How to Keep Busy!

As I explained in my last post (which you can read here!), I’ve had to keep myself busy over the past few months, in a number of ways. And this may be the most obvious and stupid blog post ever written but, here are numerous ways that I have learnt to keep myself doing something, and not having a mental breakdown! Enjoy!

1. GET SOME FRIENDS. I’m kidding. I’m sure you have friends, and if you don’t have that many, I know how hard it is; trust me. I do. But even one or two great friends can really help you out when you’re trying to keep your mind off things. Go see them, find cool things to do together, or even just meet up and hang out. Just having someone near who knows you, and won’t make you think about bad stuff, is a blessing. Use it.
2. READ. Obvious, yes, but effective. Read something. If you don’t like books, try newspapers. Or magazines. Or online fan-fiction. Anything that will remotely keep your mind on the words that are talking about other stuff, and not your life. Once again; obvious, yes, but effective.
3. WATCH. Not a fan of reading in general , or struggle to/can’t read? That’s fine! Watch something. Tv, YouTube, movies, the world go by, anything. It’s about finding something stimulating to keep your brain focused and directed towards something helpful.
4. WRITE. Or paint. Or draw. Or murder. (Kidding… kind of). Doing something that channels those feelings you’re trying to avoid can be just as good as a distraction. Write about those shit feelings, yell at the paper about how mad/sad/whatever you are. Scribble, splodge, scratch, tear the paper. Scientifically proven to release stress and pent up emotions, get them out of your body and mind, and out into the world. (Perk of this tip: emotions leave body, but are not harming any one else. Result!)
5. WRITE (Pt.2). This is the part where you all yell at me! I’m talking about studying! Writing notes, re-writing notes, reading text-books, doing quizzes, a n y t h i n g. I’m talking anything that goes towards school, college, university, or even starting an online course (Fun fact: here is a website with hundreds of FREE online courses happening all the time, go check it out! P.S I wasn’t paid to do that.) Anything that will make you feel productive, and use those brain muscles to tire you out. You’ll thank me later.
6. LISTS, LISTS, LISTS. This is one of my own personal favorites. Probably because I’m a massive loser, but hey ho. Basically, I like to write lists. Lists of things to do, lists of things I have done, things I would like to do, things for tomorrow, or things for 20 years from now. Anything that can be put into list form, I’ve probably listed it. In no particular order.
7. TIDY YOUR SHIT. Another personal favorite. Beginning to think I might have an organisation problem… This one does what it says on the box. Clean and tidy up. If you know you’re gonna be having a time where you’re not doing much and you’ll want something to do (e.g. mine is Sunday afternoons), I’ll leave bits of clothes and stuff out throughout the week for me to do a massive tidy during that free time. Trust me, it works, and it makes you feel a lot better afterwards.
8. MUSIC. Can work, but can also not. Music can keep you occupied, divert your attention, you can dance around or sing which will definitely tire you out (my X-Factor audition is almost perfect, guys. My cat says I’m ready.) But at the same time, music can change your mood and give you more incentive to sit around and think. Be careful with that one.
9. TRY NEW THINGS. Really, really obvious. Scout around, Google stuff to do. And get on it. Why the hell not?

So that was my Things to Keep You Busy post. Really stupid, I know. But it was fun to write and, obviously, I’m using this as something to keep me occupied before I go to sleep.

Of course, by all of this I don’t mean you should all avoid all your problems by distracting yourselves until something bad happens. I’m a strong believer in finding the problem and fixing it before it’s too late, mostly from my own mistakes. But this is for when you can’t get away from it, can’t fix it, and just need a distraction, to stay happy.

Be safe guys. Stay amazing.