How to stay busy

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

How to stay busy and keep your worries away

You know what they say about idle hands, but most of the time it’s hard to carve out a few moments to yourself. That is, until you’ll do anything to stay distracted — then it seems like you have all the time in the world.

Learning how to stay busy doing things you love will make you a happier person — it’s a fact. When you?re engrossed in a new adventure, the mind doesn?t wander as easily to worries and other negative thoughts. Instead, creativity flows and with that comes energy and optimism when you need it most.

Stressful situations can impact your health, making circumstances even worse. Whether you?re getting over a breakup, budgeting on a tight month or obsessing about work, these tips can help. One of the many positive side effects is that you?ll be amazed at how productive you can be.

Post-Break Up

It makes sense that you find yourself with too much time on your hands after a major breakup. Relationships have a way of filling the calendar, making your ex?s sudden absence painfully apparent. The temptation is to mope, flip through old photographs and maybe even see what he?s up to on Facebook, but don?t do it.

Call up a few friends you haven?t seen in a while and make plans. Re-boot your social life by saying ?Yes? to every invite, and organizing a few get togethers of your own. Host a dinner and a movie night or sign up for a cooking or art class. You?ll make new friends, learn new things and forget all about what?s-his-name.

Underemployed

The stress of having zero or not enough work is almost too much to bear if it?s all you can think about. There?s a limit to how many applications and resumes you can send out in a day.

If you?re starting to feel like your skills and talent are wasting away, find a place to volunteer. Being amongst people will make you feel like yourself again, and applying what you know may even open a few professional opportunities. When you do land that interview, you?ll have stories to tell instead of gaps in employment to try and dance over.

Find places to volunteer that are related to what you want to do or a side passion. Animal shelters, local parks, senior centers and tutoring programs are always in need of a good brain and a few extra hands.

Recovering

One sick day can be a treat filled with favorite movies and loved ones waiting on you. Too many sick days and you?re climbing up the walls for something to do. Click off the television and take an online language class or catch up on a few great books. Persuade a buddy to stop by the library and check out some new books for you.

Fitness classes are the easy answer to how to stay busy. Start an exercise routine to boost your health once you?re feeling better. Join a gym or sign up for a yoga class and you?ll start feel stronger in no time. To save money, take up running, go for a hike or try a home exercise routine by streaming workout videos online.

Home Projects

Regardless of why you?re hunting for ways on how to stay busy, completing a few projects around your home will make you feel useful and capable of anything. Choose a blah room and paint a wall or rearrange the furniture. Plant some flowers in the yard, install a book shelf or clean out the cabinets in your kitchen.

Treat Yourself

After all this work, you deserve a treat. Pick out a recipe you?ve never tried before and head to the market for some fresh ingredients. Cooking is too often a task that we rush, and then we tend to chow down without really appreciating it.
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Lose yourself in the process of chopping and seasoning, browning protein just as you like it. Light a candle, turn on some music and set the table nicely. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy every bite.

Enjoy this time you have to learn new things and do whatever it is you feel like doing. The trick is to schedule activities as soon as they occur to you and always keep dates, especially when they?re with yourself.