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Bored? Here’s 5 Productive Things You Can Fill Time With!

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bentley chapter.

I don’t know about you, but personally, the first week of the semester always comes with too much time on my hands. Usually, the average student would be overrun with homework, meetings, events, you name it! but during syllabus week, not so much. So, instead of laying around or binge watching a show I’ve seen too many times, I decided to compile a list of 5 productive things to do on the Bentley campus. You don’t even have to leave your room for some of them (it’s way too cold anyway)! Making this list definitely gave me ideas on how to productively occupy my spare time and I hope it’ll help you do the same!

#1: Go visit the Collins Creative Corner (CCC)

When I’m bored or have some free time on my hands, I like to grab a friend and head down to the Collins Creative Corner (a.k.a the art room), located in Collins next-door to the mail room and Falcon Market. The CCC has plenty of art supplies that are available to students and provides a relaxing space to create in. Personally, I like to paint and listen to jazz hop (or just chit-chat with a friend), however, the art room also has a lot of multimedia supplies like fabric, pastels, paper craft/collage stuff, etc. If you’re bored, or just creative in general, this space is a great fit for anyone and everyone!

#2: Make an assignment spreadsheet

Last semester, I found it incredibly helpful to have an assignment spread sheet to help me keep track of everything across all of my courses. So, If you don’t already have one, here’s how to make a simple version assignment tracker in your spare time:

  • make a google sheet (or excel if you prefer, though I do feel google is easier to use sometimes)
  • make headers at the top, for example, assignment, course, status (in progress/complete/etc.), due date, priority (high/low/etc.), and type of assignment. It may be helpful to make the top row with the headers a different color so it’ll appear less chaotic, visually speaking.
  • Add in all the assignments and due dates from your course syllabuses, then fill in the rest of the columns with the status, priority, and type of each task.
  • Last but not least, you can jazz it up a bit and make it your own! for example, on my assignment tracker, I have a column with checkboxes that will put a line through the whole row for an assignment when I check off that it is complete. Additionally, I have a column for the number of days until the due date of an assignment that will input the information automatically. I personally am not very tech-savvy, so If you feel similarly, there are tons of videos online that will walk you through the process.

#3: Go visit the Fitness Center

It’s winter, it’s cold out, what better to do with spare time then raising your body temp via exercise? Okay, I admit it maybe doesn’t sound like the most appealing idea when you’re bored, but it’s something. Plus, exercise is good for you anyway, so why not? Personally, I like to just go to the Fitness Center, located in the Dana Center, and walk on the treadmill for a bit while listening to some music. Not a fan of the treadmill? The Fitness Center has plenty of other options, stationary bikes, yoga mats, weights, etc., and if all else fails, grab Currito while you’re there!

#4: Make a vision board in Canva

Recently, when I had some free time, I decided to make a vision board in Canva. It’s super simple and it can be a good tool for visualizing your goals and getting into a good mindset! Canva is free to sign up and use the basic level functions, but I suppose you could also make a google doc or slide. Just gather up some pictures from google, Pinterest, or even from your own camera roll, and paste them onto your vision board. From here, you can arrange them however you please, resize/crop pictures, change colors, etc. Finally, I’d recommend printing it out and putting it up someplace where you’ll see it often; for example, I have mine pinned to the corkboard on my desk!

#5: Go visit the LaCava Cafe

Personally, a good chunk of my college friends live in different states, so after the break, all I wanted to do was see them and catch up! And what better place to do so than the LaCave Cafe? Grab your friends, a booth, some yummy food and the rest is history. Already did that? Well, the LaCava Cafe is an all-around good spot on campus, so if you don’t want to catch up or have already done so, I find that simply going to LaCava, putting headphones in, and working on your laptop (maybe on an assignment spread sheet or vision board…hint hint) is usually pretty productive; the sound of the ever-busy Cafe provides good background noise!

To wrap it all up… I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article as much as I have had writing it! College has its high points and its lulls, and if you’re anything like me, you have a hard time figuring out what to do when your not totally busy. If so, I hope this article helps and maybe even gave you some ideas. Here’s to a productive, and hopefully not too hectic semester ahead!

Hi! My name is Jackie and I am currently a freshman at Bentley University. I am originally from Meriden, CT and I enjoy baking, fun days out, music, astrology, and all things artsy! I am a part of the class of 2028 and I plan on majoring in finance.