Top Nine Best Ways to Beat Classroom Boredom

Disclaimer: This article is entirely satirical. 

With the same teachers droning on and on, in the same classrooms, in the same classes, at the same hour, over, and over, for hours, on hours, on hours of your life, classroom boredom is a commonly faced problem for students. Boredom can cause frustration and unfocused behavior in class, and when students are not focused, they are missing class content. All hope is not lost though, as here are the top nine best ways to beat classroom boredom. (The Post is not responsible for any consequences faced due to this advice.)

1. Fidgets

Fidgeting is a common solution for classroom boredom. From tapping your pencil, to using fidget toys like stress balls and clay, there are many strategies and ways to fidget. This is effective as it helps to split your attention so you are still focused, but not bored. And if tapping your pencil doesn’t excite you, try learning to twirl your pencil, or invest in a new fidget toy you have never used before. The newness of this in itself prevents boredom. 

2. Doodle

Another great solution to boredom is doodling. Similar to fidgeting, doodling can help you fight boredom and stay focused. One dilemma that comes with doodling, though, is not knowing what to draw. But in the spirit of solving problems, here are some doodling suggestions: draw a triangle on the edge of the page and fill it in with lines. Then, repeat, connecting this triangle with the edge of your page and the previous triangle. This can go on to fill the whole page, giving you a long doodling activity. Draw your classroom and the people in it. It could be good, or it could be bad; either way, no one (besides the teacher grading the homework sheet you’re doodling on) will see it. And who cares what your teacher thinks of your art skills? Draw a field of flowers, or even just a bouquet. Add any type of flower. All you need is a line with a few circle-like oval shapes at the top.

3. Music 

Listening to music in class is another great way to solve boredom and stay focused. Oftentimes, people use upbeat music to help get work done faster, but slower music can set a great studying and classroom vibe. If the lyrics distract you too much, try listening to instrumentals, or classical versions of songs. Many bands, such as The Vitamin String Quartet, make instrumental versions of songs; though be wary of those who turn songs into lullabies, such as Rockabye baby. These versions may cause even further negative symptoms, including fear, annoyance,sleepiness  and uneasiness. 

4. Caffeine 

If you have a car available, Starbucks or Dutch Bros are a great way to get a caffeine boost during lunch. Caffeine can help cure boredom as it helps remedy tiredness, which boredom is commonly tied to. Plus, it provides you with another thing to do, which is effective similarly to fidgeting. This solution is also not just available for those with a car, as there are many caffeinated options at the market on Woodward and 50th. There, you can get a variety of energy drinks, or, if coffee is still more your thing, you can get a cup of coffee for a fraction of the price you would pay at Starbucks. It is objectively bad, and can be accurately described as a “crappy cup of coffee,” but it will still do the trick. 

5. Daydream

Daydreaming is another very effective way to solve boredom. Making up stories in your head, pretending you’re somewhere else; how can you be bored when you’re pretending life is exactly what you want it to be? Though this may cause you to miss class content, it solves several other problems with boredom. So, next time you are bored with no idea of a solution, imagine your dream vacation, or a world with no school, or the person who your previously doodled flower bouquet was for. You can even try to be a tad productive and imagine what you want to do after high school (although don’t stress yourself out too much). 

6. Do Other Classwork. 

When bored in one class, you can always do other classwork. Not only do you beat boredom, but you also save time you would have otherwise had to spend on work. Though these assignments are usually also boring, and this prevents you from doing the work you should be doing, just by doing it when you’re supposed to be doing something else, everything becomes infinitely more interesting. Am I working on this article in a different class? No…

7. Use Your Phone

A beneficial tool in many ways, phones are also very successful in curing boredom. From Gamepigeon games to scrolling on Tik Tok, phones are very useful. Be warned, this strategy often results in annoyance or anger from your teacher, but as long as you tune them out, this strategy is very effective. For Gamepigeon, look for the phone numbers many have written on a bathroom stall in a desperate search for someone to play with, or bombard your friends with word games (which you can play without a response). If you are without Gamepigeon, try exhausting your Tik Tok or Instagram “For You” page, or texting a friend, as you share your boredom through classroom walls.

8. Cause a Commotion

Though there is a possible high-risk factor to this solution, an almost foolproof way to cure boredom in class is by causing a commotion. Whether this includes distracting your teacher with various miscellaneous questions about their life, or doing something others may consider strange, to going as far as causing a fire evacuation, class is never boring when something is going chaotically wrong. Plus, with everyone collectively distracted, you can’t miss classwork, can you?

9. Leave

The last solution, a surefire way to cure boredom, is just to leave. Leave class. Yes, you may be missing more class content than you did being bored, and yes, you may be marked with a “cut” on your attendance, and yes, your teacher may be very annoyed; but you surely won’t be bored. And after all, that is the overall goal of this list, to cure the looming threat that we call boredom before it reaches its final stage; being bored to death.