4 Entertaining Things You Can Do in the Waiting Room
Every now and again, you’re left in a waiting room or on a long commute home with nothing else but your phone to keep you entertained. This is a problem that so many Canadians face on a relatively regular basis.
Now, while you could scroll through Reddit or X for hours, there are so many other things you could do that are far more entertaining (and maybe less toxic). Here are four such things for your consideration.
- Watching a show/movie on a streaming service
In the past, you had to go home to access your movie collection. Today, all you have to do is take your phone and log into the streaming app of your choice.
Since this is your entire account, you don’t even have to start all over. The platform has remembered all your shows and where you left off. This means that you can continue watching the series you started last night while carpooling or taking the subway to work. Sure, this is probably the reason you’re late to begin with since you binged it all night, but still, it will make the commute fly even quicker.
Some people prefer watching these shows on their phones since they can carry them around. This means watching something while brushing your teeth, running on a treadmill, or listening while mopping the place.
If you just want to listen, you could also tune in while driving to work. Just keep in mind that this can be incredibly distracting; jump-scares can put you in a lot of danger, and you need to resist the urge to look at the screen, no matter how interesting the scene seems to be. Generally speaking, this activity is best avoided, but if you just can’t help it, why not?
The best part is that this is also available when traveling internationally. Even with geo-restrictions, you can download a VPN and watch shows that you would be unable to watch otherwise. There are so many VPNs available in Canada from which you can choose, so you never have to miss out on your favorite shows.
- Playing a mobile game
There are so many mobile games of so many different genres that could cut your waiting time short. Now that even Destiny 2 is coming to mobile, there’s never been a better time to start.
A piece of advice from a long-time mobile gamer: Usually, it’s better to buy a game than to play a “free” one.
Just look at it this way: a “free” game is often not free. Sometimes, it’s pay to win with a paywall carefully hidden behind an in-game currency that you have to spend the real money to get. Otherwise, you’ll have to grind (which is not as fun as you hope it would be) or wait for the timer to repeat the action to reset (which often takes hours). Another alternative is being swamped with unskippable ads.
When you buy a game, that’s it; you’ve just bought a full version of the game with no microtransactions and with everything unlocked. The experience (of owning the game) is similar to that of any other console. Not to mention that these games are cheap (much cheaper than what you pay on other platforms).
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that not all mobile games are as predatory. Take Vampire Survivors, for instance. You get a free game that you can play the same way you would play its Steam version. The way the game is funded is that, upon dying, you can watch an ad to get a free revive. You can also watch an ad in the end to double the amount of money you get for the session.
The truth is that both of these bonuses are completely game-breaking in players’ favor, but there’s no penalty whatsoever for skipping them. So, the game incentivizes instead of coercing you into watching ads.
There’s another option: playing online gambling games. At crypto casinos and fiat currency online casinos alike, you know exactly how much you’re going to spend to play. You can even set limits on your account so you know that you won’t spend over that amount each day, week, or month.
- Reading a book
One of the first things you need to take into consideration is the fact that, in your hand, you hold a device that’s capable of downloading virtually any book that exists on the internet in a matter of minutes/seconds.
Sure, a lot of people prefer the tactile sense of a real paper or the smell of an old book, but the truth is that the book is not in its physical form – it’s the words and what it represents. Shakespeare’s handwriting is no more of an original than a PDF book you have on your phone. Sure, an auction house staff might not agree on this, but as long as the words are the same, it’s the same book.
Now, waiting rooms are supposed to be quiet, and most of them are, but some people find it hard to focus in any kind of public space. In this scenario, it might be better to look for something else to do.
Other than this, you can also download an audiobook or find an app that streams these audiobooks for you. Even if you have to pay for it, it’s always worth it. Think of it as a library subscription. In fact, this is exactly what it is: a modern, digital equivalent of a library subscription.
Some platforms even have a system where you can hold a few books at a time and only get new ones when you return one or a few of the old ones. Either way, you’ll get hours upon hours of content since some larger books are tens of hours long.
- Go on a binge-research
Have you ever heard of the Wiki Game?
You set yourself a goal. It could be a city, a historical figure, or an event. Then, you enter Wikipedia’s homepage and pick a random article. From here, you need to get to the goal in as few steps as possible (usually less than six or seven, as per the rules of the game). You’re not allowed to use the search bar in any capacity (that’s the whole point of the game).
For instance, we set our goal to reach the page on Genghis Khan, and we were fortunate enough to have Yuri Gagarin’s funeral as our starting page. Here, we clicked on Moscow, scrolled down to the “History” section, and found Khan’s title hyperlinked in the Grand Dutchy section. Here, we had little trouble finding Genghis Khan.
The whole reason why we’re even talking about this game is because this is what the majority of Wikipedia research sessions look like. You start looking for something, and a few minutes later, you’re reading something completely unrelated.
This is a great way to learn something new, spend this “free time” on something productive, and have quite a bit of fun.
Of course, your research is not limited to Wikipedia. If you’re currently attending an online course, you can always take some time to study.
As long as you have your phone, boredom is never on the menu
The truth is that as long as you have your phone and an internet connection, you’re never lacking things to do. What you lack is imagination. Any of the four ideas listed above will make the time fly, but you shouldn’t start there. Just open your app store, and even if you don’t have any ideas on what to do, you will soon come up with something fun.
