1. Eliminate clutter

One of the reasons you’re not as prolific as you want, may be that you have too much clutter. Productive things to do when bored include tidying up your desk, removing books you’ll never read from your bookshelf and deleting the smartphone apps you never use. Not only will you have done some housecleaning, the task might also give you energy to move on to the next, bigger task.

2. Eliminate distractions

Is there anything in particular that’s distracting you? If you’re looking for productive things to do when bored, zone in on what specifically is slowing down your productivity. Social media is a popular detractor, for example. Sign out of your social networks so you can focus on things that actually matter.

3. Eliminate concerns

Are you worried about something? Is that concern getting in the way of your productivity? Deal with the problems that are keeping you from spending your time as well as you should. Examples include tasks like double-checking your schedule and sending follow-up emails. By removing all of your stressors, you’ll be a lot more prolific.

4. Eliminate the unnecessary

There are a lot of things in our lives that might be nice, but are distractions to our productivity because they’re not necessary. Find out what those things are and remove them from your place of work.

5. Eliminate quick tasks

Even if you don’t have enough energy for a big task, you might have enough to do a small one. Check off items on your to-do list that can be done quickly like making a phone call or sending off an email.

6. Consume knowledge

When you’re bored is an opportune time to learn. Productive things to do when bored might be to read how-to books or watch YouTube tutorials.