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!
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.
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.
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.
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
The ‘fun’ adjective means everyone’s answers will be different!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Is reading technically considered consuming content? Fun and it’s a pretty cheap hobby if you have library access or go to used bookstores!
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
Making things, learning things.
E.g.:
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painting
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clay/ceramics
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learn a language
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learn the history of a region
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visit a museum
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grow vegetables
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make pickles
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learn a weapon
learn the history of a region
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!
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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.”
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 got into scratch/trash building and kit bash modeling crazy mechs and stuff last year and it’s been a blast.
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!
- Try out recipes to cook from the internet. Thats an easy way to learn and in the end you can improvise.
- learn an instrument. Easier said than done really, best is to find a group and make fix appointments
- find a cool sport to do. Really, going out is sooo important. Dancing, martial arts, athletics, swimming, climbing, cycling. There is so much.
- learn another language that people actually speak in your area lol. For example signing! Signing is so useful, next to english, spanish, mandarin and russian maybe. Integrating deaf people is sooo important and it needs hearing people that can sign to translate.
