How to make a month go by as fast as possible other than sleeping
I'm having some personal issues causing some severe depression and anxiety. I'd like to get past this time as fast as possible, and my days are dragging on. I can't sleep, which would be a good way to make time go fast. But I also can't just play video games, I don't have the motivation to play more than a few minutes and it also just makes me realize how alone I am with no friends or anyone I can connect with emotionally and I spiral into my anxiety and depression.
I can do stuff during the day, run, chores, etc. But as soon as I'm done, especially at night, I start freaking out and it seems like time stands still. Does anyone have any suggestions? Activities I can do that are mindless that will just kill time and get me through the night before I can just go to sleep?
I know this question is stupid but I'm looking for at least somewhat serious answers.
Seems like a great time to invest in some therapy
I actually have started therapy. But it's only once a week. So that doesn't really help the time aspect. That's more of a long game
This is a very serious question: what makes you think time passing without your awareness of it, will make things better for you?
Yes, therapy is a great way to pass the time.
Go outside. Not in a "go touch grass" way. Explore new places and fill your days with variety and sunlight if you can. If you can't make the time pass quickly you can at least make it more interesting. And sitting depressed in a park is a lot nicer than sitting depressed at home.
If you're already running, vary your route a bit, or spend some time in the middle of your run sitting outside for a bit.
I don't expect it to fix anything, I've heard enough of the "just try this and you'll feel better" bullshit. But I hope it would at least help mix up your days a little.
Unfortunately, this would be gender and/or location dependent. Great advice for daylight hours, but the society we currently live in makes it perhaps less viable for women in certain areas or countries, or even in general if it's a particularly socially deprived area.
Absolutely on board with the exercise thing though. I've taken to trying to waste time on an exercise bike - even an inexpensive one, or a normal bike mounted on a turbo trainer. I'm not expecting anyone to bang in speeds and times like Lance Armstrong on some special supplements, but a slow spin for longer periods of time is great fun... just get a good wide comfortable saddle!
This is what I meant by
I run, and do activities to make the day go by. But that's not sustainable. I'd love to be able to do like a 7 day adventure race, or try to run a ultra marathon or something crazy like that. But I'm not physically capable of that at the moment (I'm in really good shape, but not at THAT level. I run like 5-10 miles a day at most) and I'd just end up hurting myself trying.
Good effort, that's a decent shape to be in. 10k runs are my "thing" but as my march into middle age progresses, I find I can't do them back-to-back any more, I'm needing more than a day or two to recover.
Maybe go for something a little more varied - I'm training for (but never done) local triathlons. Great way to build physical fitness with only a third of the high impact on the joints. The major limiting factor will be the pool of course, unless you're fortunate to own (or have unrestricted access to) a pool.
Random turn of conversation direction, are you creative at all? Crocheting seems to make the world go by at an alarming rate - it's both a time killer and very rewarding.
I'm not the most creative person, but I do enjoy the technical aspect of creative things. I've tried to crochet and knit in the past. It's definitely a good idea. Maybe I'll order some crochet supplies and give it another shot.
You're completely right. Though depending on your area it may be possible to sit in a cafe (even a Starbucks or equivalent) occasionally to pass the time. Often without needing to purchase anything (or, if you have to, purchasing a simple black coffee for cheap).
But yes, unfortunately that isnt always possible. I hope you can find something to make your days more varied OP. something to break the routine of sitting at home waiting for time to pass.
Coffee shops are fantastic. My other half doesn't get why I go out to buy a coffee that I could easily make in the house for next to fuck all, but it was never about the coffee - it was about being out of the house and watching the world go by. There's a coffee shop in a hotel that overlooks the thoroughfare between one of my local city's biggest shopping centres and it's rail station, and it's nice just wasting an hour or two watching people go about their lives.
The cost of the coffee is just a warmth and comfort tax really for sitting there.
Podcasts maybe? That's my most braindead activity. It's an easy thing to do in bed while trying to sleep too.
Time also goes by faster at night if youre tired so getting some exercise during the day might help.
Good luck, hope things pick up for you soon.
I do a ton of exercise during the day. You'd think I'd be tired at night and able to sleep, but nope. Doesn't matter how many miles I run or walk or hike.
Getting books from the library to read?
Not OP but I personally don't have enough patience to read entire book. I just can't. I don't know how other people read whole book in few days.
Audiobooks. Libby app for local library and countless audiobooks already covered by your library card.
I’ve listened to/read so many books. Short ones that are 4 hours or so to entire series where each book is about 20 hours or so.
Long drive? Audiobook. Yard work? Audiobook.
I find myself looking forward to the mundane chores because it gives me an excuse to get back into whatever story/book I’m enjoying.
I'm the same. I read super slow, and I just don't enjoy it really. Audiobooks are hard for me too. I like podcasts sometimes, and I read a lot of articles and stuff like that. But books are just too much for me.
Have you ever tried listening to hardcore history by Dan Carlin? I find he's the right level of captivating to keep me interested, but slow enough that I can still drift off to sleep
If I am super interested in a book that I got as a gift, I will tear through it in a few days. That being said, I've probably read like 4 adult books since being out of school. Plenty of kids books over the years, (I had mastered Fox in Socks at one point.)
It takes a lot for me to take that much time on a book.
Start with Short Stories or novellas. A whole story from beginning to end in as short as 3 pages or as many as 30 or so. There are entire books of short stories (anthologies) in every genre you can imagine. You say you don't have the patience. However, in the time its taken you to read this entire thread, you could have finished a short story. You've proven you have the patience.
Just fill your time by being the guy who replies “unfortunately this niche group of people I don’t belong to can’t use your advice” on every ask post reply. Some people really get a thrill out of it.
Like for instance if someone asks how they can stay hydrated and somebody replies water you could say “unfortunately some people don’t have access to clean water”, and then just let the upvotes roll in because it’s technically true. It’s going to make you feel worse in the short term because you’ll know what you’re doing, but you won’t recognize that right away or maybe ever so it’s probably a viable strategy for a month.
Unfortunately some people don't have time to post that kind of bullshit on lemmy
Unfortunately some people don’t experience time as a near concept
Unfortunately time does not care about people
unfortunately some people dont have a consistent internet connection
upvotes pls
Why the oddly specific time period? Is something happening in a month, or are you doing something so that you won't feel like this in a month?
I'm in a different physical location than normal for the next month, so my routine is totally thrown off. I'm not saying I won't feel like this in a month. I'm sure I'll still be having issues. But that's a different situation I'll deal with when I get there, and I'd like to get there as soon as possible to just get this over with.
I'm severely depressed and unmotivated as well. I watch a lot of TV. When I get sick of that, I make 3D wooden puzzles, like these dinosaurs. They take about 30-60 minutes each, and when you're done, you've got a dinosaur! Rawr!
Start a project doing something that allows you to enter a flow state. Could be programming, woodworking, knitting, anything you can reasonably do with your interests and budget. If you can find something that holds your attention it will delete time.
It's hard to get the motivation to do a project. I'm really looking for something totally mindless. Like, exercise is a good one, but I do a lot of that during the day and it starts to get unhealthy and unproductive. I end up at night doing a lot of pacing, or stuff like that. I was hoping for something the equivalent of pacing but that isn't physical. I don't know. I think I'm just grasping at straws that there's some solution to this that I haven't thought of.
Jigsaw puzzles, the bigger the better. It keeps you constantly mentally engaged and the act of reaching for pieces and looking around is good physical activity too. I get back ache if I do a jigsaw session for the first time in a while. It really tires me out before bed and can prevent that rumination before falling asleep. Finally it’s really cheap, there are limitless puzzles in charity shops and even some libraries lend them.
Yeah motivation can be tricky and I actually missed the bit where you're specifically looking for something to do at night before getting to sleep instead of pacing around.
Uhh... Rubix cube? Puzzle? If you don't want to walk around something where you use your hands and that takes some mental focus might help. Hopefully you find something!
I think it's generally agreed that repeated experiences are a good way of making time pass faster: your brain recognises a situation and says "I'm not needed here; I'll fast-forward to something more challenging". Binge TV you've already seen. When I was in your situation I listened to a lot of radio plays, audio books and podcast series.
Do keep running and exercising. Can you ride a bike? Building up some familiar routes might help pass the time in a healthy way.
I am sorry to hear that you're feeling low. It's the new epidemic. Hang in there and I do hope life gets more enjoyable in time.
Walks. Walking past trees and other natural objects helps the mind process thoughts and emotions, from what I heard. Maybe even not just natural objects.
It engages everything, I suppose. The body and the mind.
Supposedly helps you get over stuff.
I can't vouch for it myself, but worth giving it a go if it does work. Couldn't hurt. Good luck, friend!
I've gone through bouts of depression and I know motivation is hard to come by but I think it's difficult to be depressed when you're in the middle of exercising. I know the ask was to make time go by faster and as someone else said certain activities can make your brain take a break. I feel like walking, running, or biking outside is a fairly good way for your muscles to do the thinking but less hamster wheel than going to a gym or exercising at home.
Also walks will make your body a bit tired which will make it easier to fall asleep and sleep better.
True. 👌
If you can't sleep and are trying to kill time anyway, why not look into something like mindfulness meditation? It might help you keep some of those anxious thoughts in check to the point where you can actually focus on something to take your mind off of whatever is causing your issues.
I'm sure it's not for everyone, but it helped me a lot when I was at my worst.
Also, you indicate that your anxiety and depression are due to some personal issues (which it sounds like will no longer be an issue in a month). If I'm understanding that correctly, that sucks for the time being but I'm glad to hear it has an expiration date. If those are feelings you deal with chronically, however, and you have the means to do so, I highly suggest trying to find professional help. The right meds can make an absolute world of difference, and talk therapy can help you straighten out how you approach those feelings.
Whatever route you take, I hope this passes for you soon and you start to feel so much better. Those feelings suck, but life can absolutely get better.
It's a combination of an expiration date as well as chronic. I started therapy recently and I'm on meds as well. We'll see how that goes. So I just want to get this short period over with, because the combination is pretty unbearable..
Ah! Glad to hear that. Yeah, starting new meds can be rough for the first while. Especially if you're experiencing side effects (which in my experience at least vastly diminished over time). Good luck, and I hope you're able to start getting some better sleep. That'll make a huge difference once possible.
In combination with the exercise it sounds like you're doing anyway, have you tried a bit of Yoga and a bit of listening to meditative sounds before/during bed/sleep/end of day? You may have tried similar things already, but if not, maybe worth a go? It's not going to pass/waste time as such, but might put you into a better position to stop your mind racing with negativity, especially in that crucial pre-sleep phase.
Particularly looking at "Yoga for Anxiety" or "Yoga for Mental Health" type things, moreso than general strength and fitness Yoga. You'll find a bunch online. You might find something like this Yoga Healthcare Alliance 10 Week Course works for you (it's promoted by the UK's NHS for some conditions). It's focusing on basic de-stressing, de-tensing muscles, breathing focus, and may help you feel calm and relaxed - which may give you a good nights sleep - which could potentially do wonders for beginning to recover.
I'd also suggest combining it with some "sleep headphones" - a fabric headband with some really flat headphone speakers inside it - then listen to a combination of "meditation for anxiety" or "8 hours deep sleep ambient soundscape" type things whilst you lie there.
Ideally you'd do the Yoga sat on your bed, then drop straight into something like "a nice man tells you you're great and everything will be fine" followed by some sort of "inner peace meditation that lasts 8 hours or longer". Obviously, you'll find your own preferred voices/sounds. I've also used white noise style "starship engine sound" or "on a night train" audio.
If you watch them on your phone with "Newpipe", you can save them as videos or just as audio files - which you can then set up as playlists in VLC. No point in downloading the same thing every night.
This whole set of things might not work for you at all, but if you're up for hours anyway, what do you have to lose?
Personally, I found this process helped me massively on my way out of a similar patch (combined with exercising more, quitting caffeine for a while, CBT therapy - it was a multiple angle approach).
Regardless, I wish you luck and pass you my best wishes in your recovery.
Also if you want some interesting soundscapes, I can recommend exploring mynoise.net. They have a huge variety of natural and artificial soundscapes, including a bunch of musical ones that are all tuned to be compatible with one another, so you can mix & match them. They also have a phone app, but you can only use one sound at a time with it. Also not everything is available if you don't make a donation. I gave them 5 bucks a couple of years ago and it's one of the best 5 bucks I've ever spent. It wasn't hard to then spend a few more dollars on the app.
I use them for focus when I'm working, but lately I've also used them for sleeping. It works really well for me.
Learn to crochet. It's not hard to learn, aside from some people whose brains are wired a bit different, and it doesn't cost much to get into. Eats up a lot of time for larger projects, and you can kinda watch tv or listen to radio/audiobooks while doing it.
Listen to books if reading is to much. Theres audio books or programs that will convert ebooks to audio. Either way i think if you take a story, like harry potter for example and go through the book in a day or 2. So that series itself will give you at least a week of chilling.
I hurt my foot a couple years ago and really needed to stay in bed all day, books made it so easy.
Do more things, start doing something at home that will take a long time and keep doing it until you're so tired you can't keep going.
That's kind of exactly what I'm asking. What kinds of things would fall under that?
What are you into?
Learn to draw? Build/make something?
Learn to program?
Shoot videos with your phone and learn to edit (davinci resolve is a free editing software). Shoot whatever, little stories/vlogs/clips for friends.
Clean everything in your house, inside the fridge, the whole shower (above/below), dust the walls, go through your closet/drawers/bookshelfs/etc. The places you'd never otherwise pat attention to.
Move furniture in your home and reorganize the layout of your stuff.
Learn to cook, really dig into how to make sauces, properly cook steaks/fish/etc. Practice cutting veggies and perfect your knife skills.
I mean, there's a million things to do.
Paint a wall in a certain pattern, using multiple colors. It needs time for planning, time for buying tools, and time for execution.
Fix something. Replace dying batteries for electronics, take a look around the house, anything you can find parts on ifixit for. It requires focus and skill, gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment, and you benefit from your items longer. Also cheaper in the long run.
Tinker around the house. There's always something broken or in a bad condition. Repaint stuff, reapply stuff.
Build something with your hands. Try woodworking.
Gardening unfortunately is usually done outside and during the day, but you could try indoors hydroponics or vertical gardening. Try to automatize it.
Learn programming. Learn hobby electronics. Arduino is easy to learn and requires both. Could help with the automatization above. You can find cheap clones and parts. You mainly work with DC under 12V, so it's relatively safe.
Be curious. Watch Youtube videos about any subject you might find interesting, learn how stuff works, no matter how familiar or not they are. A lot of times I don't have the patience to watch a show, but I find myself getting into a Youtube / Wikipedia rabbit hole about cryptography, programming, how games are made, how mechanical pinball machines work, lockpicking, painting, large buildings fails, quantum physics, astrophysics, photography.
Watch Cosmos, presented by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Pencil and paper are dirt cheap. Write, or draw.
Do therapy (individual or group) sessions. Meanwhile find rabbit holes (like self hosting if you are techo) but knowing that you need to work on the anxiety and depression . Obsessions well used, for our kind, is a excellent weapon . But could be a ruin .
MMORPG's. Do you have a favorite?
I played WoW for ages. I tried going back during shadowlands, but, it's just so different from what I enjoyed about it at its peak (wrath).
Is there a current MMO that really requires teamwork, as well as the ability to find a consistent group? A month probably isn't long enough though, and I don't think I'm mentally in a place to grind to a level cap without already having friends in game.
Have you ever played Eve Online?
A little bit a long time ago. Was hard for me to get into
So you're having trouble relaxing before bed?
I would recommend either finding a book you like to read before bed, or perhaps if you are so inclined, doodle or sketch. Something that requires focus, but isn't intense, so you will still be able to tell when your body is ready to rest.
Audiobooks+ some other mindless activity shuts my brain off really well. Find a series you love that your library has and pick up a new sudoku or other puzzle app and go to town.
If you're having trouble finding books I recommend a long sci fi or fantasy series. The Expanse is great, or Dune is also fantastically long. If fantasy is more your style maybe someone can recommend something but I know the wheel of time has a ton of books.
As for mindless things to do while you listen to audiobooks, either find a puzzle game or pick something up to do with your hands that requires few materials and is calming and productive. Here are a few that work for me:
Coloring (you can print out free coloring pages from the Internet like the ones here: https://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/adult-coloring-pages/)
Color by number
Crochet or knitting (lots of good online tutorials and making a scarf is a good first project)
Modeling clay (just reuse the same clay over and over again if you want to save money/supplies)
Yoga
Walking on a treadmill or riding an exercise bike
Weightlifting with free weights at home
Tai chi
Best of luck, I know this type of thing is tough. Try to stick to regular wake/sleep cycles as much as possible and get outside during the day if you can, it definitely helps. Sending hugs and hoping things get better soon.
Have you tried duolingo? It's pretty fun and sucks you in.
Or learning a craft or instrument? I've wasted a lot of time watching YouTube video lessons for ukulele, bongos, and cajon. Right now I'm stuck on videos of people trying to make DIY coolers better than yeti or homemade air conditioners. I love a good science fair project!
How about chess? I know you said you are not really looking for video games, but chess to me is a bit different to video games.
I had a similar problem to you a few years ago during Covid. I was very stressed and lonely and didn’t know what to do with myself. I am completely addicted to chess now. To the point that I play for like 4-8h a night sometimes. Time passes fast, especially in the shorter time modes. And if you are looking for a more low stakes, slow paced distraction you can play correspondents chess and think about your next move for 1.5 hours.
Bonus: if i tell people that i play chess for over an hour every day, they often assume i am a genius, even tho I’m just a 800 elo idiot like most people
Would you consider volunteering at an animal shelter? Doing good for others helps you feel less bad about yourself.
I actually occasionally do volunteer at a shelter. It's a good idea, but I'm mostly asking about things to do once all the available "activities" are over. Let's say, starting at 9pm or so
I take melatonin so I can sleep instead of lying awake with my thoughts
throw on some music to keep my mind occupied until I start falling asleep
I do a similar thing, melatonin but I'll put on TV. Simpsons, futurama, bob's burgers are all good sleep shows.
Some people take Baldrian before bed in Germany. You can (probably) get it without a prescription. It has a calming effect that might help you, without going down the road of stronger medicines.
I take melatonin, which helps a lot. But the issue is I just have trouble sleeping right now in general. I'd love to be able to sleep 14 hours a day all month. But I'm lucky if I get 6-7
When I need to sleep and can't, my go to is a relatively mindless game that I've gotten exceedingly good at automating my way through. Something like Sudoku, solitaire (specifically Klondike), or something. Usually on a digital device so I don't have to move too much to play and I don't have to worry about physical cards, shuffling, etc.
If it's a particularly bad night I can pair that with some music. I find either ambient trance or something similar, to be the best for this. One of my favorite "go the fuck to sleep" albums is called "Dreamland" by Robert Miles (may he rest in peace). Alternatively, I find nature/rain/thunderstorm sounds to be particularly calming for me, though YMMV. The calm pitter-patter of raindrops falling seems to really put me in a sleeping mood.
Combining these generally gets me ready to snooze the fastest. The other option I have is mediation, but you need to be practiced at getting into the right headspace for it to be effective. Meditation isn't really what you're after since you have said that basically sitting around with nothing going on is when you start to panic, which is generally how mediation begins, so I'm not sure it will be super helpful.
The only additional advice, which is a bit of an offshoot from the mediation thing, is that trying to not think is a contradiction. You can't try not to do something; unless you have some issues with impulse control, the "act" of not doing something is the antithesis of trying. You can't try to clear your mind, you clear your mind by not thinking, if you're thinking about clearing your mind, then that's a thought which, if present, precludes you having a clear mind.
You have to stop thinking, not just try to put things out of your mind, but stop all active thought and analysis. It is way easier to say, than it is to do, and I wouldn't pretend it's easy at all. I learned how to do this through meditation, and it's a fat departure from how you normally operate mentally, and not an easy thing to achieve. One of the strategies I've used is when your brain assaults you with a thought, you recognise it's existence, but refuse to interact/engage/analyse it at all, and just let that wash over you, and into oblivion. Again, easier said than done. Not allowing your thoughts to latch onto ideas and allowing your mind to be quiet, without commenting on, about, or examining every passing thought, does not come naturally.
I think of it a bit like this: take the example of your mind being a street in a busy city, every individual on the street is an independent thought you might engage with. This idea is a bit like sitting by yourself and watching everything around you without getting involved. Someone walks past screaming about some topic, like how the world is going to end and you just watch them walk by and don't comment on the matter. You recognise they're there, you just don't get involved. Your passive demeanor does not and should not imply you either agree, nor disagree with their statements or viewpoint, you are just present, observing them making a scene. Eventually they move on to yell about it in another location and you give it no further thought.
I hope that makes sense. Of course, modern society with all the social interactions we have, whether online or in person, always gives us the option to engage in discussion about everything and we're often encouraged to do so. People will outright ask for your opinion when having IRL conversations at times, which is a prime example of this conditioning. If you're able to break away from the need to have an opinion on everything and anything that crosses your path, and value people's opinions exactly as much as required, which isn't much, then you can break free, and you don't have to bother yourself with everyone's opinion and making yours heard. IMO, there's no value in sharing your opinion, especially when the recipient of that opinion has their own opinion which obviously will not change based on what you could say, so why bother even having one? It takes mental effort and time away from what's important to you to engage in such trivialities, when the outcome is unaffected by anything you think or say. Why invest the time and effort having an opinion when nobody cares what your opinion is enough to for it to have any impact on what happens? This isn't a value statement about you or your opinion, this is a value statement about any would be recipient of your opinion, they don't care, that's a problem, but it's a problem for them to solve; your opinion is valid, and if they can't see the validity in your opinion, why waste your time and effort creating one just so they can ignore it.
You cannot control the actions of others. You can't change what they care about. Both of these things are issues that the opposing individual must address about themselves, that you have no way to change about them. Save yourself the grief, and just don't bother with it. It sounds like you have enough on your plate, you don't need to add their crap to your pile.
With all that being said, it's a radical departure from the accepted social "norm" so it's a lot of stuff that's easier said than done. I'm sorry that you are going through this. I don't know all the details and I don't have the answers; but I've been though some rough shit, and it always sucks. I value you and your opinion, so if you want to reply, I'll be happy to hear anything you wish to share. IMO, it sucks right now but the fact that you're reaching out to anyone for help is a positive sign. Do not be afraid to ask for the help you require, it is not a sign of weakness to need help, it is a sign of strength and character to recognise that you require assistance and you are willing to ask for that assistance. It's brave and demonstrates a strong understanding of when you are unable to handle things alone.
We all need a little help sometimes. If you want to DM me, to inquire further on anything I've said, or to simply rant/vent, or if you just want to chat about technology (or literally anything) as a means of distraction, I'm happy to oblige. I believe my matrix account is linked to Lemmy, so that's also an option.
All the best OP.
My suggestion is to spend maybe half an hour in the evening learninga new hobby/skill, then when you're in bed go over what you learnt in that half hour in your mind to cement it. You'll find that just running over the knowledge in your mind induces the "counting sheep" effect and will help you drift off to sleep.
If it doesn't work, then at least you'll learn a new skill much quicker!
I would take a class if I were you. Not necessarily at a college but an art, cooking, or dancing class. Whatever you’re into. You mentioned running so maybe try to train for a marathon (or whatever your distance is).
The only other way I know of time traveling is brown liquor and you definitely don’t want to go that route if you’re depressed and lonely. A class will help you meet new people too.
I ran some trail and road marathons when I was younger and trail runners are always super interesting and a bit nuts in a good way. It’s a solo hobby at times but there is a community. Trail running isn’t about your time since every trail is different. No one really compares anything except distance and even then, finding a cool trail is more important. So, it tends to be about the process rather than the outcome.
Have you thought of practicing a sport in a club / team? I find that it's a good way to focus on something else than my issues and it helps to socialize.
The days are normally ok. I can find activities to do. It's night time, when I'm supposed to be tired and going to sleep that it's the hardest.
I have a few suggestions that have helped me!
One is doing puzzles, physical or video games. I like problem solving a lot since it keeps me from ruminating. Sometimes it feels really good to work on a jigsaw puzzle and just zone out with some music.
Knitting and crochet is another. Just be careful with your hands and neck if you're doing it for a long time. There's some great tutorials online and you can into it pretty cheaply with inexpensive yarns. Plus, you'll end up with a neat blanket/scarf.
Complex cooking is another option. If you like food, try making some of the cuisines you love at home. The research and actual time into making stuff from scratch is intense. People who bake fancy bread end up spending a lot of time perfecting recipes.
+1 for jigsaw puzzles and music/audio books
I can think of three things:
GamingI find it hard to contribute to some projects because I don't understand the overall architecture but I think contributing to unit testing is pretty simple. You just need to understand the smallest units of work, not the whole thing.
Contributing is not limited to writing code. Sometimes it is finding bugs and reporting them. Sometimes it is just telling people about project.
You need to sort our bed time routine out.
Don't do anything in bed other than sleep (or sex). Go to bed try to sleep, if you don't sleep get up and go to another room and come back in half an hour, an hour whatever it takes. Try sleep again if that doesn't work after a bit get up again. I actually find going for a pee and trying again works surprisingly well. Take your TV out of your room, don't use your phone in bed, don't exercise in your bedroom and don't exercise late and night.
Try the military sleep method.
If you want time to waste on something, do a jigsaw or scale model.
Join a board game group.
Watch The World at war 1973. Best ww2 doc ever made and its 26 episodes long. That will waste some time.
Binging TV isn't pretty or healthy but it does definitely help time travel past those sad times in your life where you need time to heal
Get a job in building construction.
You work hard, you work together with people, you start your day early and you get tired in the evening.
Procrastinating... I feel, whenever I postpone something for tomorrow, days fly by faster than usual.
Having a due date for a project or work assignment that you procrastinate really makes time move way too quickly
I smoke weed and watch TV. I also take Zoloft every day and it works pretty well at minimizing my intrusive thoughts too (which mostly happen at night) so it's like multi-pronged for me.
Idk, if you've been going through this for a while and nothing in this thread works, you could look into antidepressants; you don't have to be on them forever. A lot of the common ones are somewhat affordable without insurance.
I had been on zoloft for a while but stopped a few years ago. I actually just started again very recently. We'll see if that works.
Weed doesn't help for me, it makes me more anxious. TV also helps for a little bit
Im a huge advocate for fitness and diet for people who are having trouble with mental health. Because it gives you something you can nerd out on, control, research and if it sticks its a huge net positive for your life.
Figuring out your macros, setting yourself a step goal, designing a functional diet, doing some basic weight training even with just bodyweight exercises.
It also has the advantage of quite often leaving you tired at the end of the day. I can recommend some resources if you like.
People say exercise makes your brain grow. But that’s the wrong way to look at it. Sitting around all day makes your brain atrophy.
It’s so hard to be mentally healthy when your brain atrophies.
Not just the exercise but learning about exercise physiology, calculating macros, protein quality, eating windows, getting adequate sleep to sustain muscle growth, fat loss and testosterone levels... etc.
I'm my own hobby now.
I've been listening to a great book series called dungeon crawler carl on audible..there's like 6 books and they are pretty long .that could eat up time.. I listen to them whilst exercising
Haven't listen to dungeon crawler Carl, but He who fights with monsters is also a good series
Mines a wild departure in tone but the Wandering Inn is both long and engaging.
Ooh ill add it to my list! Thanks friend
start working on a social experience VR app, with an acquaintance that could become a friend.
Come over and help me and my wife with all our house projects and yard work. We don't have time for everything we want to do.
Where do you live
What is it about this month in particular that makes you want to skip it?
Well, let's see...
Time in your local frame of reference slows down the closer you are to a gravitational force. This will give you the perception the rest of the universe is going much faster. However, you'd need a pretty strong gravitational force to notice any effect of it.
A black hole is one of the most powerful sources of gravity out there, but if you don't want to waste millions of years travelling to some far away celestial body, you can find an even stronger gravitational force much closer to home:
Your mum.
Time is the one true currency why do you want to waste it? Learn to program or run linux but donr have the goal of i gotta learn this have the goal of i wanna learn this so so i do xyz fun thing with it. I mean u could always get a mindless job and u would be earning money that why ur productively wasting time. Learn to cook good food. Go touch grass and walk hell just go have a shower and go stand in the sun. Work out doesnt need to be much. Let yourself get bored let yourself reflect and think escapism leads to hate leads to suffering leads to alcoholism leads to the dark side.
Make urself a checklist of thing to do every day. Not goals to achieve but things to do that will slowly work u towards those goals. Then aim to do more than yesterday dont stress it if u fail as long as u did soenthing.
As Jordan Peterson would say go clean up ur room and make your bed.
I'm a software engineer. I make really good money. I'm off work this week, but then next week, and also the weekends.
I run every day
This actually is the problem for me. Running and working out actually help. But it only kills a couple hours, and then if I do more it's not healthy and I'll injure myself.
Are you shitting me? You're quoting jordan peterson?
Is it burnout? Have you felt changes during vacations 3 weeks+? If you can afford it, maybe ask your employer for two or three months off unpaid, if you sell it as burnout prevention, it should also be in his interest.
Then get some sleep medication and do what your body tells you to.
I've told my manager that I'm having issues. I don't actually want to take time off because work is a pretty decent way to pass the time. But I'm not in a mental space to focus at my usual level. So I think I've got that covered
Damn seems like u got most things covered great to hear. How about contributing to a foss project if u can handle doing that in ur work break.
Just cos he is wrong about some things doeant mean he's wrong about all. I mean even Hitler had some good points (everyone deserves a job land and a family thats the dream he sold the people.
OP doesn’t necessarily “want” to waste time. OP is going through some difficult things right now and looking for helpful advice just to get through the day, Yoda.
What about a bucket full of horse meth, then you didn't need to sleep for a month?
Kind of the wrong direction there. I WANT to sleep, but I can't.
Oh then just ignore my bad advice.
It's not the right choice, but alcohol has been doing well for me for this.
Dad died last year due to what I feel is my fault....
Stay the fuck away from alcohol, OP.
Alcohol doesn't help anyway.
We all feel like it was our fault. The coulda/shoulda will eat you. Find something else to occupy your brain.
No. I feel like it was all YOUR fault.
Using alcohol as a self-medicating behavior caused me more pain, ruined relationships, lost me jobs, etc. than anything else. Stay the fuck away.
Alcohol will temporarily alleviate anxiety and then make it much much worse. I do not recommend this at all. I'm sorry to hear you're having a rough time.