Sitting on a plane, in a car, or in a waiting room with nothing to occupy your mind is frustrating. Play the noticing game: actively notice everything in your environment to avoid pure boredom in a waiting situation.
Photo by Erich Ferdinand
The noticing game can be played during an awfully boring wait, but you can also use it during mindless activities, like chores. Tiny Buddha explains how it works:
Here is an example of the noticing game in action: On my flight from California to Massachusetts last month, I encountered the perfect storm of difficult plane circumstances. I felt wired and couldn’t sleep, my TV was broken, and I couldn’t turn on my light to read lest I wake up the baby right next to me.
There was nothing to do to pass the time. I was tempted to break my first rule of flying home and pull out the credit card for an overpriced in-flight drink. Instead, I decided to notice everything in my environment.
I people-watched, identified interesting items of clothing, paid attention to things I heard, and noticed the different smells around me (luckily, not coming from the baby). This allowed me to sink into the present moment instead of searching for ways to avoid it.
Next time you’re enduring a boring wait, pay attention to your environment. Notice things to reduce the lull, become more engaged, and help with boredom. Tiny Buddha has other ways you can turn something mindless and boring into something mindful and more interesting below.
Mindfulness in Everyday Tasks: 5 Ways Chores Can Make You Happier [Tiny Buddha]
Comments
3 responses to “Play ‘The Noticing Game’ To Get Through A Boring Wait”
Wow, paying $7 for a drink on a plane must really hurt!
This makes getting drunk on over-priced booze sound like a great idea! Thanks for the perspective!
“I people-watched, identified interesting items of clothing, paid attention to things I heard, and noticed the different smells around me ”
Is it just me or is that just called “being a thinking human being”.. Honestly I can’t help but do that pretty much constantly, unless I am concentrating on a single task.