So, sort of an amusing discussion happened this morning in my SPAN group. One of my admins said that having gone to the dentist proved to be more enjoyable than actually hanging out with her toxic narcissist. 

That sparked her idea of a blog post entitled “Things I’d Rather Do Than Hang Out With a Narcissist,” which is here – and it also led me to create this video (remainder of post is below the video). 

This post is a list of activities submitted by members of the group as well as from another group of clients I polled today. 

1. Go to the dentist
2. Clean the bathroom
3. Watch TV
4. Work
5. Sleep
6. Hang out with literally almost anyone else
7. Give my dog his ear medicine
8. Hang out alone
9. Cut my toenails
10. Dye my hair
11. Do the dishes
12. Sweep the floor
13. Mop the floor
14. Do laundry (even the folding part)
15. Take a bath
16. Give my dogs baths
17. Mow the lawn
18. Clean the rain gutters
19. Pack my crap
20. Clean my room
21. Make my bed
22. Stand on my head
23. Take a long, hot shower
24. Talk to a bill collector on the phone
25. Redecorate my neighbor’s house
26. Get a mammogram
27. Go to a PTA meeting
28. Go to the grocery store
29. Drive around in my car, singing at the top of my lungs
30. Go yard-sale-ing.
31. Swim.
32. Ski.
33. Dance.
34. Scrapbooking.
35. Watch YouTube videos.
36. Learn to sew.
37. Reorganize my pantry.
38. Shop for tools.
39. Fill out long, tedious forms.
40. Get my legs waxed.
41. Climb a hill.
42. Ride a horse.
43. Trim the weeds around my sidewalk.
44. Paint the fence.
45. Scrub the sink.
46. Alphabetize my spices.
47. Learn a difficult language – like Japanese. 
48. Clean the vents.
49. Edit a photo.
50. Scroll through my Facebook timeline.
51. Tweet strangers.
52. Fill up shopping carts on my favorite sites but never buy anything.
53. Take online classes.
54. Start a club.
55. Feed my kid’s whole class for dinner.
56. Go to the gyno.
57. Run up and down the stairs 100 times.
58. Go roller skating with my kids.
59. Squats.
60. Bake a cake.
61. Carve a turkey.
62. Brush my hair.
63. Do 100 pushups.

Okay, that’s my list for today. What would you add? What are some things you would rather do than hang out with a toxic narcissist? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. 

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Angela Atkinson

Angela Atkinson is a certified trauma counselor and the author of more than 20 books on narcissism, narcissistic abuse recovery, and related topics. A recognized expert on narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder who has studied and written extensively on narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse in toxic relationships since 2006, she has a popular narcissistic abuse recovery YouTube channel. Atkinson was inspired to begin her work as a result of having survived toxic relationships of her own.

Atkinson offers trauma-informed narcissistic abuse recovery coaching and has certifications in trauma counseling, life coaching, level 2 therapeutic model, CBT coaching, integrative wellness coaching, and NLP. She is a certified trauma support coach and certified family trauma professional. She also has a professional PTSD counseling certification. Her mission is to help those who have experienced the emotional and mental devastation that comes with narcissistic abuse in these incredibly toxic relationships to (re)discover their true selves, stop the gaslighting and manipulation, and move forward into their genuine desires – into a life that is exactly what they choose for themselves.

Along with her solution-focused life coaching experience, Atkinson’s previous career in journalism and research helps her to offer both accurate and understandable information for survivors of abuse in a simple-to-understand way that helps to increase awareness in the narcissistic abuse recovery community. Atkinson founded QueenBeeing.com Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support, the SPANily Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support Groups and the Life Makeover Academy.

She offers individual and group coaching for victims and survivors of narcissistic abuse at NarcissisticAbuseRecovery.Online.