How to Avoid Boredom as a Stay at Home Mom | 21 Exciting Ideas

How to avoid boredom as a Stay at Home Mom when you have the same routines, same chores and same activities to handle every day? How can you add some spice to the monotony and conventionality of a SAHM life? And the answer is there is a lot.

Boredom is a state of mind more than a situation of being. It is defined as the state of feeling disinterested in one’s surroundings, having nothing to do or feeling that life is dull. It is definitely not a great state for anyone to be in.

In this post, let us discuss some ideas on how to avoid boredom as a Stay at Home Mom and also then talk of how proactively you can work on your mental & emotional state to avoid reaching Boredom. 

How to Avoid Boredom as a Stay at Home Mom

Being at home taking care of the kids and managing the everyday chores can really be monotonous for Stay at home moms. And the problem does not really end there. There are a lot of other negative emotions like stress anxiety etc. linked to boredom too.

The fact that they are always running behind the kids, tidying up the house, doing the laundry, preparing the meals, arranging for the grocery, reading the same story every day, giving the same instructions day after day, they can definitely do with a lot more fun in their lives. 

Happiness is a Personal Choice

Having said that, thriving as a SAHM is an art and a personal choice too. And it needs us to work on our happiness every single day. This is why having the intention to stay happy needs to be set out clearly at the very start of your day.

Exciting Ideas to Avoid Boredom as a SAHM

1.    Read & have an edge in Life

Have a book or 2 in your bookshelf, that you would enjoy reading and grab it at the first signs of boredom. I am reading Becoming by Michelle Obama currently & loving it so far.

2.    Enjoy being with you

Step out and visit your favourite cafe or eatery alone. Enjoy your own company and see the immediate change of mood that you experience. 

3.    Gang up with friends

A lady can never get enough of spending time with her friends. It is fun and equally needed to maintain your wit. So go out with them and gang up to create memories.

4.    Get Crafty with Kids and avoid boredom

This one is simple and lands you in a win-win situation. My kids love spending time with me and creating a raft is their all-time favourite activity.

The internet is full of things you could try out making with kids. We made this jute covered mason jar at home with 3 simple things – A glass jar, natural jute fibre & glue. 

5.    Take your kids outdoors

This is again an amazing thing to do. It takes you out of your boredom and also helps kids in more ways than one. For one they would be away from their gadgets and out in nature which in itself is a big big positive.

6.   Let the Music Play, Dear Stay at Home Mom

Listening & enjoying music never goes out of style. So head on to your favourite Music App and Let the Music Play.

7.   Learn a new skill to do away with Boredom

Try out your hands on something new and exciting whenever you feel that you are hitting the monotony. From trying out photography to learning a new language, from learning meditation to learning how to decoupage, the options are many and the resources too are all over the internet.  

8.     DIY 

Indulge in a DIY project. This keeps everyone excited at home and keeps you challenged enough to be interested in it. Up-cycling is also another project you can get into and avoid boredom at home. 

9.   Play a sport and never be bored again

Pick up a sport that you used to play and restart it. From Badminton to tennis from swimming to basketball, just pick a sport that you have a facility nearby and enroll. It keeps you not just engaged but also excited and motivated enough to perform better at it. 

10.   Try out a new recipe

Trying out a new recipe is also something you can do to kick away the SAHM blues and boredom. I have been trying my hands at whole wheat baking goodies.

Whole wheat, oats and raisin cookies came out really yum and no I dint miss the white flour at all. 100 percent whole wheat flour is a lot healthier than using white flour in recipes so I am trying to make this shift to healthy baking slowly at my home.

11.   Enjoy your Netflix

There is amazing content available all over the internet. Get your hands on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Apple TV and start watching. Did you say you getting bored?

12.   Go Shopping

Visit the store of your choice and splurge a little. This one is sure to set off any SANHM blues that you might be having. And did I tell you that Shopping is therapeutic for us women? Have a look at some shopping inspiration for yourself here

13.    Talk to old friends and fix up a meeting

We all have a long list of people who we want to connect to but have not really gotten any time lately. Grab the phone and call up – your old friends, your college mates or your cousins. Get the ball of conversations rolling.

14.    Look at Old pictures

I find this very interesting. Whenever I get bored, I pick up my external drive to look at my old memories. Pictures of my pics and even old videos of times when they were babies. Their first steps to their first day of school, their first road trip to their first words, we have them all recorded.

And it is just not about kids, I love to see all the good times I and my husband have spent travelling and at home. It’s a great reminder to me to be grateful for all the blessings to join my life. 

15.    Attend an event to Avoid Boredom

Go out and attend the event you wanted to. There are a lot of different kinds of events from exhibitions to musicals from theatric plays to wine tastings from cookery competitions to fashion shows, the list is endless. 

16.    Re Organize/De-Clutter, Dear SAHM

I can do this any time of day or night. And I think all of the SAHM would agree. Can we get enough of reorganizing and decluttering? 

Always because procrastination on decluttering creates bigger piles of clutter & trash around.

I just finished reorganizing my son’s wardrobe last night and I am already thinking of all the decluttering my kid’s bookshelf needs now on account of new school session starting soon.

And no it won’t be over yet, then there will be the influx of new lunch boxes new school bags new books and new pouches that would need space on kitchen shelves and hence I would get started to kitchen cleaning.

And then the new dresses for school would need their valid space in their wardrobes and I will b back to their wardrobes… that’s the story of my life as a SAHM. 

Life with kids is still full of love & laughter

But don’t get me wrong, we do have lots and lots of fun too while I reorganise the home. Because this is the day my kids get to see things that they don’t even remember they have.

And want to wear all of these items at that very time. So I always have a good laugh at the clowns while my de-cluttering and re-organisation projects at home. 

By the way, Laughing is one of the key strategies too being happy &  fulfilled SAHM

17.    Visit a salon

Yay! This is my favourite one. Go and book yourself an appointment in the Salon and get pampered. Opt-in for a body spa to face treatment and get feeling good. 

18.   Enjoy your Hobbies

Remember what you used to love and get back to it. You can never get bored of doing what you love to.

19.   Social Media

Spend time on Social Media and connect digitally to your friends and causes that you feel for. Supporting a cause is a great way to feel fulfilled and be aligned to your purpose. 

20.   Enjoy puzzles, crosswords, sudoku etc.

Again this one is something I really spend time on and enjoy. Invest in some puzzle books or grab your daily newspaper which has crosswords, sudokus and some other mind-bending puzzles. Get your head into these and push away the boredom.

21.   Plan your next holiday

Use your free time to plan and lookout for great deals for your next holiday. This definitely brings back the excitement and Yaaaaas boredom does not have a room here.

This is my list of ideas on How to avoid boredom as a Stay at Home Mom.

If you like any, do leave me a comment below and if you do have some creative ideas about the same, come forward and share. There are many SAHMs who follow this blog and would benefit from what you share. 

Staying Engaged & Happy is a choice, and I make that choice every day

Having discussed the strategies & tips to avoid boredom, it is imperative to talk about our mindset and thought process that leads to all these negative emotions inside our brain. 

Being a SAHM is not an easy job because it involves a lot of mental as well as physical exhaustion. And to top it all, recognition or appreciation of our efforts is far fetched.

But is that a reason enough to let ourselves fall prey to stress, depression, anger or boredom. I don’t think it is. And so, I decided to turn inwards to understand why I get disinterested or bored or angry every so often. It took me time to understand my voice but I did finally.

Lack of purpose, not giving myself any credit of all good I am doing everyday, Lack of self care & living life by default as it comes were the top themes that I got out of my introspection. 

And then it was easy, I started working on each these themes and it was a matter of a couple of months that I started feeling good about myself as a SAHM. 

I Am a SAHM and This Is What Do When Bored

• Journaling

This has worked beautifully for me to get clarity of mind and to push unwanted thoughts out of my mind. I just pick up my diary and start pouring out my thoughts on it whenever I am getting bored. 

• Sleep

Another thing I do when I am extremely bored is to sleep. I love to sleep, infact while writing this blog post I am just feeling sleepy because I work up real early for preparing for my son’s sports day in school. So sleep is something that makes me wake up happy and positive.

• Meditation

This is another of my powerful tools I use when I am feeling bored and unhappy. I just put my playlist of guided meditations on insight timer and I am sorted.

• Registering for a New Challenge on Social Media

The interesting thing that I do when I’m getting extremely bored is logged onto Instagram and look for some interesting photo challenges around themes of my interest. 

So there’s no harm in trying something new or supporting the voice that you stand for on social media. It helps you validate your thoughts & at times give you recognition & appreciation that can lift you up.