Do you all have any tips on activities to do yourself, instead of consuming content all the time?
I'm pretty sick of my content addiction, like watching youtube or netflix all the time. I would rather be spending my time otherwise so figured fun things are the best to start. Do you have tips for fun things to do? Or how I could search for them?
Some I came up with myself:
- Learning some magic tricks
- Learning some origami
- Thrift shopping
Everything is welcome!
Edit: thank you for the huge response!
Learn an instrument.
I practice the skin flute daily.
The pink oboe.
The music penis
The o-bone
And then when you get good enough you can consume music you like while also learning to play it at the same time. One of my favorite relaxing yet also stimulating activities.
I'll list some hobbies at the end but for me, I struggled feeling motivated after work to do anything but eat and be entertained. It got pretty bad until I decided I needed to figure out something different. I thought I was just missing hobbies but even as I picked some hobbies up (usually on weekends) I wouldn't do them during the week.
Most of my issues revolved around stress (from work), turns out.
I still struggle with this so don't expect a magic solution, but what I found was that my job was actually a lot more stressful than I thought. To the point where I'd wake up in the night thinking about work problems that for sure weren't a big deal and that for sure wouldn't be solved half asleep. So now I try and be more productive at work to make sure I avoid deadlines getting tight, and towards the end of the day I make sure my tasks are simple, if possible. I also try and take lots of breaks and I check in with myself "am I relaxed right now?" "would a break make me more productive" - and I unfortunately found that media isn't a good break for me at work. Somehow the stress stays, while also adding in cravings for more dopamine-inducing activities. Good breaks for me include walking, actively listening to music, daydreaming, planning stuff (holidays, dinner, my upcoming evening, weekend), reading (pretty much anything), and learning new stuff (I'm studying Spanish and chess right now, recently learned all of my PLL algorithms on a Rubik's Cube). I'm a software engineer for context.
The largest stress benefit for me has been biking to work. Yeah, I almost get ran over sometimes which is scary (even with bike paths 90% of my route, you still gotta cross roads, and even with a walk sign cars still won't see you), but driving during rush hour is stressful (there are studies on this but I'm too lazy to link any). Biking is just fun. I even bike in winter (studded tires and poggies/bar mits). Since not everyone has the luxury of biking, exercising immediately after work is something to consider. It for sure helps me separate work from home. There's plenty of studies on exercise lowering stress.
And if your job isn't too stressful, there's another issues with not committing to hobbies... For me, it was that I was/am addicted to media. Once I get started with some dinner and YouTube, it's hard not to lose a couple hours. Best advice for easing out of it is audiobooks make it easy after eating to do chores/walk/not get more food. But other than audiobooks, avoid consuming media while eating. Also avoid media served by an algorithm. It's so easy to watch a great video, and refresh the recommendations to look for another. Then you're watching sub-par videos just hoping for a good one... Wasting tons of time. I use an extension to hide video recommendations. I can still search, and browse my subscriptions, but it saves me a lot of time (extension is called unhook I believe).
My username is actually centered around the idea that the more passive an activity, the less valuable it is to you. I personally want more active hobbies in my life. It is weird to me that so many fulfilling hobbies exist, but I regularly waste evenings on YouTube...
If you can have low stress and minimal cravings for YT/Netflix, here's some hobbies:
Adventure is out there. Don't waste your youth. Some of these might not seem like ideal after work hobbies, but most are totally doable in an evening.
Forgot to mention that slow-living or whatever you want to call it is valuable. Just spend a while doing nothing. Thinking. Chatting with a friend. Be bored. You'll probably knock out some chores, and get really motivated to do something big (humans do not like being bored)
Edit: gonna put more hobbies I think of here
Thanks for the amazing lists of other things to do. I've got to agree that any form of exercise is the best alternative! Are you up for sharing your dumb games with us? I'd love to have a go!
Kinda hesitant to share because the URL's are the names of my family members (kinda a gift to them, kinda me just holding on to the domain names in case they want them someday). But they're definitely not impressive. One of them I'd like to spend some time to make more fun, but as it is now, it's mostly a gimmick (zombies walk towards you and you walk away - 2d, score is just how many seconds you can avoid getting touched). Pretty rewarding weekend project though, and you can easily show it off
Ah, that's understandable, we don't want Uncle Jim doxxed over the zombie game.
This is amaziiiing. Such a great response! Thank you, I recognize a lot! I will go running right after finishing this comment ;) Will also definitely try the audio books to get unhooked while eating.
Happy to share! And glad you found value in it
Thank you for taking the time to write this up. It's very inspiring and I have some ideas to try
Thanks for sharing, I think a lot of people can relate to feeling unmotivated to do their hobbies after work. I read a blog post recently (struggling to find the link) that paradoxically feeling too tired for hobbies after work can be a vicious cycle, and you're better off trying the hobbies anyway to increase your motivation for doing them. That's really helped me with a game I'm working on. When I can't work on it for a while, I lose motivation. But once I make some small progress each day, I feel motivated to keep working on it.
I can definitely relate to this. It seems like even a little time with a hobby has a large impact on my evening. Sometimes I'll do something a little hard like studying Spanish for a few minutes, which leads to guitar and then chess and then I feel more accomplished come bed time. Some how makes me feel more recovered from work
Go for daily walks in nature.
Do yoga
Play a recreational sport that interests you
Read (I guess that's still consumption)
Write
Volunteer for a cause you care about
I'm with the opinion that one should always read more than one writes. And they all kith and kin to reading out loud, speaking, memorizing text, and listening. All things one doesn't need a teacher to direct.
Here are my hobbies/interests that simultaneously get me off Social Media/Content Streams while giving me something to talk about/post about/watch about when I'm back. I may also have podcasts or youtube on in the background if the activity permits
Group A, the "touch grass" activities:
That last one requires a lot of effort and rarely has immediate payoffs if you don't already have a friend group bigger that one or two friends, but it's so important and requires putting time into it and developing social skills. In fact, 2+3 both benefit from learning skills and shortcuts and habits; therefore they require just as much time and energy as any hobby.
Group B, the "what I do for fun"
"hacking" — pentesting computers and VMs, whether on HackTheBox, TryHackMe, Vulnhub, or someones one-off github-hosted machine; and of course so many online CTFs
"tinkering" — I like messing with the physical part of electronics too. Or mechanical devices. Or anything that I can dissect and modify
active listening to music — taking the time to listen and be carried away by music, maybe even start to analyze it. I know it's still technically "consuming content," but I consider it to stimulate a different part of the brain than, say, watching a random youtuber bring himself one mukbang closer to an embolism.
playing music — the world's shittest bassist. I'm not trying to be good, just have fun and improve my ear and dexterity and musical intuition
foreign language learning — good for the brain, good for someone who wants to travel good for jobs and making genuine human connections. Not fluent in anything besides english yet, but I'm always acquiring new vocabulary words when I can
Creative writing — Most of what I do anymore is just drafting elaborate shitposts to post online later, but I've been known to crank out parts of short stories and terrible poetry
Activism — I won't say where, when, who, nor why, but that doesn't matter. The important part is that there are few things in life more fulfilling than coming home after a long day of doing outreach/aid/[redacted]/fundraising for a community and/or cause you care about.
coding — of freaking course I'm also learning to program. You thought I was done with the electronics, but of course I had to sneak this in. You expect me to learn binary exploitation without having a strong understanding of programming? You expect me to do DIY hardware projects without coding the firmware? You've been absolutely HAD.
Worshipping the dark goddess [redacted] at the temple of [redacted] — a healthy spiritual aspect to your life has far reaching benefits that scientific medicine and psychology are only just beginning to scratch the surface of. Of course you don't have to start with worshipping [redacted], it can be as simple as cultivating a healthy appreciation for the beauty in every aspect of the natural world around you and the mystique of existence itself. Then later you can move onto the [redacted] sacrifices to make [redacted] [redacted] so [redacted] may once again [redacted] the earth.
Group C, the "dangerously close to consuming content" group, but still technically separate activities/skills
Armchair philosophy — we all do it, but I'm the only one who was smart/lazy enough to list it as a hobby. Unfortunately this does ocassionally learning about others' philosophy and the topics you're bullshitting about, which is why I say it's "dangerously close"
Media analysis — see previous... Okay, I got my degree in Literature + Language, I really enjoy deep analyses of media, and sometimes make my own. The act itself doesn't require consuming anything more than you already have, but if you haven't consumed any media in awhile...
reading — okay, I know, this is literally just back to consuming content, but... You don't learn how to do any of the above without some reading. It helps you learn a language if you read a story in your target language. it's the format most philosophy was originally recorded in. It's the medium writers have to learn to be good at their craft. It's what format most electronic/software documentation is in. It's how music was recorded for centuries before audio media. It's also just a fun activity that engages different parts of the brain and trains your imagination even when it's "just" fiction.
Respect for keeping the active in activism. I know too many people who share Facebook memes and feel like they've done enough.
Aside from the Shub-Niggurath worship (I'm more of an Azathoth person, myself), I agree with most things here. I'd just add to the list, group B I guess:
I feel these are more 'apex' hobbies, wherein you need a bit of everything (chemistry, electronics, an artistic sense, lots of patience) and they will occupy most of your time. You'd think electronics and aquaria are not the closest things, but just you wait until you feel the need to build an LED lamp with simulated day/night cycles and moonlight, controlled by an arduino.
The barrier to entry is fairly low - there are starter sets available and I've found that hobby shops of this sort are usually staffed by very knowledgeable people, eager to help newcomers. And, you can go as deep as you want and still have fun. You will also learn an absolute fuckton of things about what you choose to model with your hobby.
An honorable mention for homebrewing, which I don't even regard as a hobby at this point, but more of a necessity, like cooking.
You're cool af. I love the idea of cultivating microbiomes.
I'm so fucking transparent I may as well be invisible. I do indeed have Lovecraft on the brain, that was a fantastic read on your part.
Right back at you, fellow hobby and eldricht horror appreciator!
Lmao
I like cooking, I get a lot from it, like the feeling of fulfillment etc
Turning cooking from a chore that needs to happen to something you enjoy is the best. Also makes you spend less eating out and to eat healthier. I live to Eat. Not Eat to live
Here in Poland dining out is more expensive than cooking, many people here have a hard time wrapping their head around the idea that cooking for yourself or your family isn't considered the default in some countries, but the myth it's "healthier" transplanted itself here perfectly through the pop culture, to the point according to my wife i can't make burgers for dinner or wrap a salad in a tortilla because it's unhealthy fast-food, no such problem with pizza though
make a list of everyone that you would want to attend their funeral/wedding. and everyone that you would want to attend yours. come up with a realistic timeframe for yourself of how often you should connect with them, and set aside times in your schedule devoted to it. keep in touch.
Underrated.
This is honestly genius, and something I need to get much better at doing.
I built a homelab.
Basically you buy some old enterprise server hardware (or, if you are smart unlike me, you build low-power machines from scratch!) and then you can run your own services.
Some fun stuff includes:
And tons and tons of other stuff. It’s not cheap, it’s time consuming, and the wife hates the power bill. But if you’re into doing shit with computers, it’s a damn interesting rabbit hole
I started just with a 2 bay nas that I had a few VMs on... then it spiraled. Back with PIs were cheap it was fun to spin up new stuff all the time. Now an N100 mini-pc is way more cost effective long term, plus you get to start dipping into VMs, LXC, docker, etc.
Not to mention Home Assistant is an entire hobby in itself. 4 more aqara devices just came for me today.
I do feel like I should second the comment that it isn't cheap, but you can do things in bits and pieces that don't make it feel like you're spending your life savings.
Pretend to be a racoon. Trespass, go through the trash for things to eat or play with, crawl on rooftops and under the streets through storm drains.
The Coon!
I amuse myself with coding, and for the last couple of years, slowly teaching myself spanish. I know it's a little thing that will probably never matter to anyone, but it feels kind of cool that I can open mexican newspapers and not go "Wtf is this gibberish?"
“It’s Spanish!”
Learn Blender! I'm not joking, it's full of cool things to do if you're into computer graphics. Anywhere from hand-sculpting, to 2D animation, visual effects, 3D printing...
Hiking.
I like sewing my clothes, I usually put on some content in the background while I'm doing my mending. It helps avoid fast-fashion and is helpful with thrift shopping, since it allows you to purchase garments that don't fit quite right or are slightly frayed.
In college I took aikido classes. I had thin gi pants designed for taikwando, not grappling. With all the ground movement the knees ripped open constantly.
So each night after class I’d cut new squares out of an old white t-shirt, and then sew those squares onto the ripped-open knees of those gi pants.
My sewing technique was crude: just two pieces of cloth pressed together, then a doubled thread wrapping around that seam again and again and again. The seams were tough and thick, like scars on the pants.
Each class, they’d rip open again, and I’d add more path material and more thread. Eventually the knees were many layers of torn and patched cloth, with thick scarlike seams criss-crossing all across them. The inside of those knees were very rough and it was kneeling and crawling on that roughness that was tearing up my knees.
I didn’t have money for laundry either so every class I washed that gi in my tub and wrung it out as best I could to dry for two days until the next class.
I spent nearly as much time tending that gi as practicing on the mat. It felt cool. The skin of my knees grew thicker and more leathery as I tore it up and it healed repeatedly, matching the uniform’s knees getting thicker and gnarlier.
Every night after class first it was hydrogen peroxide for the blood (always blood in the knees after a class) then scrubbing that with a toothbrush, then churning the gi in the tub. The water would get murky and surprisingly dirty and then I’d pull the thing out of the tub a few inches at a time, wringing it as tight as I could to get the water out, then dropping the dry end on the bathroom floor and grabbing another couple inches to wring out. My forearms would be just dead, my hands wanting to cramp from all the gripping and twisting.
I miss being young.
That’s a really cool story, thanks for sharing.
a few ideas:
Learn:
An instrument
A living language
A dead language
A fictional language
A programming language
A new sport
A craft
New recipes
Bodyweight exercises
Go:
To Hell (Hell, Michigan)
Hike
Powerwalk your local mall
Cross country skiing
To your local arcade
To the coffee shop
On a road trip
Walk all the streets in your city
Test drive something interesting
To a movie
To your local library
To a concert
To an art gallery
To a museum
Knitting is super fun. I used to do it every day until I started my masters. I keep thinking I should restart this hobby. As long as you don't buy ridiculously premium yarns, it's super cheap too. I used to find boxes of yarn at yard sales or thrift stores.
Whittling and woodworking are both extremely rewarding hobbies - depending on how much space you have.
Whittling seemed like something I could do indoors more easily without too much mess. We have a furnace and a giant woodpile so you'd think it'd be perfect, problem is when I try to carve something it's too seasoned* to do much more than carve the bark off. Probably doesn't help that I'm using a gas station knife, but it's probably the wood itself being most of the issue.
I usually had luck with the rotary tool (probably because I usually don't need to get rid of too much material), but once I tried to use the angle grinder with a cheap toothy power-carving disk on a small-ish log and I could barely put a small bevel on it.
*= Requested for carving even, not just something I picked out.
Miniature painting, like for DnD and Warhammer is a great skill that starts easy and can ramp up in difficulty as you learn new techniques. It can get expensive however, but is great for relaxing and being creative.
Oh My brother gave me a Mars printer and I never got bored again
That'll do it, lol
Rock Climbing/Bouldering. It’s great exercise, I throw in my earbuds, do my own thing, it’s a lot of fun. Don’t worry about being out of shape there are routes for all skill levels
Nature photography, post results on iNaturalist for IDs, compare against what's in your area, try and catch them all, Pokémon-style.
Whatever you do, make it a challenge to do it every day (or as often as possible) for a month. If at the end you still look forward to it, you found a new hobby.
It might help to set some fixed times in your week for hobbys so you don’t get into the situation where you need to decide between that or Netflix. The drug always wins.
If you need to buy some things first, get it used or even just lend it but try to find something that’s not rubbish. You can later invest more money but you don’t want to waste it on something you end up not liking.
Hobbys that stuck with me:
The word you are looking for is "hobby."
Haha yeah okey, but I was looking more towards smaller things to do in the evening. Hobby sounds way more committed, but from these responses it seems like it doesnt need to be. Thanks anyway!
Lol all good. Hobby is just the general term for something you like doing. It can be as hardcore as climbing Mount Everest or be as casual as "I bought a guitar 5 years ago and I try to play it once in a while."
Learn to skateboard.
Or longboarding if the terrain is relatively flat and not steep.
+1 for longboarding, it's such a nice feeling to just go and see the world passing by.
I'm waiting for summer to try stand up paddling this year.
If you're addicted to content, try walking but listening to audiobooks at the same time. Bonus if dog too
I picked up bouldering, and I highly recommend it! Its a great way to have fun while doing something active, and is fun solo, with a couple of people, or a larger group.
lockpicking
Painting miniatures, 3d printing to make it more affordable in the long run
Playing (optional) single player board games - picked that one up during the pandemic. I enjoyed some free print and play (or basic playing cards) games like:
Utopia Engine (both parts or expansion, whatever Beast Hunter is) - pretty much an exploration rpg? Very simple to setup and learn.
The Quiet Year - a map drawing game that gives you prompts to expand the map and lore of a small commumity/civilisation. Very peaceful.
Gridcannon - a single player puzzle/tactic game played with a standard deck of cards. Been a while but I enjoyed it a lot in pandemic times.
You can also play games like Gaslands or even Warhammer by yourself if you're into that sort of stuff. I enjoyed gaslands by myself the other day :)
Here's a few of mine:
-Skateboarding
-Writing (books, plays, puppet shows, greeting cards, etc.)
-Learning Linux
-Writing and performing rap
-Petting cats
-Repairing video game consoles and controllers
-Decorating (using things you own or spending very small amounts)
-Cooking, baking, etc.
I also enjoy putting on some music when I have to do stuff that isn't fun, like laundry, washing dishes or cleaning.
Woodworking!
One option that is kind of a middle ground is to learn a craft. Knitting, crochet, making fly fishing lures, sculpting. There are lots of things you can do with your hands while listening to a podcast or audiobook, so while it still involves content consumption it also engages your motor skills and creativity and you end up with something to show for it by the time you are finished.
cooking! finding out about good ingredients and how to make them even better! fermenting too...
My suggestion would be to reframe your thesis. Rather than consuming content, change your perspective to one where you are appreciating art.
The world is vast and full of amazing things, you don't need to feel like you're wasting time when you dedicate that time to appreciating art that you love. There are books, games, movies, short form video essays, podcasts, and all sorts of things that are real expressions of the human experience from different angles, which is what art is, and there's nothing wrong with appreciating that art, learning something from it, and growing your understanding.
Unless you're harming yourself or others by enjoying the art you enjoy, just keep on doing it.
That said, if you really want something else, gaming is (IMO) a great way to spend some time, tabletop or video. Learning a programming language is another one and can lead to very fulfilling paths where you can make things that you enjoy and easily share them with others.
I like building things and being alone and woodworking is my go to activity. It involves working with and learning about wood and tools to work with wood, project management for more complex projects, tons of spatial thinking, drawing, research, prototyping. I spend a large amount of time drawing.
Maybe try programming? It's incredibly exciting once you get the hang of it. It can be frustrating at times but it's really rewarding. Since becoming my hobby/job its given me an endless source of things to do at home. Plus it can open up new career paths :)
After college, I taught teens basic programming. Like how to build little tools like dice or games. Or how to create a website.
One kid works for Microsoft as a engineer.
Never know where it takes you!
Learn to solve a Rubik’s cube. Couple of weeks and you’ll be able to do it in around a minute or two.
Painting by numbers is chill.
Walking is fun.
Learn an instrument.
Code some tools to help you do things that bore you.
I just went for a run. Up the hill.
If knitting/crochet is not metal enough for you, make chainmail instead! It's so easy that you can let your mind wander while doing it. So it basically doubles as active meditation!
I got into lockpicking recently
Install street complete app, Go for a walk and update information about your local area to OSM. It gets you out the house and is benefiting your wider community. 😁
There has been such a giant leap in coverage about 10 years ago. I've contributed a lot for the area I've lived in around 2007, when I became aware of OSM. And there was still a lot missing back then. But I moved just a few years after and ever since any area I lived in or have been vacationing at had already been exhaustively mapped. So now I am adding metadata.
Its all that meta data that makes OSM so great, most people think google maps is the best solution only because the can buy massive datasets but OSM is the perfect example of people power and what can be achieved by passionate people.
I also found OSM around 10 years ago. I added my entire village from barely existing on the map to all landuse and small roads, bike paths, things. And this was before there was good enough aerial images, so I had to use GPS and walk/bike all the roads, walk around all the fields and areas.
It was great!
Then came satellite pics and I could add buildings too. But I miss that outdoorsy feeling. I keep my eyes on new buildings and developments in the city I live in now. Do you know of any best practices for local surveying to ensure up to date map quality?
If you played old PC games from like 1990s, dip your toes into that. Even if you didn't, still go check out the old PC gaming scene.
Hit up GZDoom with mods, Duke Nukem 3D, X-Com Apocalypse, SimCity 2000 and 3000 Unlimited, Shadow Warrior, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, OpenTTD, etc.
I like building models. Gunpla or wargame minis currently, but I’ve also recently taken up 3d printing as a hobby. Not the cheapest hobbies unfortunately, but ones I enjoy.
Making things, learning things.
E.g.:
painting
clay/ceramics
learn a language
learn the history of a region
visit a museum
grow vegetables
make pickles
learn a weapon
I'm currently reading about the Mississippi River and it sparked a obsession in me. Like, knowing the history of how the natives used the river, the used of it during colonial times, how we use it today. The states that border it. The people that live near it. Water, pollution, fish.
I've been going a mile deep for weeks now in understanding it and it's so fulfilling.
Yes! It's really satisfying. Something like a river would be extra cool, thanks for the idea!
Anything you enjoy that you could improve on!
Currently I'm spending more time learning guitar.
I think as long as you're genuinely interested, learning things becomes a lot easier.
I got into designing crosswords for a while. It was pretty fun to manually lay out a sheet of answers and think up clues for them. Also, reading theory.
I started with crochet about two months ago (my 53'rd attempt at a new hobby) with the idea of wanting to make Amigurumi. But it kind of (d)evolved into just experimenting blindly with different stitch combinations and turning them into bracelets for myself. But I'm still having fun with it :)
It's relaxing, relatively cheap (for what I do with it) and I feel motivated to slowly try to improve myself. I still feel anxious trying to complete any major project though, but that's just me. There's a sad unfinished amigurumi monster in my drawer, waiting for me to work up the nerve to stitch him together :)
going outside, musing around, gazing at the clouds and plants and all
I went back to school. You can find tons of online courses in just about any subject, and some will count for real college credit if you ever want to turn it into a degree. Many are free, but some will cost you and most are worth it. A way to make your addiction productive.
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Will keep you fit, you won't be able to think about your life problems for 1-hour ... guaranteed, you'll make new friends, you will build mental resilience and you'll learn self-defence. So many benefits as long as you train for the long-term and avoid injury.
I always recommend roleplaying games like DnD or pathfinder as a hobby since it has a built in social and private element to it. You can join a group at most local game stores or by looking for organized play. Both Pathfinder and DnD have organized learning sessions where you can learn to play. Both allow you to start for free.
The good part is there is a regular scheduled social element usually weekly and between time you can do things yourself. That includes reading rules, making minis, practicing voices, writing modules, reading old source book, watching live streams, making maps etc. You don't have to do all of those but you can really go in depth or as shallow as you want. All of the things you do my yourself will enhance the enjoyment of the group which is a great as well.
Sewing is a nice thing to learn because you can always touch up your own clothes and if you like you can buy a cheap sewing machine and do your own shirts, pants etc
Fun ways to spend your time:
Walking, running, hiking, cycling, transitting to a nice spot in town you've never been. Fairly cheap, and fun way to get out and forget the rest of your problems for a bit.
Sports and Yoga, cooking and baking, sewing, learning an instrument like guitar, piano/keyboard.
For things that aren't mindless fun but useful long term: Try learning a new language! It's kind of difficult but it's cool when you start to figure out tiny tidbits of other languages.
I do a lot of creative writing. Remember that what you write doesn't have to be "good" in order to be worth the time you spent doing it.
You didn't rule it out, so my first thought is: play video games! It's certainly on the line between consuming something and learning to do something. Some individual games can be a whole skill to study and hone for years (eg, learning a fighting game or a speedrun, etc etc)
Spirit of the question though, that would probably be considered content.
Other ideas, most already covered by other comments: art, photography, music, writing, programming, cooking, woodworking, or learning a new language.
The 'fun' adjective means everyone's answers will be different! For me, exercising is good even if many times it ends up being a VR adventure or workout.
I enjoy growing a small garden! You might not xD
Pick up some acting classes and volunteer down at the local theatre to learn more about yourself, your expression to others, learn the intricacies of a great classic story and make new friends!
Really, just pick something and go to the moon with it
To me, that's the 'fun' part of these kind of threads: there isn't a wrong answer, so I get to upvote everybody by default just for giving good faith answers. Lemmy is still small enough thankfully that jokey/rude answers are pretty rare and it's mostly people who are being genuine.
With questions like these, that's all that it takes to 'contribute meaningfully,' which is just to be genuine about your opinion. Easy upvotes all around for the most part.
Instead of playing video games, I'm leaning frontend programming. I'm making a chatGPT movie recommendation assistant right now. Finishing projects supplants the dopamine hits I got from gaming.
Is reading technically considered consuming content? Fun and it’s a pretty cheap hobby if you have library access or go to used bookstores!
Meta answer.
To me personally any sort of addiction is a symptom of feeling out of touch with life. It's a kind of rejection of what is and slapping a bandaid on that pain by constantly asking for more. More food. More content. More whatever.
It's a desire that can't truly ever be satisfied.
It's important to take a step back when you feel lost in such a stream of more. Instead of trying to change things, try to accept things as they are. You can always decide to change it later. For example when you wake up, just take a few moments to experience waking up, rather than immediately focusing on what needs to be done.
When it comes to doing anything, play around with how much care you put into it. Try doing it quick and badly and without any care. And try doing it with utmost care and perfection. Think of it like training your ability to control the number of fucks you give for any specific thing. That way you can let go of control by giving up your need for change, but also regain it for the things that really matter.
And then it's a matter of trying out many things to see what resonates with your personality. When you find something you can sharpen it by removing the things that don't really matter to you.
For example you might figure out that you enjoy painting. You'll probably come up with lots of unnecessary goals for yourself such as being able to paint realistic portraits with oil. Whereas actually you would have enjoyed art history more, or perhaps drawing childish looking animals with crayons.
If you had held onto the idea that you need to do oil portraits, you would've just saddled yourself with another thing that you only partially enjoy, and so you might just leave it laying around. It's just a disconnect from who you really are. You'd be imprisoning yourself again with a need for more, instead of realizing that you are free by nature and that it's alright to enjoy seemingly unimportant things.
Thrift shopping is great. Window shop at antique stores, goodwill, pawn shops, thrift shops. Even without buying things you can come across lots of interesting finds.
Find your local free community center. Your local library is a good start. There's bound to be countless free activities or events to join and also meet people at to make casual friends while doing new things.
Multiple times I have found satisfaction and joy in reading non-fiction or how to books about a certain topic and then deep diving. With a library nearby you can avoid spending any real money. Almost every book about a topic has other books as references or recommendations which leads you down a hole of information about things you can learn about and implement. I am currently deep into a research hole about plant identification, herbalism, wild food forging and permaculture. This is great since I can then implement these in my garden this spring but I enjoy the learning part just as much as the doing. Its a fun way to see what interests to you. It doesn't have to last forever but you will keep the knowledge
music is life <3
I got into scratch/trash building and kit bash modeling crazy mechs and stuff last year and it’s been a blast.
List of things you would do with friends like going to a bar, to a movie, eating wings/dinner, driving somewhere fun, or going on a trip then do the list alone.
Playing any musical instrument. The feeling of your practice grindings pay off, no matter how still mundane it is to compared to social media professional musicians, is a pretty good feeling.
I've not been able to do any of these for a while with life doing its thing and being overwhelming, but I've enjoyed things like those "gem" mosaic pictures (apparently called diamond painting) and good old colouring books. I also got in to making stim jars for a while, then someone suggested I monetise them and I completely lost interest lol (though that gif is making me want one now)
Also tried indoor gardening for a while, but I just kill any plant that comes my way, so I've stopped that abuse now😂
Go for out to an interesting place and take some cool photos.
Drawing and reading are both time consuming, cheap and good stuff that can make you grow too. Can flow over into painting and writing so watch out.
Chess is even cheaper (free online with matchmaking: lichess.org also a gazillion youtubes to get you running like chessbrahs or chesswibes) if you want to be humbled but also like tactics, strategies and history.
I did Taekwondo at one point in my life. It was super fun, because I actually felt like I achieved something (a belt) for my hard work
Don't you get a belt at the start?
Video games might not sound like much of a change, but they’re more active than watching movies. It’s a small step away from that totally passive mode.
Origami I find fun, yes.
Have tried to learn to juggle several times, unsuccessfully.
Doing yoga I have learned to stand on my hands, learning a physical skill like acrobatics is so good for both mind and body.
Live music I love so much. Go see a show!
I guess it's a game too but Pokemon go has actually gained me some casual friends.
Life is pretty boring, which is why content addiction works... :/
Building things. Legos are super fun.
One could argue that a boring life is the best one could wish for. Perfect time to make some kids. That's natures way to cope with that situation. :)
On a serious note, if the only reason a person might bring kids into this world is because they are bored; they are going to be, and make the kids equally, miserable.
This is some of the worst advice in the history of mankind
Making new humans is the worst advice in the history of mankind?
Having a life with a level of security that enables you to be bored, Having actual time to care for your kid.
Yeah, sounds like a terrible plan. You might end up being a responsible parent.
Are you confusing being bored with having no life? Is learning how to knit better for mankind than learning how to raise a kid?
How is it the worst advice in the history of mankind?
Having a kid because you are bored is terrible advice. You should only have a kid if you're inspired to raise one.
I'm pretty sure humanity would die out that way. Inspired to raise one? For most people, it just happens. I'd go so far and say that half of all pregnancies are unplanned. Inspired. What world are you living in? Sounds like a very entitled one.
If you have the means to raise a kid, you should. That's the whole purpose of your body. Seriously. The meaning of life.
You've been brainwashed for too long if you think that a kid could be a burden. Especially if you have time to be bored. That's the reason you are bored in the first place: you are not fulfilling your only true purpose.
What has society done to you that you believe reaching level 140 on mage or knitting a hat is worth more than raising a kid?
What are you talking about LMAO. Lay off the pipe. I still stand by my idea that people should not have a child because they are bored.
Fair enough.
Not smoking though. Working in a Hospital, child care, amongst other areas. Bored parents are the best.;)