9 Absolutely Boring Everyday Activities That Are Surprisingly Satisfying

We all have those boring everyday activities we have to do. But have you ever gotten really excited about those boring everyday activities? Apparently a lot of people do. We found this out when Ramiro's wife Nicole told him that she found replacing the empty toilet paper roll, pretty damn exciting. It then got us to thinking about what other boring everyday activities got us a little excited.

So once we heard about Nicole's favorite, we all had to figure out what else got us excited. Pebbles' favorite is trash day! She used to live in an apartment building where there was a trash chute, so there was never a worry about trash piling up. But after moving, and there being a set trash day, it's turned truly satisfying. There's nothing like driving up to my house after the trash has been picked up, knowing those barrels are now empty.

Melissa said one that a whole lot of us do and find very exciting. And I would also say, relaxing. Sitting in the car when you get home. Most of the time you're just sitting there scrolling on your phone, but yes, there's something about doing it in your car that just feels so good.

And Leroy shared that the boring activity of watching clouds form, has been truly satisfying. He even has videos of them on his phone and after looking at them, I have to agree.

Looks like being boring is good for us! In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about it saying, “The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom.” Sounds about right as routine and consistency are definitely keys to building successful habits.

So we asked our Hot 96.9 listeners for their boring everyday activities that they found exciting, and boy did they come up with some good ones!

Hot listener Ashley E. finds cleaning the lint out of the dryer gives her lots of satisfaction. I have to say I agree. There's nothing like pulling that lint screen out, especially after drying something super "linty" like towels. Thanks for the reminder, and make sure you clean your dryer filter EVERY time you put in a load.

I'm with Kim P. on this one. Breaking down those cardboard boxes. As someone who not only has a lot of deliveries, I also just moved, and you have to break down all those boxes to recycle. The problem for me is that right now, I have a ton of them just waiting for that box cutter. It's definitely satisfying when it's done.

Another one of our listeners called in to tell us that while he was driving, he found the usually-boring looking at lines on the roads, very satisfying. Guess he took "keep your eyes on the road" very seriously.

Katheryn D. said that yes, it's boring to change the calendar every month. But yes, it's also very exciting. I'm totally on board with that one. My mother always buys me a new calendar to keep in the house for Christmas, and it always feels new and exciting to "turn the page" on a new month.

This one from Alex B. made me laugh so much. He said that he loves to take his lunch that he brings to work, and "plate" it. We've all seen those cooking competition shows, and plating is very important. Good for you Alex, for taking the time to make lunch special. Sounds like some good self-care right there!

Nothing like a fresh new jar of peanut butter. Christine F. said that while it may seem boring to most people to be the first person to stick that knife in the jar, she finds it very exciting. I can't say that I disagree.

Anyone who's had to untangle anything can relate. I recently had to get the knots out of the string pulls on my window shades. It wasn't easy, but damn was it satisfying once I got them done.

Jarrod R. had a great one! He said anytime you have to peel the film off of any of your new tech products, it brings some serious satisfaction. I get it. New phone. New iPad. Screen protector. Love it!

Crystal R. gets excited by the boring task of refilling the stapler. Never thought of that, but I can definitely see it. You have an empty stapler, and then you pull out that new row of staples to put in. I don't know about you, but if it breaks, I feel like I have to get an unbroken one.