[kashyapc]

The topic you touch on is addressed quite poignantly by the inimitable Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (or Prof. C), in his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. (I've mentioned this book here before, but it's always worth mentioning again.)

Let me make a choice quote (from the chapter: "Enjoying Solitude And Other People"):

“The ultimate test for the ability to control the quality of experience is what a person does in solitude, with no external demands to give structure to attention. [...]”

You can put the above text in books.google.com and read the surrounding text (I recommend to slow-read the whole book, of course); he makes some time-tested suggestions, without imposing them on the reader.

PS: If you want pronounce Prof C's full name, here is a memorable mnemonic by the man himself: "Me-High Chick-Sent-Me-High".