The Waiting Game
 

So you're stuck in a waiting room. Or a boring sermon. Or in class. Or you're on the couch waiting for your lame friend to get dressed so you can go eat lunch. Whatever. What do you do to keep yourself occupied while you wait?

It depends on the situation, of course, whether it's polite to read a book or play DS or something where you're at (ok, maybe it doesn't depend for some of you :p).

I tend to doodle in class, or do Sudoku (SO BORING). Occasionally I'll try to remember origami, but my memory for paper-folding isn't so great. Waiting rooms are for reading books, though. Don't get much better time set aside for that.

I mostly tend to zone out and ponder the deep thoughts that need pondering every now and then, provided I'm not allowed to write, otherwise I'll just scribble train of thought monologues until the boredom abates.

Books I've read during waiting times (mostly public transportation rides and waiting rooms) over the past few months include Crime and Punishment and Idiot by Dostoievski, at least four books by Czech writer Milan Kundera, some Tchekov novels, Tolstoi's War and Peace and Kreutzer Sonata, and a few other things. All of this probably adds up to about 4000 or 5000 pages' worth of reading in total.

Imagine all the time that would've gone to waste if I had just sit there and patiently waited instead.

If I'm in a waiting room, then I tend to daydream when I am waiting to go in. If I'm waiting for someone at home, then I will probably put on the TV or the radio to pass the time.

i often daydream or slip into random thinking about anything, I usually find that way the time flies by.

I post on fourms, like I am now. When I have no computer, I daydream.

I play solitaire on my iPod... or if I feel I can get away with it, I'll read. There was one boring class where I went through 5 or 6 different books.

When I'm waiting I get out my air piano and start practicing!
If I have pen and paper, I'll start drawing.

If I don't have access to my DS, then I'm thinking of about writing ideas during those long, boring intervals.

I sit and think. I've always got a million things going through my mind at most given moments. As a result, my DS gets very little attention... =( What sortsa things? Well, application stuff for full-time employment, companies to look up, what their good and bad points are, news about them, etc. I also think about classes I have, ie: "what's confusing me" and I'll break it down and try to understand it (often going off of memory. Re-reading the same stuff won't help), and from time to time I'll just ponder about what some of my buddies are doing. But that's pretty rare...

To be honest, once I get a job and I am out of college, I guarantee I'll be a workaholic. I'll sit and think about work and projects and stuff all the while >< Oof. My brother will pull out his DS and play when he's bored or stuck waiting on something, but I'll take time to think about so much shit that the poor system goes neglected. I'm trying to right that.

Speaking of right! Time to beat Phoenix Wright =d

Church - I think about what over obsesses my mind for the time period before the sermon. Eg. Support combos and strategies for Jump Ultimate Stars, or for any other fighting game for that matter. "What if this combo was possible?" "Let's make up moves and picture what they would look like, etc."

Banquets at Debut/Weddings/etc. - The finger fidgeting strategy. This is involves anything from air piano to Master/Crazy hand imitation. When it reaches Master and Crazy hand, I am close to dying of boredom. Sitting for 3 hours straight waiting for everything to actually start is always bad, but filipinos always make you manage somehow haha.

Idling during a break at school/unfamiliar place - More often than not, it'll be putting things in my cell phone calendar. Sometimes I try to put really inane things if I've already planned out the major events of my months to come, like "Work @ 4" even though I clearly know that I work every Tuesday at 4. Otherwise I'll just check and recheck that my times and dates are proper, do I have any text msgs (no), let's look through my picture collection again, etc.

It depends on the location as well. If I happen to see any magazines or books nearby, I may pick one up and read while I wait. In class, I don't usually have an opportunity to count how much time is left since there's always plenty to do. Sometimes I may also go through my phone to delete any old messages or contacts I no longer need.

I'll obsessively read every poster on the walls around me, instantly forget what was written on them, then read them again. It usually keeps me occupied until I remember that I've read that one once before, at which point I drift off for a few minutes or stare at the people around me. Then my memory lapses and I start reading the posters again. ^_^

I always carry my DS, or a book if I'm in the middle of reading one already, with me if I know that I'm going to be waiting for awhile. It's a must for doctor appointments, offline class registration at my previous college, and anything else that requires a waiting room.

During class it'd be far too conspicuous though, so I typically just stare off into space and daydream. I'll doodle as long as I'm not in a small classroom where the professor could see, though usually I run out of ideas to doodle and just end up daydreaming.

Speeches and such that I'm forced to attend it depends on how noticeable my DS or a book would be. A lot of times I'll start reading, but feel too out of place and give up on that.

Depends where I am...

If I'm at the doctor's office or waiting for my haircut, I usually would read the magazines around there, usually going for PopSci or any other tech/gadget one, a gaming one sometimes if I'm lucky. Since such a wait is usually expected, I might have my DS on me too, but I usually don't get around to playing it unless the wait is much, much longer.

Often in class, I'd do one of two things. If I can, I'll whoop out the laptop and do whatever: work for other classes, read articles, GFF sometimes, play poker, play Starcraft, check fantasy stats. ^^ If I can't get the laptop out inconspicuously, I'd just write stuff down in my notebook; usually it's fantasy stat calculations and trade possibilities exploration. :p

If waiting for a friend, I'd just watch some TV, "check stuff on my cell phone," or, if they have a video game console, play something on that.

If I am on a couch or something, I nap. If I am near a TV, I watch that, and if I am near some interesting reading material, I will read. Most of the time however none of those things are around so I just think. Think about what I am going to do tomorrow, the next day, etc. I think about the things I need to get done, I think of some of the most recent things I had done, such as going out with friends.

I am the kind of person who enjoys thinking about things, which sometimes gets me into trouble because I have a tendency of over analyzing things.

I usually write (journals, diaries), doodle/sketch/draw, design random crap, read (if there are books around), or just simply listen to music.

I'll usually have an iPod or a DS with me if I know I'll be waiting for a while. On the occasion that I don't have either one, I'll just stare into blank space and just think about random stuff (e.g. planning out my schedule for next week, what should I do for this person, whatever's happening in life currently, whatever).

I'll probably read or listen to music. If I'm in a boring class, I tend to zone off, fall asleep, or do homework for other classes.

Depends where I'm waiting, if it's in a hospital waiting room I try and bring a book to keep my mind off the reason I'm there. It's much easier to keep a level head when I talk to the doc that way :)
If I'm waiting in class/bus/trains I tend to listen to loud music on my mp3 player

My first choice is to read and I always carry three or four books in my car. for that very reason If I'm somewhere I don't have access to any reading material I'll play Village Sim on my palm pilot. Those little guys can entertain me for hours.

Books. I've always got a queue of novels to plow through (especially now; Walden books is closing and had an amazing clearance sale going a couple weeks ago). If I'm outside I'll listen to the mp3 player, but for some reason I always feel rude wearing headphones inside of a public place.

It would have to be either a book or my Nintendo DS. Depending on the length of time I have to wait, possibly both. Phoenix Wright has proved an excellent distraction for long train journeys, and the second game will probably do likewise. On the whole I find it harder to concentrate on books when I'm in public though. If there are likely to be distracting sounds and sights, the DS is preferable.

During church services (every single sunday ;_; ) I'll just sit and think about the events of the past week during the sermon. Concentrating really hard on trying to remember what I ate for lunch four days earlier actually helps pass time pretty well, no matter how banal it might sound.

In less restrictive environments - like a waiting room, or an airport lounge - I'll just read a book or pull out either of my handhelds. If I'm on the move (trains, planes or automobiles!) I'll stare out the window and listen to music, no matter what's outside.

I'm generally a very patient person for long-term periods of waiting with nothing interesting to do. I only get agitated if I'm held up, say, behind someone slow in the cafeteria queue.