Productive Idling
Always have something productive to do during idle times.
Contents
Changing Instincts
If I observed 100 random people while they were waiting for something, I'd guess more than 50% would pull out their phones and do some type of mindless activity: scrolling through social media feeds, watching YouTube videos, playing a mobile game, etc. This is obviously unproductive—those activities provide fleeting satisfaction and suck the user deeper into the depths of addiction.
These mindless activities have become instinct: sit down, pull out the phone; light turns red, pull out the phone; date goes to the restroom, pull out the phone; done with the exercise set, pull out the phone. This instinct should be swapped for more productive activities.
A few ideas in no particular order:
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Link reading: I have a backlog of 1700+ bookmarks ranging from blog posts to academic papers to newspaper articles to Wikipedia pages and more. I try to pick out the shorter ones that take less than five minutes to read.
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Book reading: Smartphones easily support book reading. Download a book that's easy to put down and pick back up.
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Physical exercise: Stretching, balancing, strength training, and breathing practice are all options, depending on the situation.
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Mindfulness: Sit/stand and simply enjoy the moment. Take in the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes.
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Listening: Listen to a podcast, audiobook, or music (preferably a new one).
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Work: Clean up inbox, send any pending emails.
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Socialize: Talk to others who are waiting with you, call (preferable) or text a friend or family member.
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Housework: Clean the house/apartment, put things back into their place, do chores
Installing these instincts is identical to installing trigger-action plans, because these instincts are TAPs: waiting is the trigger, the action is one of the above ideas.
See Also