Do you and your spouse get bored in your relationship? If so, you need to face it and make a decision to do something to change it.
There are so many things you can do as a couple to alleviate your boredom and get closer together. You simply have to decide to change things up a little and not let your time get boring.
Even small tweaks can make major changes in the vitality and life experienced in your marriage so boredom is never a bad thing.
The value of boredom is that it can motivate action to bring about change. Some studies even suggest that boredom leads to creativity. The idea of leaving your home when you’re bored might not sound creative, but at that moment, it may be an ingenious way of breaking out of your doldrums.
This simple act of changing or breaking out of the normal routines may open up many new opportunities for feeling alive again with your partner.
Here are 31 things to do when you’re bored to help stop boredom from ruining your relationship:
1. Take a nice walk together. This walk could be in your neighborhood or on a walking path or a trail. You might actually want to take a hike on a trail that is more challenging than walking on a path or paved trail.
2. Have a picnic in the park. Your picnic does not have to be elaborate. It can be very simple – peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some kind of fruit if that’s what you have.
3. Go on a bicycle ride. Your ride could be on streets in your neighborhood or on bike trails or a combination. The trails may take you through a park, along the river, or by a lake, etc. You may want to make it a destination ride. Maybe you get breakfast somewhere or lunch or maybe you stop for coffee at your favorite coffee shop or get some ice cream. You might even want to take some cheese and crackers and a little wine along in a backpack (don’t forget to take an opener and some plastic glasses and probably a knife for the cheese).
4. Here’s one for the whole family.
Go to the zoo. You might even do this when the weather is colder, and you’re bored. There are some zoos that have Christmas at the Zoo. However, most of you probably would prefer to go to the zoo when it is warmer. Enjoy your day. Take time to really watch the animals and have a picnic while you’re out.
5. When you really feel you cannot leave home but you’re bored, you could have a game night with your spouse and your kids if they are up.
6. Another possibility for an at-home activity is to have coffee on the deck or eat outside on the deck or in your yard.
7. When the evening is nice enough, you might have a campfire or a fire in your fire pit. Snacks are always a plus with this. You could make S’mores, have popcorn, or chips, etc.
8. Go for a drive and take a fun snack with you – such as cheese and crackers and some wine – stop along the way and just spend some time together enjoying one another and nature.
9. Go out to a pub where they play bags or sand volleyball and eat and play bags or volleyball while you are there.
10. Take a hike in the woods on a nice day.
11. Go miniature golfing or go to a driving range and hit a bucket of balls together.
12. Go to concerts in the park. Concerts could be free or relatively inexpensive. Just enjoy being together.
There are some things you may want to do when you’re bored but the weather is colder and/or snowy.
1. Snowshoe in the woods or out on a trail.
2. Cross-country ski especially on trails that are groomed. The great outdoors is so pleasant and very quiet.
3. Get up early and fix breakfast for your spouse. You will be your spouse’s hero!!
4. Find a place in the city or your town where you can ice skate outside and go ice skating.
5. Sit by the fireplace and talk and have hot coffee or cocoa. Each of you could even spend a little time reading books you like or reading a book together.
6. Build a snowman together. Lay in the snow and make snow angels and share laughs.
7. There are many other things you can do in winter to keep yourselves having fun together.
In any kind of weather, the following activities will surely not make you bored:
1. Get tickets to a concert or a play in your town or a city close to you. You can do this together or one of you can surprise the other with these tickets. Get dressed up, go out to dinner before or after the concert, or play.
2. Make popcorn and watch a movie together at home after the kids are in bed. You could also schedule a time to watch a Netflix or Amazon Prime series on your TV once a week together.
3. Plan a weekend away. You could camp (if the weather is decent) or stay in a hotel. Decide where you would like to eat and the activities you would like to do while you are gone. Google fun things to do in the area and pick one, or Google historical sites near you and go to one or more of those.
4. Find a new coffee shop and visit it or a new restaurant and try it out.
5. Go out for appetizers. You don’t always have to get a meal and you don’t always have to go to the same restaurant!
6. Schedule time to join your partner in his or her hobby! This will go a long way in showing that you care about what is important to them.
7. Volunteer together. Often people do things for themselves and enjoy that time, but you can also do something for others and both of you receive a great reward from doing that. You will also have great communication related to your experience.
8. Prepare a meal together. Then take it to a friend or relative who is having a difficult time or is ill. You could shop together to get the things you need for the meal.
9. Surprise your spouse at work. Bring them lunch or coffee or a special invite to lunch with you. You might want to call ahead and ask if they will be free to go to lunch or have a visitor.
There are things you can do that will help you be better communicators in your relationship. These can be a lot of fun too.
1. You can make a list of questions to ask each other and then spend time either at home or out on a date asking the questions of one another. You will probably learn many things about each other that you were not aware of before.
2. How about this? Write a letter to each other. Then mail it to your spouse. After receiving the letters and reading them, share with each other your feelings about what was said in the letter.
3. Make a list of things that you have always wanted to do together and haven’t and then choose something from the list and do it.
4. Take a few minutes and write down where you would like to be in a year, 5 years, and 10 years. Do this separately and then share what you have written with your spouse.
Use these lists as a jumping-off place or make your own lists. Anything you choose to do that is different from what you have been doing or that is boring will make your lives better and help your relationship grow. If you need help with any of this, seek out that help. Don’t give in to the boredom and end up doing nothing!
Originally written by David McFadden on YourTango
Featured image via Vanessa Garcia on Pexels
