Do you enjoy waiting in line? Two minutes are ok, right? What if your bus, the doctor, the airport check in, the checkout queue have you waiting much longer than that? It can be really frustrating. Sometimes it feels like your life is just slipping away minute by minute with nothing to do but wait. Take some work with you. You will find yourself engrossed in your work that you
won’t be bothered, or even notice that the time is slipping away. You will also find at least one person who admires your work and may even strike up a conversation about what it is you’re doing.
Other things you can do while waiting include reading a book, hand embroidery, word searches or puzzles and playing games on your phone.
To be even more productive while waiting you could:
Do online banking
Write your shopping list
Phone a friend (particularly one you haven’t caught up with in a long time)
Make up a song, poem or story
Plan the menu for a week, with the supplies you already have at home
Write a letter (sure, be prepared by always having a little bit of paper and a pen to hand)
If you are waiting in an office environment like at the doctor or hairdresser, you will usually find magazines that you can read, and who knows what new useful information you might find.
Here’s a fun thing my sister and I do when we know we are going to have to be waiting somewhere, be it in a queue, a bus, at the doctor, or some place else: we decide on something (or some body- part) that we are going to be looking out for and then we just have fun just looking while we’re waiting! We might choose ‘shoes’ as the thing we are ‘looking out for’ on our bus journey for example. Imagine the giggles we have when we see some shoes that we’d never be caught dead in! Some days we are looking at people’s noses! Lots of laughs to be had before it’s eventually our turn, and most of all we didn’t
even notice the time slipping away while we were waiting. Try it! You may choose to look at smiles, hairstyles, jewellery, handbags, posture etc. You’ll be so engrossed, you won’t even notice that you’re waiting patiently.
Also when I’ve found myself waiting, if ever I’m about to get impatient I just remind myself that at least where I am it’s safe. Lots of people have been too impatient while waiting, rushed away, and then met in nasty accidents! Imagine as well what the wait must be like for refugees seeking solace somewhere else! Does your waiting compare? I’m sure it doesn’t. So have the attitude that you’ve been required to wait for a reason.
What will you choose to do the next time you are required to wait? Take one of my ideas to be productive, have fun and relax while waiting, or choose to have a positive outlook. You will be a calmer, much more pleasant person to deal with.
I really like the tips in waiting patiently
Theses ideas are very practical. One thing, if the waiting environment is comfortable, I have no problem.
Hi Yvette, Lucky for you, maybe you’re used to waiting in nice settings! That in itself is stimulating enough to ‘hold’ you while you wait. Thanks for dropping by, by the way. God bless.
Waiting is one thing that we all hate. Thanks to cell phones we have a distraction at least instead of staring at strangers. Lol. Even though people watching is pretty fantastic.
Mary recently posted…Rambling Thoughts of an Anxious Woman
Hi Mary, I have two games on my phone that I use when I am absolutely bored with waiting. They are BUTTONS and 4 PICS 1 WORD. Other than those, I enjoy blogging on my Ipad or employing the funny ideas I spoke about in the post.
Great Tips:)
thanks