We often shop for a lot of other reasons than just the need for the thing. The ease of buying things makes it even easier for us to click buy. One of the reasons people browse online shopping sites is boredom.
Unscheduled leisure time and phone – is a deadly combination that is really unhealthy for your budget. You might think that you are just window shopping on the phone. But deals, savings, discounts, and whatnots are bound to catch your attention, and eventually, you will buy at least one of the things that caught your fancy.
Sitting idle leads us to do things to fill our time, most of the time, they aren’t the most lucrative of things. Many useless things that I have bought have been when I was bored. Can you imagine how much harmful this seemingly harmless habit of browsing shopping sites when bored can be?
Don’t fill the void in your day with shopping, instead, do things that you have always wanted to do. We often say that we don’t have time for doing something that we have been meaning to. We do have time, we just aren’t managing our time right.
If you have an hour to spare, then instead of browsing mindlessly on your phone, why not spend doing the thing that you can’t seem to find time for.
- Meet people who you have been meaning to.
- Take on a new project.
- Go on a coffee date.
- Attend a yoga class.
- Take a class for something that aligns with your hobbies.
- Go for a walk.
- Meditate.
- Watch the show you have been meaning to.
There are so many things that you can do. If you can’t seem to think of anything that you want to do, then here’s something that you can do, so that, you will always have options when you are bored.
Whenever you are busy and the thought that you need to or want to do something enters your head, write it down. Maintain a list. Write the things down that you want to do when you find the time. So, whenever you find yourself with some downtime, you will have a list of activities to choose from instead of milling away on your phone.
When you’re just pressing a couple of buttons on a touchscreen, it somehow doesn’t feel like real money or real shopping, because you aren’t handling your wallet for money or credit cards. Most of the sites have the feature of storing our card details, and we accept it for convenience. But, it also is an inconvenience for our budget.
Remove the stored details so that buying something is a process, and you have to go fetch your card to enter details. This slows the process down, and trust me when you are bored, you are less likely to go get your card and enter details to buy something. If you tend to choose “cash on delivery,” then remove the stored address. Anything that will make the process lengthy. Yes, it can be an inconvenience when actually buying something, but it is worth it if you have a problem with constantly shopping online.
Final Thoughts
Try to fill your time doing activities you enjoy and make the process of buying a little lengthy, these two tips will help you stop shopping when you are bored.