Bored Habits
 

I'm sure we've all been there... stuck in a classroom, the teacher droning on about something you couldnt give two shits about, the clock not moving anywhere near quick enough. Or worse, Jury Duty, stuck in a small room for hours with nothing to do. Or even on the job during a slow time. What do you find yourself doing when you're bored?

My boredom habits can be rather similar to my nervous habits, actually. When I stop daydreaming, I find that I've been biting my nails, or picking the skin around them. The charm on the necklace I'm wearing has been rotated on the chain several times, and I've more than likely been playing with my earrings.

Are you one of those people that can keep perfectly still, just daydreaming away, or does your body just want to keep moving?

I'm a busy hands guy. When I get bored, I'll pick up paper without thinking about it and start doing origami, or folding stars, or I'll pull out a coin and start doing coin tricks, or even just different ditches and conceals. Just second nature now. If there's cards out, I'll start shuffling and doing card tricks. Just mindless stuff while my brain wanders.

I suffer from Compulsive Leaning.

Whether it's at work, home, or on a night out, I just can't help myself leaning against things during a moment of boredom. Even when I'm not tired on my feet, I'm still compelled to lean. The short time periods I'm talking about aren't long enough to get anything worthwhile done, I'm talking a minute, tops. A minute is not a good length of time to be doing anything, unless it's leaning, that's my motto.

A an adherent of pacing back and forth I object to your leaning heresies

I play with shit too, although nothing as interesting as doing something useful with whatever's in my hands. If I have a rubber band, I pull it and curl it; if I have a pen, I like to play with the shirt fold* a lot. I fiddle.

I'm also a compulsive nail biter, but it's worse when I'm thinking rather than merely bored.

* You know, that piece of plastic you can use to secure it on some paper or in a pocket?

I tap my heel and feet. A lot.

I play a lot of DDR so I'm always imaging rhythms in my head and then tapping them out. It's my faux tap dancing while I'm sitting down.

Standing up is a different story. I'm always dancing. Ballet, Hip-Hop, Robot... Whatever pops into my head.

I used to bite my nails but I wanted to stop, so I started painting them. Now I just pick the nail polish off when I get bored. I also hook pens/pencils onto my lip ring and play with my necklace when I've got nothing else to do.

If I'm sitting down, I'm a chronic knee-jiggler. I don't actually have to be bored for the habit to come out; it just starts up by itself. Past that, I suppose all I ever really do is stay still and daydream.

Oh god, that too. ;_;

For some reason.. I can keep completely still. I usually just focus on the teacher's forehead. Helps to make them think you are listening. While I'm doing that, if I am not making up a story, I usually have conversations with the voices in my head..... so sometimes... I laugh......out of the blue. Sometimes I think I'm crazy lol.

I seem to be a little on the subconscious destructive side. If I have a piece of paper in my hand or near my hands I will often shred it into little bits and then shred the little bits into little bits until it is a damn fine confetti. Then wonder where the hell my notes went....

I always have to fiddle around with shit. Like, I can be sitting in a super-serious meeting but I still have to have something in my hands to fool around with so I can focus.

Also, I am also a compulsive leaner and have a hard time standing still for more than thirty seconds without leaning against something. It makes me wonder if I have :dramatic music: Restless Legs Syndrome.

You left out your driving need to exact revenge on printer/fax units.

http://terriemiller.com/wp-content/u...cefaxsceen.jpg

I do the same thing with cards, even when I'm just watching TV I keep on shuffling just to have something else to do. It really annoys other people though, my parents have even gone as far as hiding every deck in the house because it's such an irritating habit. I also fiddle around with my watch or a little bracelet, stuff that has kept me busy for hours, not just when I'm bored, but all the time. I'm just a nervous person I guess. It gets even worse in the car, when the traffic annoys me and I can't find anything to keep me occupied

If I'm sitting? I cross my arms. Almost ALWAYS whenever I'm nervous. Every interview I've been to, I'll cross my leg over the other, sit back, and end up crossing my arms as well :( I get nervous really fuckin' easily.

In college, I'd get stressed as hell over every test, to the point of essentially shaking whilst seated. When I was on my feet, I'd have to pace or something.

Most recently, I notice that whether it aches or not, whenever I'm nervous, I'll reach up and rub on my left shoulder (the one I fucked up in November). It's kind of a nervous tic now :( I'm a pretty nervous dude despite how I carry on around those I'm used to.

Like Deni and RR I'm a fiddler, and I'll just start playing with stuff within reach, so pens or desk toys, just tapping away on a desk. If there's people around I might strike up conversation on some random topic (I do like a good natter, though it does get me in trouble at work sometimes).

The other thing I like to do is just distract my brain so read some stuff on the Internet, write something, or reply to an email, something that gives me something else to think about for a little while.

That.

All. The. Time.

Aside from that it's mostly random stuff like tapping on tables, playing around with pens/coins/whatever I can get my hands on and engaging in a lot of daydreaming.

I count stuff... I've ben security agent and I can tel you that after 1 300 cars passing in front of my post my shif was over ... of that you can get near madness after 9600 of yellow ligh flash ...

Doodling. Singing. Daydreaming. Generally daydreaming because that doesn't attract as much attention as the first two.

I'm one of those people that need to do both. I'll get bored doing only one of them!

When I'm not daydreaming, I'll make sure that I have paper and pens/pencils nearby so I can draw some crap pictures or write crap song lyrics...
I find myself playing lots of piano pieces on my knees as well. Then, when I'm done with that I'll listen to music. And then repeat the process until I can't do it anymore.

If I'm on a long plane ride, and completely bored and have done everything I usually do, I'll try to get some sleep.

Masturbation. Don't act like you don't do it too.

On the job? I smell challenge afoot...

It depends on what kind of bored I am. If I'm restless then I tend to pace, make paper aeroplanes or hats out of receipts (no fancy origami, no skill), doodle or write out song lyrics, or a more recent habit I've picked up is whistling the same note over and over in rapid succession. If I'm lethargic and bored then I'm perfectly happy to make up elaborate fantasies about escaping to Cuba and becoming a drug baron and the likes.

When taking notes in class, I would invariable spend more time doodling whatever entered my head rather than write down the key points the instructor was trying to make. Sometimes I would take a rules 8.5x11 sheet of paper, and tear it down to square to fold it into some creation: a vase, a tulip, a crane, a rose, etc. For a while I got into the habit of stacking coins in a balanced fashion to pass idle time. One flat, then one on its edge on top of that, then one flat on top of that. Rinse and repeat to see how high you can stack them before they topple over. Any passerby who saw the precariously balanced coins assumed it was some gimmick with superglue. Without a word, I'd just slam my fist on the table and watch their surprise as the coins toppled over.

Humming in times of extreme boredom.

Heh, I was doing that now. I think I do it quite often.

Overall I read whatever I see or can get my hands on, it's mostly always pamphlets of some kind. I remember last time at the DMV I read everything they offered on the table, twice. I always take those Jehovah's Witness pamphlets just in case I'll be stuck somewhere.

I also like to daydream about terrorist attacks occurring and the possibility of death. God, I hate that the most. Which is why I read everything, I guess.