Boredom-how do you spend your time?
 

I wish I could read or exercise. I am incredibly bored and some days I worry about how I am going to get through the long hours in a day. This journey is quite exhausting. would like to hear from you all about how you spend your time.

Solitaire... candy crush.. here...

I play a lot of Spider Solitaire and watch non-stressful TV. TV pickings have been very poor lately. I have played 1500 games of Spider Solitaire since last fall. I play the easy level and have a high score of 1207.

Go for a slow, gentle walk outside
Put in a bird feeder or bird bath so you can sit and watch birds
Color - buy a big pack of crayons or colored pencils and Google "coloring pages for adults" or "free mandalas to color"
Play with play-doh or legos
Listen to a meditation or guided relaxation podcast
Do chair yoga
Give yourself a manicure or pedicure
Download a nature sounds app for your phone and listen to it with your eyes closed
Brush and floss your teeth
Take a bubble bath
Experiment with different hairstyles
Take a nap
Snuggle with your pet and/or child
Call friends on the phone
Buy exotic fruits and taste them
Bake cookies or some other very simple recipe
Mindfully peel and eat an orange
Mindfully make and drink a cup of herbal tea
Knit
Crochet
Read (or listen to an audiobook) if it doesn't stress your eyes or your brain

I love Spider Solitaire. I haven't advanced to playing with different coloured suits, but I'm not giving up. My high score, on Beginner, is 1206.

I'm also trying my hand at the online Majong game. It's a real challenge for me because I struggle to see patterns. It reminds me of looking for shapes in Attention Processing Therapy.

This is a big step up for me. Eighteen months after my injury, I couldn't fathom how to play Junior Monopoly.

I think being bored is a good sign.

When I was first injured, I'd just sit for hours, unaware of the passage of time, and unmoving, unless prompted. Heck, I didn't even have thoughts. I was just blank. Bored means your brain wants to do something.

When I am feeling adventurous, I play Freecell. It is not on every version of Windows, though. I win about 80 % in Freecell. Before 2001, I could win about 90%. I win 78% in Spider Solitaire. I don't play except until I get a good deal. I just keep pushing F2 until the deal has a lot of opening moves.

Great question and some great answers.

I sleep a lot. I also play a lot of games. I used to be a game programmer but it's very seldom that I can recognize one of the games I worked on.Every so often I do recognize a gameplay algorithm I invented.

I also watch a lot of Let's Play videos online. I used to think that would help me relearn about games, but, no.

I also fantasize about food. I dream about stuff I used to eat. I miss cooking. On one of my rehab places they tried to teach us how to prepare our own meals - using boxes, cans of stuff and so on. Talk about depressing!!

We have a hobby farm with goats and chickens, so I'm busier than my rehab team wants me to be just looking after them. We've cut back a lot since my injury, with the exception of my recent acquisition of 4 new baby goats, that I am calling my "rehab goats" much to the dismay of some of new rehab team. :D

My rehab psychologist, however, thinks they are a great idea since they make me happy and give me a purpose to continue with my rehab program, a reason to continue.

I like to hang out with them, they are very friendly and like to sit in my lap and snuggle and also run around and do funny things.

I spend a lot of the rest of the time asleep, but I do sometimes watch tv shows. We don't have cable here, just good high speed internet, so I watch tv online, netflix, project free tv on my laptop. I prefer simple shows with simple story lines, nothing too twisty or complicated.

I'm currently rewatching The Big Bang Theory... but never the opening sequence with the flashing images during the theme song... that's not TBI friendly at all!!

Starr

It's interesting about your not being able to recognize the games you worked on. I was a writer, and when I read the stories I published before my brain got mashed, I can't see how I ever put them together. It's so depressing that I tossed all my work into the wood stove. Having those reminders of the "old" me around was like being haunted by a ghost.

As for cooking, don't give up on that. Before I was injured, I loved to cook. We'd throw big dinner parties and I made everything my family ate from scratch.

Realizing cooking was important to me, both practically and psychologically, my occupational and cognitive therapists worked really hard to help me get back into the kitchen.

While I'm not throwing any elaborate dinner parties, I am back to being able to prepare a family meal (that doesn't involve cans or microwaves, lol). I started with simple things, but I'm getting to be able to tackle more involved dishes.

Among the tricks I've learned is to line up my ingredients, in the order I will need them, and put them away as soon as I'm done with them. That way, I neither forget an ingredient, nor add any more than once.

I have to banish everyone from the kitchen while I'm working. If I converse while cooking, the meal can get "interesting."

I also have to have my husband check that I have set any timers properly and that everything is turned off when I'm done. I have been getting better about remembering.

If you have to start with the cans and the boxes, start there. Any cooking will get the brain firing on that task, again. Your skills will improve.

i read about new news in brain injury treatment and the clinical trials being done. its interesting and applicable.

sciencetoy,

We did a lot of cooking in rehab, too. At first, it was difficult just cutting vegetables. I could eventually prepare a side dish, then finally the main course. I needed supervision with everything, too.

Now, I can cook from simpler recipes on my own, using timers as a reminder for safety. It was difficult to move from being able to host holidays and cook the majority of dishes to struggling with salads. But I have found the joy of cooking once again with persistence and work arounds. I still mess up the measurements of ingredients now and then, but no one seems to notice!!

It just gave me back a little of what I thought I had lost from my injury. I hope you will find this to be true for you as well. Take care, M-i-m

Hi Willgardner
 

Gardening...I do just a little bit every day. I listen to Reggae almost non stop. Puts me in a better frame of mind. I do not have TV so I don't miss it.
Try your hand at some craft? Mosaics can be very stress relieving. ginnie:grouphug:

For the first few months i listened to a lot of guided meditation. It seemed to be the only thing that would quiet the uncomfortable buzz/traffic jam in my brain. Darmaseed has an app and podcast if you can handle a little buddhist flavor.

I also alternated couches/beds just for a change of scenery :), and sat in my hammock with earplugs and an eye mask for many hours

Now I'm able to drive/be outside more and spend time sitting by a river just letting the white noise wash through me. Or peddle very slowly on my stationary bike. Both have done wonders for the depression, I'm lucky to be able to do them.

oh, and i listen to the same song quietly over & over when biking--adds motivation but isn't over stimulating.

also bought some kids water colors at the drug store and...i haven't done art since i was forced to in school, but find just painting several shades of blues/greens very soothing.