If you have access to your phone, you can text your friends, look up events near you, and organize rides and carpooling.
This can be a good time to build skills as well– you can pick more challenging crosswords and more challenging number puzzles as you get more advanced in your distraction skills.
Play Pictionary. Try to get your friend to guess a phrase or situation by communicating it entirely in emojis. Try to use themes: describe a movie, a celebrity, or a country entirely in emojis. Play connect four or tic tac toe using emojis. [1] X Research source This game takes a lot of time and a lot of concentration, and it’s on your phone. This is best to do in a lecture-heavy class that does not require very much participation, and where blatant texting will go unnoticed.
Make puns using the most-used words in class and think up memes for them. [2] X Research source Write a rap about how boring your class is, or about one of your classmates. Replace the most commonly used vocab words with funnier ones, and swap them out in your notes so that it looks like you’re taking notes about something ridiculous. If you write down a code for your invented words, these will also function as notes.
Doodling as you take notes, or making doodles about your notes, will actually help you remember what you learned in class, as well as make the class more interesting. [3] X Research source It will make your notes more distinctive, and you will be able to remember more of what happened during the discussion.
If you have printouts, these are easy to hide underneath your textbook for the class you are in. If you understand the material in class before your teacher finishes lecturing about it, you can read ahead and finish your homework for that class.
Start with puns, as these are the easiest form of jokes. They are also unapologetically bad, no matter how good they are, so you don’t have to worry about being funny. “Washington? He’s lucky if he’s a Washingpound!” It’s bad, but it still took time to think it up. These also have the benefit of being possible captions for your doodling.
Fear of being wrong is often a reason that people do not join in on class discussions. Don’t be afraid to be wrong. You are in school to learn– your teachers won’t get upset with you for being confused or remembering things wrong.
You don’t have to do extra work– you can relate your studies to your interests without it if you ask a few questions, or just look at things a little bit differently. With a few google searches, however (for example, “Math in music”), you can find entirely new ways to relate your interests to what your teachers want you to know.
If you are interested in the subject of your class, but bored by the class itself, you can request additional, more interesting readings. You can ask for extra projects, or think of unorthodox ways to fulfill assignments.
When taking notes, challenge yourself. Try to write everything on the board or screen, or try to write everything in your own words. Make an illustration for each bullet point, or try to say everything in as few words as possible. Challenges will make your notes more memorable, and your note-taking more interesting.
If you get rid of the constant stimulation on your phone, the things that are actually around you will be more interesting. You will be able to take notes and avoid having to cram later. [5] X Research source Eliminate notifications for your apps. It’s not like you’re going to forget about the apps that you really care about. Use a passcode to get into your phone, and change it up if you already use one. This will make you think twice about checking your phone. If you find yourself checking your phone without thinking about it, just turn it completely off for the duration of class. [6] X Research source
