“When your kids ask you what your hobbies used to be, will you reply with ‘scrolling on my phone’?”
Doom-scrolling is a new term referring to the act of scrolling on social media for an absurd amount of time or scrolling till your ‘doom’. Because of this, having hobbies is becoming a lost concept. We in the Western world are so ‘connected’ with the online world that we have become disconnected with ourselves, which is a shame because exploring hobbies can help us in self-discovery and has been found to improve overall mood according to multiple online articles. Steinberg and Simon (2019) for example concluded that “hobby engagement is an important aspect of activity engagement with social benefits”, and another source stated that “people with hobbies are less likely to experience stress, bad mood, and Depression” (Ronn et al., 2021).
I didn’t realize what a big generational problem this is until I saw a TikTok of a girl saying ‘when we have kids in the future and they ask us what we used to do with our free time and what hobbies we had when we were younger, what will we say? That scrolling on social media was all we did?’ Realizing that was a big wakeup call for me, and I hope it is for you too. If we want to be good role models for anyone who will look up to us, we have to start making changes now. Another advantage of disconnecting from social media and developing hobbies is that hobbies look great on resumes! Especially for us students; athletic and artistic commitments outside of academics make you a well-rounded person which is always a good thing when it comes to the job market. There are no downsides to developing hobbies!
So now you’ve recognized that you need more hobbies, but where do you start? Don’t worry, I have a very comprehensive list of options for you.
Hobbies that require some investment (mostly long-term):
Sports:
- Swimming
- Ice Skating
- Roller Blading
- Horse-back Riding
Other Hobbies:
- Painting
- Sewing
- Cooking/Baking
These hobbies are the most difficult and expensive on this list. Sports usually need lessons, which can get expensive. However, if you invest in a few that you are especially interested in, it will be worth it. My parents put me and my siblings in swimming and ice-skating classes when we were younger. Even though we didn’t get to an advanced level, the experience sparked interest, and we can practice those skills on our own now. Investing in any one of these hobbies will leave you with valuable experience even if you don’t continue long term (but you will benefit even more if you do!). You have to start somewhere.
You could also pay for painting, sewing, and cooking classes, or you could buy the required materials and follow YouTube videos. There is no better way to learn and work on these hobbies, it just depends on your preference. Personally, I learned painting by trying to copy paintings, started baking from following recipes, and now I’m learning sewing and cooking from my mom. If you have family or friends who keep up with sports or any cool pass time that you’d like to start, just ask them to teach you! Then you’ll be learning a new skill and socializing with people in real time; a much better alternative to doom-scrolling.
Creative hobbies that you can start right now (long/short-term):
- Singing
- Drawing
- Photography
- Scrapbooking
- Gaming
- Reading
- Creative Writing
These are hobbies that you can start right now, and you will improve your skills the more you practice! You most likely have all the necessary materials for these hobbies in your house already. You can watch tutorials for singing, drawing, and photography, and the rest you can learn as you go along. You might be thinking that gaming and reading should be on the first list because you’d have to pay for them, but that’s not necessarily true! You can get free games on your phone, tablet, and PC from app stores and online. If you want to pick up reading, you can easily find PDFs of books online that are free to download, or if you prefer physical copies, you can borrow them from libraries (yes, they still exist).
Academic hobbies that you can start right now (long/short-term):
- Learning a language
- Study a random topic that interests you and write a report on your findings
If you have no interest for the arts, maybe a more academically inclined hobby is best suited for you. You can start learning a new language or studying a random topic. There are many apps and websites out there that can help you learn a new language such as Duolingo and Babble. Should you find that you have a real knack for languages, you could learn one well enough to put on your resume (which would look really good on resumes, especially in Canada where we receive immigrants from all over the world).
You could also use your free time to do some light research on any topic that interests you: space, philosophy, medical technologies, politics, or anything that comes to mind in the moment. To keep track of all the topics you studied, you can write notes or write reports, whichever you prefer. This hobby might arguably be the most helpful for you to figure out what pathway you’d like to follow in the future. With enough academic exploring, you’ll eventually stumble upon something that just clicks.
Just things you can do if you don’t want to commit to a hobby (short-term):
- Chores
- Organizing
- Talk to family/friends
- Volunteer locally
- Go for a walk
- Download some games on your phone
- Play the New York Times word games
- Put all of your thoughts down on a paper
If you are not in the mood to commit to a hobby but still want to do something other than doom-scrolling, try something from this short-term task list! You can clean and organize your room/house, talk to family and friends, or go for a walk. You could also volunteer in your community by checking if there are any posts in your area ahead of time. If everything else just seems too overstimulating and you just need to recalibrate, grab a pen and piece of paper, and just start writing. Write everything that comes to mind. You might be surprised with what you wrote; it could be something you didn’t know you were thinking. Regardless, you will feel much calmer and will be out of the doom-scrolling trance.
My personal favorite hobbies:
Personally, I love singing, drawing, painting, creative writing, gaming, reading, and cooking. Whenever I have some free time, I try to keep up with at least one of these hobbies. My progress on them is a little slow because being a student is my top priority, but the goal is to have alternatives to scrolling on my phone for hours.
I know how addictive social media can be. Trust me when I say I will be referring to this list too, but now that we are grown-ups, we must be more responsible with our free time. Scrolling on our phones won’t help us discover who we are or what our skills and interests are. Find something on this list that sounds interesting to you, and work on it, and don’t be afraid to drop it if your interest doesn’t stick. You are more than welcome to try every single hobby in the world until you find one, or a few, that you love.
I’ll end with this quote by Freeman Dyson:
“Successful technologies often begin as hobbies. Jacques Cousteau invented scuba diving because he enjoyed exploring caves. The Wright brothers invented flying as a relief from the monotony of their normal business of selling and repairing bicycles.”
Who knows, maybe a hobby you will pick up after reading this article will leave your name in history books!
References:
Ronn, E., Arangel, Aldrin, J., Celeste, G., Nicole, V., Quindoy, C., Soriano, H., & Cabal, J. (2021). EXAMINING THE ROLE OF HOBBIES IN REDUCING ACADEMIC BURNOUT OF THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS) STUDENTS. Linang, 44(1). https://www.letranbataan.edu.ph/Files/Research/Linang2019-2020/V2/ARTICLE%203.pdf
Steinberg, D. B., & Simon, V. A. (2019). A Comparison of Hobbies and Organized Activities among Low Income Urban Adolescents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(5), 1182–1195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01365-0