time with yourself. I think spending time all on your own is really beneficial to understanding who you are, what you like, and what you want. I’m someone who loves to be around people, almost to a fault. If I can help it, I almost never turn down the opportunity to spend time with my family and friends. So, I understand the feeling of needing or wanting to be around people all or most of the time, especially when you have great people around you. But honestly spending time with yourself can feel just as valuable and is something I try to work into my routine when I can. Now I’m not talking about being by yourself when you’re doing homework or watching TV, I mean be by yourself with absolutely nothing to do. I find its in these moments where I make the most sense out of who I am or want to be. That sounds so corny but its true.
What do you find yourself doing when you’re alone for an entire day with nothing to do? What do you think about? I think these things tell so much about who you are. For me, I find myself exercising, trying to find inspiration on Pinterest, reading, finding new hobbies, and just generally spending time with myself, whether its getting something to eat or just listening to music. I find myself thinking of what I want to do when I’m older, what I want to be like, what made me who I am, my childhood, my friends and family and my various relationships with them and what role they play in my life. Without time alone, I don’t think I would know as much as I do about myself.
Recently, out of boredom, I watched a YouTube video about boredom and it seriously rewired the way I think about being bored. This also has to do with me trying to get off of social media and my phone in general so keep that in mind while I say this. Basically, the video reiterated what I said above. That boredom and having nothing to do really forces you to get to know yourself and to contemplate bigger things about life in general. It also had a really great point of when you’re bored, you will naturally do the things that you don’t want to do. Let me explain. If I’m bored (and I’m telling myself not to go on a screen) I can either choose to sit and stare at my wall or I can apply for that job that I’ve been putting off for weeks. The day I watched this video, I told myself I could only go on my screens if it had something to do with educating myself, hence why I watched that educational video. In this case boredom pay-offed big time for me because thanks to boredom, I view boredom completely differently. I started this little blog out of boredom, I’ve watched and read so many things that have changed my perspective on life and how I live it. So much productivity for me has come from being bored. So the next time you feel yourself reaching for your phone to aimlessly scroll on TikTok for hours, remember this.
