Time is precious and all, but occasionally, you just gotta kill an hour. Here are some ideas.
- Learn to roll a coin across your fingers.
- Read about the most fascinating and obscure corners of the globe.
- Start learning a foreign language.
- Teach yourself to juggle.
- Find out about the most interesting pages on Wikipedia.
- Watch Helvetica on Netflix.
- Catch up on my blog.
- Catch up on Ben Trube’s blog.
- Read the archives of Questionable Content, starting with the very first one.
- Start reading Hamlet.
- Learn about cognitive biases.
- Practice Zen meditation (aka “zazen”).
- Learn about common misconceptions. (Did you know that the Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, and hydrogen peroxide doesn’t effectively disinfect cuts?)
- Play Tetris.
- Go through your closets and find stuff you don’t use anymore. Give it to Goodwill.
- Learn differential calculus.
- Browse Imgur.
- Place a coin on your elbow and grab it with your hand (same arm). See how many coins you can do at once.
- Write a story. Even if you don’t think you’re any good at writing.
- Memorize your favorite poem. (Mine is “Ozymandias.”)
- Read about Kiva, and if you like what you see, lend them $25. (I’ve done this many times and have always gotten the money back.)
- Write a super-detailed journal entry. If you don’t have a journal, start one!
- Make a quick run to the grocery store.
- Draw something. Even if you don’t think you’re any good at drawing.
- Watch some Louis C.K. (if you’re not easily offended).
- Find and fund a worthy Kickstarter project.
- Exercise.
- For each letter in the alphabet, think of a word that has that letter doubled. (For instance, “butter” works for T – but it has to be twice in a row, so “potato” doesn’t count.) It’s possible for every letter except Q, X, and Y. Place names don’t count!
- Listen to music.
- Learn how fractals work.
- Play with your dog. If you don’t have a dog, visit a friend who does! (If you don’t have any friends, uh…that sucks, I guess?)
- Invent the longest palindrome you can. For instance: “Race car.” Or: “I’m a lasagna hog. Go hang a salami.”
- Find anagrams for your name. (Now can you guess why my blog is subtitled Crude Inky Blab?)
- Eat dinner at some restaurant you’ve never visited before.
- Draw five shapes so that each shape touches every other shape. (Okay, fine, this one’s not possible – but you can easily spend an hour trying!)
- Memorize the first hundred digits of pi. Hint: it’s easier if you break them up into chunks, like this.
- Write a sonnet.
- Send an e-mail to your future self.
- Learn how to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
- If there’s snow outside, make a snowman. If not, dig a hole and look for buried treasure.
- Learn the steps to a simple dance, and practice with a partner (real or imaginary).
- Try a new recipe.
- See how much of the song American Pie you can remember. Ditto Hotel California.
- Try a brand of beer you’ve never had before. If you don’t drink alcohol, try a brand of coffee you’ve never had before. If you don’t drink alcohol or coffee, make yourself a certificate that says “I have more willpower than Brian D. Buckley.”
- Learn Dvorak.
- Download Paint.Net (free, legal program similar to Photoshop) and learn how to use it.
- Pick a country (like Iceland!) and learn all about it, just as if you were planning a trip there. Bonus points: travel there!
- Explore a nearby town that you’ve driven past but never stopped at before.
- Clean up the house a little…nah.
Got a 50th? Leave it in the comments!
Brian D. Buckley 
