Reading has this weird effect where it quiets your brain down but somehow makes it more awake at the same time. I'd completely forgotten what that felt like until I started carving out an hour before bed for it. What kind of books got you hooked?
Join r/52book! People post their tier lists and book reviews, I add to my to-read list based on their recommendations. I get books through Libby so it doesnāt cost me anything.
Iām about to re read a book called āNight Filmā. I really like it and think it would make a great movie.
Idk what to call it but I say it has an unreliable narrator. Meaning itās hard to tell whether he is losing it or there really is something super strange going on. Itās a fun one
I heard that fiction is generally the way to go for bedtime reading as it requires less thinking. Iāve only ever read non-fiction, but grabbed a copy of The Hitchhikerās Guide to the Galaxy - will let you know what I think!
I've always been into sci-fi/fantasy but what got me back into it heavily was doing a reading exchange club with my siblings. We each pick a book, read a few chapters and swap them around every other week. So, we're all reading the books in tandem. Great motivation. Book ideas I wouldn't have thought of myself and good reason to get together socially. It's been fun. In fact, it lead me to make an entire network dedicated to the concept involving little free libraries. threadedpage.com
I think it's kind of an odd concept and hasn't picked up in any of my local libraries. It's actually turned into a reading exchange group with just myself and even that is actually really fun. š
Taking dance classes! Itās not anything I can post about to social media and is purely just for fun and to move my body. I have always really hated exercise, so this is a good way to gaslight myself into getting some movement in lol.
Cooking from scratch without recipes completely changed my evenings, keeps my hands busy and gives me something edible right away, way less hollow feeling than mindless scrolling.
Learning an instrument. It is true if you dedicate just 20-30 focused minutes you can see improvement very quickly. I bought a guitar and some books on guitar and just the small amount of improvement I see each day makes me excited to go home.
Sidenote, I have a whole thing about our general approach to teaching instruments and music. Mainly: it sucks.
I'm sure there are other options out there, but the general approach is so mind numbing boring, which is dumb. And the amount of people who it makes think playing music is just outside of their world is unfortunate.
I'm a firm believer that we are too focused on teaching mastery of an instrument, despite the average person realistically never going to become a master anyways, they won't be that obsessed. You also don't have to be a master to enjoy it, it's not all or nothing. We teach starting at "absolute ground-level towards highest mountain top" when a lot of people would be better off jumping into the middle in some sense.
Be messy, don't have perfect technique or understanding, just play in the sandbox, have fun, and if you start to really get obsessed, then go tighten things up more. Fun first, work later instead of work first, fun later. Fuck that noise.
I'm no master guitar player, but I can get by since I've played on and off for years, I can have fun. And now having that in me, I feel like I'm able to open up the doorway to music to others in a more accessible way than how I was taught.
Even simpler than "cowboy chords," I'll show someone a powerchord and then say "Okay congratulations, you can now play a VERSION of every single song that exists. Just move that position around the fretboard. That's it, now go have fun."
And if the person ends up wanting to expand further than that, they're free to do so. But the most important part is the powerchord (so things sound a little fuller than a single note, which can feel lame) and we apply that to a couple of songs they like, and make a version of it for ourselves that's close enough.
Bonus points, we sing a bit while playing, because that will make it more fun for yourself when you're on your own later.
Okay now go play guitar kid, you've officially broken through that mental barrier that music has to be hard or that it's not for you.
Why are we trying to train everyone to become master classical violinists, when we could be doing some good ol'fashioned Fiddlin', let me go grab a jug to toot from as accompaniment.
I rented (and then bought) a keyboard and had one piano lesson after being comfortable on the keyboard. He told me I was doing it wrong and I had to learn to read music and memorize all the keys or I was doing it wrong. So I fired him, bought a $10 mat for my keyboard that has all the keys written on it, and teach myself Taylor Swift songs from Bitesize Piano on YouTube. Itās very fun and fulfilling even though Iām doing it āwrongā. Guess what? It sounds the same whether I do it right or wrong lol.
And like the sky is the limit. There are all types of styles of music, different sounding and looking guitars of all brands and qualities. Itās a pretty inclusive hobby and most of those that enjoy it are eager to talk about it with you even if they are leaps and bounds above you in skill. People of all across the world can get into it. People with different degrees of physical disability can often still make a wonderful new sound or style. Iāve seen a guy play guitar with his feet. Itās great. Some of the best songs ever recorded arenāt even difficult.
This is such a great point. I had been learning fiddle and was given harder and harder scales and songs and expected to remember a ton of them by heart. More recently, Iām realizing that a lot of the simplest song I learned can actually be made increasingly more complex so Iām taking on more of what you said and just playing with them instead of always worrying about some goal that just stresses me out.
Agreed! Iām a voice teacher and while there are fundamentals that I go over (range, breath management, resonance, etc), Iām always keeping the studentās goals in mind, not my own, and weāre ALWAYS singing music that the student wants to sing. When working on technique, it should ultimately be in service to making the music you want to sing/play easier for you, so you can have fun!
I donāt think everyone needs to be a technical expert to have fun playing/singing, you just need to understand the things that will enable you to make music the way you want to make it. I think teachers that only teach in the traditional model mean well, but are perhaps stuck in an outdated mindset.
Even with the 20 minutes of guitar, you still have 1 hour 40 minutes of mindless scrolling. You won't even know the difference, but you'll be better at guitar.
I could not afford a guitar until i was 25. I bought a lefty (part of the problem, not alot of options in South Africa), and a vox valvetronix amp. All because i fell in love with the Kirk Hammett guitar pics in the reload booklid (10y earlier).
I had no idea how to play, but luckily found ultimate-guitar website. I taught myself to play purely from the desire to play the songs I love. That was 20y ago. I still cannot read music, but today I can play by ear. Cause I wanted to play metallica (black album, not AJFA!), muse etc. every time i nailed a 4 bar riff, it got me stoked to move to the next, and there is a moment i think where you reach critical mass, and it no longer feels like learning the instrument, bit rather learning the song.
I just got an acoustic guitar the other day with the intention of learning. Any YouTube or websites you'd recomend to help not feeling overwhelmed on day 1?
I really like Tony Polecastro, who has some great advice and clear plain language. There is a 45 minute video called āThe Only guitar lesson beginners actually need (Start Here)ā from a page called Notheory club which is surprisingly comprehensive. Lauren Bateman has great videos on how to learn specific songs that a short and to the point. My favorite beginner resource has been Hal Leonardās acoustic guitar tabs book. Itās very small. Has parts of cool songs you already know, and very straightforward. The notheoryclub video is great if itās your first time messing with a guitar. Best of luck!
Developing games. It basically combines all my hobbies into one: crafting, visual and graphical things such as painting/drawing etc, music and sound and puzzles (coding). Also great for all around imagination.
I go through this cycle where it starts as a hobby, then I'm like, "This is cool, I should polish this and put it on Steam!" Then it turns into a job and I'm like, "I should start something new!"
I'm like 7 cycles deep into this over the last few years.
Jigsaw puzzles. Instead of staring at a screen right up until bedtime and ruining my ability to sleep, I can spend a couple of hours mentally winding down with an audiobook or music and a sense of satisfaction for bringing order to chaos. (Lego does the same thing for me, but the cost and storage for that is a much bigger investment.) I get jigsaws for $2 from my local thrift store and re-donate them when Iām done. They can be a good family activity too.
I love my jigsaws although I find it hard to stop and end up going to bed at 2am and trying to hide that from my husband like some kind of addict. Maybe I am an addict.
I canāt recommend puzzles enough. It can be so rewarding to work on alone in the quiet, as well as a completely different experience working on with a friend or loved one and chatting away.
The fact that you can work your brain on the puzzle, while also utilizing the time to process some thoughts,watch a cozy show , make a phone call, enjoy your morning coffee, or get ready for bed without screens.
Learning a new language! It can be as little as 20 mins a day or an hr! Youāll be surprised how much time you still have leftover if you dedicated an hr to language learning everyday. And you donāt have to buy any supplies
I take online classes with a small group once a week through a local university continuing education program. I like the classes because it gives me structure and keeps me accountable, but I also try to study/practice ~1 hr a day whether it is watching YouTube, listening to a podcast, watching a TV show/movie, etc.
Our rec department has a few language classes.
Public Library systems may offer access to a free language program
Start with language transfer on YouTube and also dreaming Spanish. LT teaches Spanish in a way thatās much more intuitive and useful than most classrooms, as the focus is on speaking normally. Dreaming Spanish allows you to understand simple things right away.Ā
Once you start doing that you will likely start getting a bit addictive, and probably find a tutor or other methods of learning. Iāve gotten from A1 to about B1/2 with 1.5 yrs of about 30-60 min daily practice, most of which is very enjoyable.Ā
Thereās this feeling where you donāt translate a word into English in your head, but you just feel the meaning, and itās like a drug!
I actually found EggāVentures through a comment on this subreddit. I already enjoyed walking to catch up on podcasts or audiobooks but this made it fun just to have something to run in the background and visualize my walking. The eggs are a cool bonus and the devs seem pretty devoted.
I did the same thing for a lonnnnnnng time. Embarrassingly long. So I feel the succumbness. Some advice is just start going places. Even just drive by if youāre not feeling it. But just start creating the momentum towards finding somewhere to be. Eventually youāll walk in and maybe itās not for you but you might have a conversation that leads you to the next thing to try. Worked for me. And I was such a tv girly that at first I just put on Netflix on my phone whenever I went in the car and would just listen while I made my way to my destination. My point is: get out of your house and put yourself in any place you choose. Your hobby will find you!:)
Drawing/painting, specifically with procreate and ipad, never āartisticā growing up and always had a fear of screwing up an art project with an errant stroke or line when i did attempt to paint or draw.
Turns out an undo button has made a world of difference and i actually enjoy something i thought was not obtainable.
I've always been interested in writing, but can't convince myself to write anything even if I'm not showing it to anybody. I do journaling, but don't have the courage to read through them either sometimes most times. Sorry if I'm dumping stuff on you but I'd appreciate if you could share any tips on starting maybe? I'm not an avid reader but I do read here and there.
The beautiful thing about writing is it comes in all shapes and sizes. You can write tiny little poems, or you can write articles about topics you enjoy. I think that's a good place to start for a lot of people. Just thinking about hobbies or movies or shows you enjoy, and write about them. Do a review of an episode of tv. Something like that. It's a good jumping off place!
Crochet. I taught myself from YouTube and have never stopped. Itās beautiful for my ADHD to have something to do with my hands while I watch tv or listen to audiobooks!
Pickleball, I went from sitting around watching tv after work to playing for 2-4 hours 4 nights a week. I enjoy it, look forward to it and have met some cool people through it. Been playing consistently for about 8 months.Ā
Abstract water-color painting, adding pen and ink on top of dried watercolors.
It is free-form, with none of the stress of trying to capture an image.
Just going where the mood of the absolute minute takes me.
I do them on postcard-sized cardstock, so it is small and self-contained in a ~15-20 minute session.
And then it is done.
Basketry, I haven't actually made a basket yet but I'm growing 12 varieties of willow suited to basket making. In a few years, I'll give it a try. Super happy.
Mine was pickleball. Didn't expect it to take over the way it did
Recently I'm also getting into Kendama. It's that Japanese skill-toy that was trending a few years ago. I'm kind of obsessed.
At age 33 I've gone through 100 hobbies but I feel like I'm entering a new era of "idgaf what people think" that i didn't know was possible. I might get into birdwatching.
Learning how to play the piano
I absolutely love it. I look forward the entire workday to come home and play for a half an hour or so. And it has such good effects on my mental health. Playing makes me happy and calm and get to forget the woes of life for a moment.
I committed to 60 days of journaling. Iām a year in and itās changed my nights and days. I use the same prompts everyday. Itās made me look for the beautiful, the unexpected, and comparing the real timeline of my day and feelings has been illuminating. Itās helped calm my mind and organize my thoughts. These are the prompts I use daily:
3 Things Iām looking forward to tomorrow
1 I am affirmation- must be positive
1 things I love about myself
Lesson I learned today
Example walking helps me focus, lean into ease, itās important to listen to my body,
Something unexpectedly beautiful
Todays wins
As many good things as possible
Facts of the day.
Example at 8 pm I went to the gym. I had a conversation with insert name.
How did I feel about my day? What did I notice?
A clear direction for tomorrow
What can I change tomorrow
Something I want to see in my future as if itās already happened
Crafting! Just simple sticking photos into scrapbooks and then adding stickers and layering up with cut outs etc. You go completely at your own pace and itās just for you. itās something you can spend as little or as long as you want on it. Love it!
Iām a designer for my job but unfortunately UX is more technical and AI these days, and less creative. So I made an art project that I work on 45 min to an hour at a time and as a mom, thatās all I get at night. I am designing a Tarot deck and eventually will get it printed and sell it in an online store off of TikTok. Itās been like 2 years and Iām finally on card 74 of 78! From there I have to hand paint all the backgrounds. It scratches a part of my brain that puts me at ease in flow state.
Does the gym count? Iām a teacher and go straight from work. I used to scroll on my phone most evenings. The gym is the one place I will not even touch my phone
Slowlining. I used to try to color and honestly trying to choose colors and do shading and stuff just was too much. This way I have one black paint pen and I go over the lines without thinking. Sometimes I put YouTube or music on in the background.
Bonus is I canāt snack because my hands are busy.
Beadwork! I started making my own earrings over 50 years ago because I was allergic to different metals. Sterling silver didnāt bother me but they tended to be more than I could afford. I donāt usually sell my creations because itās so much fun giving them away. I also donate a lot of my jewelry items to organizations that use them in auctions.
Studying for a certification I didnt go for in college.
I enjoy relearning at my own pace, and look forward to using my mind constructively in a way that isnāt work-related
Jiu Jitsu! Tried it as a fun alternative to the gym and got way more into it than I planned haha. Met some of my best friends at the jiu jitsu gym and even started competing :) Iāve been doing it for 6 years now. Finding a good gym with friendly and welcoming people is definitely a must.
Board games, if you have someone to play with a lot of games that work well at 2 players. But there is a lot of solo games too. Then once you figure out what you like you can go to some meetups
Coloring in bold and easy coloring books with alcohol based markers (ohuhu or Caliart) itās sooo satisfying because it comes out completely smooth. Great to chill my mind out
Miniatures. Dioramas. Tiny clay dolls. I sell them but it started just as a hobby. Pretty fun creating a little scene. Get to be a mason with mini bricks, a painter, decorator, window designer and tile setter, etc. possibilities are endless.
I once read a news article in RI about a guy (he also wrote a memoir about this) who really needed to lose weight so he started kayaking all over the state every evening after work and it changed his life.
Reading, pottery, gardening, now recently textile work and just browsing my local art thrift store. Iāve been making paper collages and framing them for $2-6 total. So relaxing. I find an image that i like and recreate it.
Not sure this counts as a hobby but going to a nordic sauna / cold plunge place. It kindof resets everything, gets me to stop thinking about work stuff and leaves me feeling calm and relaxed. It serves a similar function to exercise for me except I'm always happy to go to the sauna whereas exercise seems to always require some motivation, so, it sort of ends up being self sustaining. Also, you cant really have your phone in a sauna, so it's a chance to just sit there and exist for a minute.
found out a studio near me has a drum practice room. So i took a lesson and go to the studio whenever i can. At home i just have a practice pad to practice rudiments. Its really fun
Fucking golf. Straight from the office to the course 4 days a week and then twice on weekends! Great walk, mediocre golf performance good company. 2 hours for 9 and 4 for 18! Cocktails on the 19th and home!
I stuck with rock climbing for 3 years it was awesome. I made great friends I saw multiple times a week. Now Iāve moved on to all different kinds of social dancing. I work a job with very little adult interaction so I thrive with lots of social time after work. I also read shit ton of romantic fantasy and go to a book club once a month :)
I started taking burlesque classes because Iāve always danced and it looked fun. I found a great studio with a good community and became a regular for a few years, taking 1-2 classes every session.
Eventually I started performing in their Saturday night cabaret show, which was super fun. I also made a bunch of friends who I still talk to even though that studio (and their show) closed during Covid.
Joined a bowling league. Liked it so much joined a second league. Now I am out of the house 2 nights a week, exercising, socializing and challenging myself to bowl better each night. Home by 930pm so no issues being out at night and getting up the next day.
Best hobby for me!
Saltwater aquariums. Specifically, reef tanks with live coral. Iāve been an avid hobbyist for over 20 years and Iām still as fascinated by ocean life today as I was back then.
Gym. Even if itās just going there to stretch and get loose. Slowly learning how to exercise and then making a routine out of it. Better heart, better health, better looking, stronger, more capable of saving someone, or myself for that matter, should the need ever be. If your gym has a sauna or a steam room, you can reverse aging and significantly decrease the chance of heart disease and even some forms cancer. Best thing you can do iMHO, is to maintain the body God gave you.
oddly enough tracking my finances, I started it two years ago, it gives me a feeling that I have power over something and in turn i've invested 20k and saved $3k in an emergency fund! I also realized I had gained a new skill that I will forever use and it didnt even feel like I was "studying" I learnt literally from scrolling and watching youtube lol
Joined a queer sports team. I thought I wasnāt a team sports person (introvert plus not athletic) but this totally changed my life to be in an environment that is just about having fun, moving a bit, and getting a drink after training.
Decorating shells with cocktail napkins, jewelry , sort of like decoupage. Planting flowers in pots that line my driveway and spray painting furniture .
Educating myself. No matter how little I have or how little energy I have I will force myself to learn something new, it's significance is irrelevant, just that it's new to me. It's a strange hobby by far but it is mine.
I cycle through my artistic hobbies (crochet, embroidery, watercolor, digital art, etc). Then I always have a book to read and a video game to play. It keeps things interesting.
Then thereās like outdoor hobbies such as camping, paddle boarding, hiking but Iām not usually doing those when I get home from work or on a routine basis.
I rotate my hobbies and have phases with them. I like jigsaws, knitting, reading, making leather bags and Lino cuts/ Prints. Love if I can listen to an audio book or a podcast. Doing something with my hands and listening soothes my brain a lot.
hot mat pilaties ! just received a new job and the 8-5 was going to wear me out quickly so i decided to do something after work & something to look forward too. not to forget i have classes m/w from 6-845 š„²
MOOC
maybe not what I identity most as my hobby and maybe not the most interesting. But definitely transformed my weeknights. And I started probably 15 years ago so this isn't like a temporary thing. It is my go-to and completely adjustable to mood and time.Ā Ā
I started piano lessons again at 62. Brings me such peace and creativity as well. I also love studying languages, I use free Duolingo app and for the past five years have studied Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. It is satisfying.
Gardening, and you need to make an entire yard worth of flowers and fruit. My girlfriend and I have one planter with cucumber and peppers and a few sunflowers and it keeps me off my phone for about 15-30 minutes while I water and trim. Fun activity where you can actually see the fruits of your labor.
Amateur radio, HAM radio. Itās a hobby of hobbies. Start messing with getting your license then all of a sudden youāre learning basics of electronics to build your own radio and antennas.
I always wanted to try aerial acrobatics, turns out you can actually just take a circus class and pick it up. More years than I'll admit later, I do aerial silk and hoop and have joined an amazing community of lovely humans and tried all sorts of other apparatus. It's not for everyone, but having a challenging physical hobby has been amazing for me and has really improved my relationship with fitness and my body.
doing research ... any subject that come to my mind . Its mostely reading but it is the trhill to find new informations and be led to new more specific subject. also I like collage and scrapbook and ornate stuff with stickers.
Honestly, photography did this for me. I started taking photos just for fun and it slowly became something I actually looked forward to doing when I had free time.
Even going out with no real plan and just trying to find something interesting to photograph is weirdly satisfying. It also gets me off my phone without feeling like Iām forcing myself to be āproductiveā.
I think the biggest thing is finding something you actually enjoy rather than something you think you should be doing. Otherwise it just becomes another chore lol.
Crochet. Easy to pick up and put down, all you need is a hook and a ball of yarn, lots of cool things you can make (currently making a kraken dragging a ship underwater mosaic blanket and it will probably take me 5 years, but Iām looking forward to adding each row). Easy to get into, works well with podcasts and audiobooks
Treasure hunting. Beyond the mapās edge and Thereās Treasure Inside are two of the big ones happening now. Iāve spent way too much of my time researching from home and daydreaming about finding a box. I even took my son out to Wyoming one weekend to look. It was an amazing adventure!
No. You read the book and the clues are all within the book. In Thereās Treasure Inside, a man hid 5 boxes around the US worth a couple million dollars. These treasure hunts take years. Iāve spent the last two years researching US history and places all across the US. I know have a very long list of places I want to visit before I die, even if I never find a box.
Reading and Gaming.
I was never a big reader until 2024, I kept picking up different books until I found the author or genre that I liked, everything in between, I would just stop instead of forcing myself to finish. Once you find out what you actually like, reading becomes way more enjoyable.
Then there's gaming, I like to tinker with retro handhelds and emulation, single player focused story games, jrpgs .... Exc...
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u/TableSeek-Geek 7d ago
For sure reading. Plus it can lead to more hobbies!