You walk into a wireless retail location. It could either be a third party site or a corporate store, whatever works for you. You take some time to look over the selection, you listen to what the sales representative has to say, and after a little while you finally decide on your next phone. Or maybe it's your first. Whatever the case, you're all smiles as you watch the rep take the phone out, go through the activation process, and then you're playing with the phone.

The smile may falter at the next part, though. You've reached the point where you've got to sign on the proverbial, or maybe even literal, dotted line. This is a contract situation, after all. You picked your phone and got it at an up-front discount because you agreed to the contract. For two years (here in the U.S.).

But then you sign and you're out the door. The box is in the bag, the bag is in your hand, and you've got your phone in the other. You're already busy sending text messages, or connecting to your social networks. You're spreading the word like a crazy person. *No one can contain your excitement*. This phone is the best thing since sliced bread.

You walk out of the store completely enamored. And by the time you get home, the "honeymoon" hasn't worn off yet. You're finding out new things, exploring the software, taking pictures of your food with that awesome camera, and just ogling the hardware. This is what you've been waiting for.

A day turns into a week. A week into a month. A month into several more.

You've used the device every day more times than you could ever hope to count in that timeframe. By now, barring any software updates that may have introduced new features to your device, you've learned everything about it. You've made it do everything it can do, over and over again. Maybe one day while you're passing that same store where you bought the phone, you decide to walk in and see what new handsets have launched. Anything even better than what you bought all that time ago?

Sure there is. Maybe you bought an HTC-branded device and they've already launched something newer and cooler. Or maybe Samsung's launched something else entirely, or maybe even Apple. The sales representative (a different one than the first one) is eager to tell you about all the cool new features in these phones, and he or she is more than willing to check when your upgrade date is.

Oh, shucks. It's not for a few more months still. Well, you'll just have to hold out. Right?

Well, not necessarily. There are options. But, let's say that those options just aren't something you want to do, so you *are* going to hold out. You've got no choice but to wait until you're eligible to upgrade, so you'll just have to make the best of it.

Of course, this scenario doesn't have to extend that far into the future. For some people, they get bored with their phone a week after they buy it. Depending on how often they use it, I think that's perfectly understandable. For those of us out there who use only one phone at any given time on purpose, it can get pretty repetitive to see the same interface day-in and day-out.

So I want to know how you stop yourself from getting bored with your phone. No matter how long you've had your phone, I am genuinely curious to know how you prevent boredom. I think, and I may be wrong here, that this may be one reason why some people out there love to root or jailbreak their devices so much, so changing the look and feel of the phone is possible. And that makes sense to me.

But what if you don't want to root or jailbreak your phone? What other options are there to make sure that you don't get bored with your phone?

For me, it's all about the applications. I am more than willing to tell you that iOS can literally bore me to tears (it's happened, maybe) these days, and that's why I will dig through the App Store to find a new game, or new app in general, to rejuvenate my attention for the handset. It doesn't usually last long, though, so my hunt for a new game is usually never-ending. 

I know someone who has more cases for their iPhone 5 than what's probably necessary, but she'd tell you it's a way for her to make her phone stand out, and stay interesting.

So how do you do it? What do you do to make sure that you stay entertained, even enthralled, with your phone? How do you keep away the Boredom Dragon? Let me know!