Cope With Living in a Boring Town

Sometimes we have no choice but to live in a place with few opportunities for entertainment. However, there are advantages to life in a small town. With fewer distractions, it is easier to devote time to education and developing talents. If you engage with your community, you can even help make it a more interesting and fulfilling place.

Steps

Finding Things To Do

1. Listen to new music. Focusing on music can make you more interesting and give you a pleasant way to pass the time One of the first rules for alleviating boredom is that you should focus on trying new things. Therefore, experiment with new bands, new albums, or even new genres of music.
   • You should also look around for local concerts. Even small towns generally have a handful of local bands. While they might not always be of the highest caliber, they might be interesting in their own way.
   • Try an online radio program. Relinquishing control over your queue means that you might happen across some songs you otherwise wouldn’t listen to.
   • Alternatively, ask friends if they have heard any good new music.
2. Get creative. Things that require your brain to be active and attentive will help cure boredom. Creative pursuits can also help you cultivate skills that will, in the long run, get you out of your boring town. They can make you interesting within your community and help you build a circle of other creative people.
   • Try to learn an instrument or sing. Once you have some experience, find other musicians/singers to put together a band. When you start playing shows, you’ll have an opportunity to meet a lot of new people.
     • If you were in band, choir, or orchestra in high school or college, you can still be part of the same groups in the community. Many small towns have community bands, orchestras, or choirs that you can take part of. You can always learn a new instrument or sing, and join these groups as well.
3. Take up writing. Some schools have local poetry clubs; if not, you can help put one together. Try to publish a journal with short stories and poetry.
   • Many small towns will also have a community of people interested in visual arts, like painting and drawing. You can try to display your work at cafes or take courses at the local community college.
4. Pick up a book. Once upon a time, reading was the only reliable distraction people could turn to. It is still one of the best ways to banish boredom. It requires that you dedicate attention to what you’re doing. You will meet interesting characters, get engaged by a story, and learn more about the world outside of your town.
   • To engage with the book more thoroughly, consider writing as you read. Underline important passages, write in the margins.
5. Stop daydreaming. Evidence suggests that, even if daydreaming seems to give you something to do, it actually only makes boredom worse. When our minds drift to exotic places, our current environment seem even less interesting that it would otherwise.
   • Instead of allowing your mind to drift off into fantasy, try to practice "mindfulness." Mindfulness means focusing intensely on the world around you. Be conscious of your breathing. Listen for sounds, pay attention smells. Try to notice things you otherwise wouldn't. Mindfulness has been shown to improve your mood and your cognitive abilities.
6. Try new things. Doing new things is one of the best ways to eliminate boredom. In fact, doing something you don’t enjoy, but aren’t accustomed to, is a better way of alleviating boredom than doing something you enjoy, but are used to.
   • Given the choice between eating candy and shocking themselves, bored people have been shown to prefer electrocution. Regardless of whether the sensation is good or bad, something novel is the best cure for boredom.
   • It can be hard to come up with a new pastime. That is why the first step is often surrounding yourself with people who are interesting and have diverse tastes. They can help expose you to new things you wouldn’t pursue otherwise.
   • Try a new type of food that might seem exotic or scary. Go skiing or skydiving. Watch a movie from a genre you would generally avoid. Go to a concert. Often there are plenty of opportunities to experiment with new things, but our fears prevent us from pursuing them.
7. Meditate. Meditation might not seem like the most exciting activity, but it does pass the time. Evidence also demonstrates that it increases concentration, which can make it easier to focus on interesting distractions. To really improve your focus, try to dedicate 20 minutes daily to mediation.
   • Meditation means focusing on only one thing for an extended period of time. Take a mantra (a phrase) or an image and focus on it. Clear you mind of everything else. When something else enters you mind, gently brush it aside.
8. Travel. Travel can spice up your life and expose you to new things. You might even find when you come back that there were somethings that you missed while away. If you don't have the resources for an international trip, try taking a trip nearby.
   • If you don't have the resources to jump on a plane, go somewhere nearby. You can drive, take a bus, or ride on a train for a reasonable price. Pick a nearby city, a small town you have never been too, or a scenic, outdoor location.
   • Housing on a vacation might seem expensive, but that is not necessarily the case. Most cities have hostels and, if you are willing to share a room with others, you will probably only need to pay $20-$35 a night.. There are also now websites that allow you to rent space in a local's home, typically for less money than you would spend on a hotel.
   • You can also get involved with a local club. Often, clubs and sports organizations will travel. Typically, this sort of group travel is reasonably priced.
   • A busy vacation, with a lot of sights and destinations, is a good way to alleviate boredom, however, it can also be a bit overwhelming. One good way to enjoy a busy vacation is to plan it with a purpose. Come up with a goal that makes all of your experiences connected, like checking out all the local blues bars or seeing all the paintings of a particular artist. You can even try to write a story based on your traveling experience.

Making the Best of Your Community

1. Look on the bright side. Pessimism is self-defeating; if you keep on telling yourself that there is nothing to do, you won’t work to find something worth doing. Many people actually enjoy living in boring towns and there is some reason, as strange as it sounds, to think that living in a boring town can make you happy.
   • Because life in a small town is generally cheap, small towns often allow you enjoy a high standard of living.
   • Global studies have found that the happiest towns in the world are often unexciting. Usually, small towns also allow for a simple life.
   • It is often easy to get along with people, when you don’t have much other choice.
   • If you live in an agrarian community, consider the opportunities that presents you. You can start a garden or have space for a dog.
   • A quiet community has fewer things to distract you from your goals.
2. Explore nature. Typically, small towns are convenient to nature. Look online for parks within driving distance or find a nice wooded area to walk through. Take up fishing. If you are in colder weather clime, try ice skating or skiing.
   • You never know what you'll see walking through the woods. Practice mindfulness; pay attention to all the new sights. Imagine what you might find around the corner. Feel your body getting stronger and healthier.
   • Nothing cures boredom faster than a little bit of danger. You can't be too bored when you're sliding down a mountain on a couple of thin pieces of wood. You'll be too busy for ennui when struggling to balance on a couple of ice skates.
3. Get involved with your community. Search online for local clubs, social groups, or sports leagues. Even if they don’t perfectly fit your interests, you might meet some people you like. You should work to build a group of friends who can make your life more interesting.
   • Meeting interesting people will make the bleakest landscape brighter. Especially in tight-knit small towns, it's important to cultivate close relationships. In big cities, friends become replaceable, so you should take advantage of the type of tight bonds that often develop when there aren’t many opportunities for friendship.
4. Find your allies. It is good to have friends, but it is also good to have people who share your interests and can help you improve yourself or your community. People who can help you in these ways, include teachers, public officials, the members of the Rotary club, librarians, or the old guy next door who used to play in a jazz band. These people might have the experience and resources to help make your community more like what you want it to be.
5. Cultivate your own style. One of the disadvantages of living in a big city is that it is easy to follow the crowd. In a small town, it is much easier to be distinctive. Find your own genres of music and literature—develop a distinctive sense of style.
   • Sometimes small towns even allow you access to things you wouldn’t find elsewhere. Yard sales, for example, can be a great place to find antiques.
   • When you do want to find more people like you, go to the web. Find web sites with people with similar interests. You might be the only person in town interested in astrophysics, but there are plenty of people around the world who are.
6. Contribute to your community. Many local restaurants, bars, and cafes appreciate the opportunity to offer their patrons some entertainment. If you or your friends have an interest in poetry or music, ask around for a place that is willing to host you. This can be a good way to make a lot of friends and add some excitement to your life.
   • Print out some flyers advertising the event. Post them at your school, at the venue, and any at other locations that are frequented by a lot of people at the community.
   • Social media sites also allow you to create targeted advertisements that will only go out to people in your community. You can even target specific age groups.
   • If you're interested in visual arts, you can also assemble some other artists and ask a local establishment for the space to show your work.
   • Try to make an even like this the foundation for an ongoing network. Find people who would be interested in meeting up on a regular basis. Form a club based around your interests. When you try holding a similar event in the future, you'll be prepared for something bigger.

Preparing to Move On

1. Set goals. If you want to move on, you should have a plan. Research, and, if possible, visit new destinations you might be interested in settling in. Consider what career and educational choices might be necessary to make it to where you want to be. Set a plan to reach those goals.
   • College is often a great opportunity to settle in a new town. Consider what colleges are around destinations you are interested in. Research what grades and test scores you will need to be accepted.
   • Generally, more desirable destinations are expensive. To afford life in a big, interesting city, you might need a better job and more qualifications. Research what the major industries in your town of choice are and what qualifications are necessary to get a job in those industries.
2. Look for a job. In the long run, a job can give you the the work experience and the money necessary to move away to a new destination. But, money can also make even a small town more interesting. Since you will be busy, you won’t be as bored. You can use your new found resources to buy a car and commute somewhere with more entertainment options. You can even save up for a vacation.
3. Prepare for your future. A boring town has few distractions to keep you from self-improvement. If you are young, use this as an opportunity to work hard to get into a good college. In the long run, this can take you some place more interesting.
   • Keep your grades up. This will be important for ultimately establishing yourself elsewhere.
   • Get involved in extracurricular activities. Being involved in sports and clubs will not only keep you occupied, it will help you get into college.
   • Develop your skills. If you dream of living in Paris, France, study French. If you dream of being the next Bollywood star, you will need to learn dramatic skills, singing, dancing, and so on.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Monday Go Fast
• Have Fun While Home Alone
• Make Time Go by Faster
• Waste Time
• Be Lazy
• Make Your Leisure Time Productive
• Speed up Time
• Have Fun when You're Bored at Home
• Kill Time
• Have Fun when Sick at Home

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