--- title: What Is The Most Productive Thing I Can Do When I Am Bored? description: Answer by Visakan Veerasamy, an employee of ReferalCandy and writer for Poached Magazine, for Quora. I've noticed that everything that's been stated involves doing something... canonical: https://time.com/3018378/what-is-the-most-productive-thing-i-can-do-when-i-am-bored/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-22T14:34:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:27.173Z og:title: The Most Productive Thing You Can Do When You're Bored og:description: Your willpower is limited. Eliminate as much distraction as possible og:url: https://time.com/3018378/what-is-the-most-productive-thing-i-can-do-when-i-am-bored/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte158f56839e148bb/69869c9e13c79fac791932db/140650128.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5315 og:image:height: 2990 og:image:alt: 140650128 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Most Productive Thing You Can Do When You're Bored twitter:description: Your willpower is limited. Eliminate as much distraction as possible twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte158f56839e148bb/69869c9e13c79fac791932db/140650128.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Is The Most Productive Thing I Can Do When I Am Bored? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Man Alone in Las Vegas Airport Kills Time by Lip-Syncing Celine Dion's [Watch (HLS stream): Man Alone in Las Vegas Airport Kills Time by Lip-Syncing Celine Dion's](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CybKCVnZ.m3u8) (5:19)  _Published 2014-06-12. Man Alone in Las Vegas Airport Kills Time by Lip-Syncing Celine Dion's_ by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Jul 22, 2014 2:34 PM UTC  Busy Busy Hype Photography—Getty Images by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Jul 22, 2014 2:34 PM UTC [_Answer_](http://www.quora.com/Life-Advice/What-is-the-most-productive-thing-I-can-do-when-Im-bored) _by_ [_Visakan Veerasamy_](http://www.quora.com/Visakan-Veerasamy)_, an employee of ReferalCandy and writer for Poached Magazine, for_ [_Quora._](http://www.quora.com/) I’ve noticed that everything that’s been stated involves doing something or trying something or focusing on something. **I propose elimination**. See how much you can cut away from your life. Via negativa. Eliminate needless clutter from your desk. Eliminate needless noisemakers from your social media. (Eliminate needless social media channels altogether.) Eliminate needless apps from your phone. Eliminate needless blogs from your RSS feed. Eliminate needless books from your shelves. **_I think of this as an ‘Odyssean’ activity._** Odysseus guarded himself against temptation by the Sirens by getting his men to tie him to the mast of his ship. **Our willpower is limited.** In moments of clarity (or boredom, when we have enough energy to do simple tasks but not major ones), it helps if we tie ourselves to our masts by eliminating distractions. Cut away anything that isn’t relevant to what you want to achieve in life. Do it now, while you can, and you’ll thank yourself for it later when you’d have been otherwise distracted. Of course, you never want to get too extreme with this, because there is always value outside of what you’ve set up for yourself. That random annoying person on Facebook might just be the spouse of your dreams. It’s pretty unlikely, though. Trust your own judgement and get rid of what you know, with reasonable certainty, to be a waste of your time. That leaves you with only what matters. Now that’s productive. _This_ [_question_ ](http://www.quora.com/Life-Advice/What-is-the-most-productive-thing-I-can-do-when-Im-bored)_originally appeared on_ [_Quora:What is the most productive thing I can do when I’m bored?_](http://www.quora.com/Life-Advice/What-is-the-most-productive-thing-I-can-do-when-Im-bored) _More questions:_ * [What is the most productive thing one can do when they have low energy?](http://www.quora.com/Productivity/What-is-the-most-productive-thing-one-can-do-when-they-have-low-energy) * [How can I make my life simpler?](http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-make-my-life-simpler) * [What should you do when you realize that your work is pointless?](http://www.quora.com/Mid-Life-Crises/What-should-you-do-when-you-realize-that-your-work-is-pointless) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3018378/what-is-the-most-productive-thing-i-can-do-when-i-am-bored/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3018378/what-is-the-most-productive-thing-i-can-do-when-i-am-bored/"},"headline":"What Is The Most Productive Thing I Can Do When I Am Bored?","datePublished":"2014-07-22T14:34:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:27.173Z","description":"Answer by Visakan Veerasamy, an employee of ReferalCandy and writer for Poached Magazine, for Quora. 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