What should I do right now?
One real thing, picked for the time and place you have.
Do one small real thing, sized to the time you have: a five-minute try at home, an hour somewhere nearby, or half a day out. Pick your time and place below and you'll get one idea, not a list of a hundred.
Half a day · Out
Walk a route you only ever ride.
Keep it: write three lines about it in DoomsHuman.
What you did, one thing that surprised you, one thing you would do differently.
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93 real things to do today
5 minutes31 ideas
At home
- Draw the object nearest to you, badly, in two minutes.
- Learn one knot with a shoelace: the bowline.
- Write a note by hand and leave it where someone will find it.
- Open a window and name five sounds you can hear.
- Cook an egg a way you never have.
- Smell every spice in the kitchen with your eyes shut. Guess each one.
- Find the oldest thing you own and remember where it came from.
- Call someone and ask a question you have never asked them.
- Write down three things in this room you never look at.
- Rearrange one shelf so it tells a story.
- Balance on one foot until the kettle boils.
Nearby
- Walk to the end of your street and look only at the rooftops.
- Ask a shopkeeper how they got into the work.
- Buy one fruit you have never eaten and eat it on the way back.
- Walk around the block the other way.
- Find the oldest date written on a building near you.
- Say good morning to a neighbour you have never spoken to.
- Count the birds you can see in five minutes.
- Find a tree you cannot name and ask someone what it is.
- Sit on a step outside and watch the sky for five minutes.
- Pick up three pieces of litter on your street.
Out
- Get off one stop early and walk the rest.
- Ask someone nearby where they would eat lunch around here.
- Read every sign on one wall and find the strangest one.
- Sketch the view from a bench on the back of a receipt.
- Ask a stall holder which thing on their table sells best.
- Notice what the next ten people are carrying.
- Find something in the street that is older than you.
- Pick a colour and count it everywhere for five minutes.
- Walk into a shop you would never enter and look around.
- Thank someone whose work is usually invisible: a cleaner, a guard, a driver.
An hour32 ideas
At home
- Cook a dish from a country you have never visited.
- Fix one broken thing you have been ignoring.
- Plant seeds in a pot on the windowsill.
- Call an older relative and ask about their first job.
- Read the first chapter of an unread book, phone in another room.
- Write a letter on paper to a friend you have lost touch with.
- Learn to juggle with three rolled-up pairs of socks.
- Draw a map of your neighbourhood from memory.
- Mend one piece of clothing: a button, a hem, a hole.
- Bake something with only five ingredients.
- Pick three old photos and write the story behind each.
Nearby
- Go inside a place nearby you have never entered: a library, a gallery, a market.
- Walk with one question: find every red door.
- Sit in a park and write down what people are doing.
- Visit a second-hand shop and find its oldest object.
- Try a drop-in class: dance, pottery, climbing, a choir.
- Walk to the highest point nearby and look back at home.
- Sit in a café alone and order something you never have.
- Take a notebook to a market and write down five things you have never seen.
- Ask a neighbour with a garden to show you what they grow.
- Walk every street around your block in a widening spiral.
- Find a place of worship that welcomes visitors and sit inside for ten minutes.
Out
- Ride to a park you have never been to and walk its edge.
- Go to a free public talk, reading or open rehearsal.
- Eat lunch in a neighbourhood you only know by name.
- Watch a local sports match and ask someone the rules.
- Swim at a public pool you have never used.
- Visit a museum and look at only three things, slowly.
- Find the oldest building in the centre and read every plaque on it.
- Take a bus you have never taken for six stops, then walk back.
- Sit by water, a river, a lake or a fountain, and draw it.
- Buy the cheapest book in a bookshop on a subject you know nothing about.
Half a day30 ideas
At home
- Bake bread from scratch.
- Make something you will keep: a box, a zine, a notebook.
- Sort one box of old things and keep the stories.
- Cook dinner for two friends who have never met.
- Learn one song on an instrument you own.
- Paint one wall or one old piece of furniture.
- Write down your family story as far back as you know it, then call someone to fill the gaps.
- Build a bird feeder from what you already have.
- Cook a big pot of soup and take half to a neighbour.
- Invite someone over and teach each other one skill.
Nearby
- Volunteer for one shift.
- Walk every street of one small neighbourhood.
- Visit the oldest building in town and find out who built it.
- Follow a river or a path as far as it goes.
- Help a neighbour with their garden or their move.
- Clean up one park or one street with a friend and two bags.
- Spend a morning at the library and read one whole short book.
- Walk to every park within an hour and choose a favourite.
- Learn a skill from a neighbour: fixing bikes, sewing, growing food.
- Write a page about your street in a café, then walk it again.
Out
- Take a bus or train to the last stop and explore.
- Climb the nearest hill for the view.
- Visit a nearby town you have never stopped in.
- Walk a route you only ever ride.
- Watch the sunrise from the highest point you can reach.
- Shop at a market in another part of town, then cook what you bought.
- Spend half a day in a museum with one notebook and no phone.
- Make your own walking tour from the plaques and statues you pass.
- Pack lunch and walk somewhere you would normally ride.
- Go to a forest, a farm or a beach within an hour and stay past the point of boredom.
What no feed gives you
Think about it. Learn it. Go live it.
In DoomsHuman, every topic you explore ends with three real things to do: go see it, try it, talk to someone. You keep what it was like, in your own words.
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Questions
What should I do right now if I'm bored?
Pick one small real thing you can start in the next minute: draw what's in front of you, walk one street you've never walked, or cook something you've never made. Choose how much time you have and where you are, and the picker gives you one idea.
What can I do right now at home?
In five minutes: learn a knot, write a note by hand, cook an egg a new way. In an hour: cook a dish from another country, fix something broken, call an older relative. In half a day: bake bread or make something you'll keep.
What are some random things to do?
Take a bus to the last stop and explore. Find the oldest building in your town. Ask a stranger how they got into their work. Buy a fruit you've never eaten. Random is easier when the idea is small and the time is clear.
Is this a random activity generator?
Yes, but it gives you one idea at a time, sorted by your time and place, and every idea is something to do away from the screen. Press "Another one" if it doesn't fit.
Do I need to sign up?
No. The picker is free and needs no account. If you'd like to keep a few lines about what you did, you can start free afterwards.