The Willingness to Wait: Practical Ways to Enjoy Life’s Pauses

How long is that line anyway?? It’s a whole lot shorter with a good retail line management system!

As we bring queue management solutions to high-traffic retailers, we know firsthand that waiting in line can be a time-suck. Whether at the grocery store, the DMV or a theme park, the feeling of slowly inching toward your final goal can stretch time into a seemingly endless abyss of clock-checking, eye-rolling and guttural groaning.

That’s one of the reasons we exist. We want to help stores and businesses where queue management is crucial, so the experience of waiting in a line is operationally streamlined and customers can appreciate the experience rather than dread it. QuikLine, our queue management solution, dramatically lowers real and perceived wait times to get you out the door even faster.

So it’s faster but you’ve still got some time to pass. Don’t fret! There’s fun and easy ways to occupy your time while you wait in line.

Sometimes, you simply find yourself in a position of waiting. If you find yourself having to wait, whether it’s a short or long time, here are some simple ways to help time fly:

• Catch up on news alerts or other phone notifications you missed from earlier in the day.
• Think about an old friend you haven’t caught up with in a while and send a text to check in.
• Organize your wallet or purse and clean out the little scraps of things you no longer need.
• Get in a quick stretching session while remaining cautious of people around you or any physical distancing rules.
• Browse the last-minute purchase items in the checkout line. There are usually some inexpensive hidden treasures to entice you or even make you laugh.
• Make a to-do list of work goals, a passion project you want to start, or things to accomplish that week.

Moderate Waits: 10 – 30 minutes, like at the doctor’s office or hair salon.

• Finish up the next chapter in the book you’re reading, or pick up a magazine and catch up on news.
• Practice mindfulness with your favorite meditation app to help calm any anxiety.
• If you have children, play a game of “I Spy” and enjoy their wonder as they try to guess your clues.
• If you’re with your pet, try working on their training skills or teaching them a new trick.
• Enhance your memory by trying to recall childhood memories long forgotten, or play a memory-strengthening app on your phone.
• Check the local news stations on social media to see if they have any interesting live video content playing – you’d be surprised at how quickly time passes when you catch a car chase!

Long Waits: 30 minutes – 2 hours or more, like at the DMV, a theme park, or even generally during the current stay-at-home measures.

• Listen to your New Music Friday playlist, or dive back into an old album you used to love.
• Pre-write a batch of cards you’ll want to send for upcoming birthdays or holidays.
• On a long hold with your insurance company or government department? Put it on speaker until it’s your turn and get crafty with an old piece of furniture you’ve been meaning to fix up.
• Learn to perfect a meal you typically love ordering from a restaurant.
• Are you a gardener? Go into the YouTube rabbit hole of fun hacks for taking better care of your plants, or place orders for gardening supplies you might need. If you’re waiting at home, you can even start planting or transplanting.
• Finally start that TV show or movie your friend has been raving about.

No matter how long the wait may be, you can always try striking up a friendly conversation with the people waiting near you. You never know who you might meet!

What tips do you have for passing the time while waiting in a line?