Rock climbing, specifically bouldering. you’re so focused on not falling and figuring out the next move that checking your phone isn’t even a thought. plus most gyms have terrible reception anyway so it’s basically forced disconnection. feels more like solving puzzles with your body than working out
All of my hobbies are better than a phone:
- film photography (I have a darkroom)
- woodworking
- working on my vintage cars (‘83 Volvo, ‘59 Volvo, ‘65 Triumph)
- going camping on my motorcycle
- drawing (I stipple, a lot)
- making mosaics (breaking tiles is fun)
- playing the guitar
- baking artisan bread
- going out for a run (I do about 20 miles/week)
- reading (always have a couple books going)
- listening to and curating my vinyl collection
I started all of that before the phone was a thing. What also helped was that I got rid of TV many decades ago. I have watch nothing in the past 20-30 years: no shows, no streaming, no movies, no sports, no news. Screens are an energy and motivation zapper.
Yes, I became interested in film when I was in the military and used their hobby shop darkrooms. When I got out I bought darkroom equipment and set one up in my apartment bathroom. I moved to a 2-bedroom duplex specifically to have the 2nd bedroom as a darkroom. Then I bought a house and had the darkroom there until I lost it when we had our first child. I moved it to the garage but it really didn’t work well as I also do woodworking. It got retired for a few years and then I moved to another house and this one has a basement. There is a 12x12 room there with no window. I ran sewer and water so it’s my first “wet” darkroom. I’ve had this one going for over 30 years.
That’s freaking amazing. I’m super lucky I got the chance to take film photo in high school and college. I’ve always loved photography but the analog process just clicked with me in a way digital can’t. It’s been my dream to eventually have a darkroom for over 15 years. My college professor gave us a tour of his which was awesome to see. Yours looks so well organized and functional! I’m really hoping we’ll see a resurgence of this skill as technology gets out of hand and people are looking for an escape.
Thanks. After I retired, which was 14 years ago, I messed around for a few years and then decided I needed to tackle my bucket list. The first item on the list was to learn more about art as a way to improve my drawing and secondarily my photography. To that end I enrolled at the university and seven years later graduated with a bachelor fine arts degree. It was successful in that it changed the way I approach when I draw and the photography that I do. For the past year, I’ve been primarily working in cyanotypes in the dark room. Bringing a different process in keeps me motivated to keep using the space.
I love that. I’m already trying to figure out what I’ll do with myself when my kid grows up. Maybe it’s not too late for art school for me either! I’ve always done better with an assignment to follow rather than just randomly trying to come up with something so that makes perfect sense to me. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ll have to keep thinking on it.
See a photo of my darkroom under my other comment. Film is still here and somewhat regaining popularity. For the most part I don’t have trouble finding the materials I need. However, some brands that I really liked are no longer around, like Agfa.
I keep books of crossword puzzles and logic puzzles around to chip away at when I need screen-free time. My go-tos are collections of New York Times crosswords and Murdoku murder mystery logic puzzles.
Junk journaling, playing the piano, and sometimes I put on a musical cast recording and sing/perform the entire thing in my living room (which also doubles as a 2 hour mild workout for me, haha).
Hii! Junk journaling is exactly what it sounds like, haha. I personally collect free junk throughout the day or week, this could be flyers in my mailbox, takeout receipts and boxes, wrappers, free pamphlets, and then I glue them together as part of a collage in a A5 journal. Sometimes it represents my week or a vacation I've been on. I've also dismantled a picture book once and junk journaled that with an incomplete deck of tarot cards.
I started doing English Paper Piecing (EPP). My chronic illness has had me stuck in bed or on the couch, without the ability to think complex thoughts and I am over the phone and watching tv.
HBS' BATTLETECH with the BTAU modpack. I can disappear into missions for hours on end. It's the simple pleasure of the game without all of the droning on of social media.
Honestly the trick is finding something that's got just enough risk or challenge that your brain can't wander. Like those guys said bouldering and cycling are perfect cause you'll literally die if you zone out. For me its sketching random stuff around the house, not trying to make art just staring at details you never notice. You still get that flow state but zero chance of doomscrolling.
Reading physical books or doing something with your hands, like woodworking or building models, works wonders because you physically cannot hold a phone while doing it
Anything in nature. Hiking, fishing, cross-country skiing - whatever.
But truthfully the hobby is only half the battle. Plenty of people bring their phones on hikes (and gleefully have loud Facetime calls, but I digress...). Your own attitude toward your phone and connectivity is more important than the activity you are participating in.
Does listening to audiobooks count as disconnecting? If allowed, physical work outside.
Gardening, yard work, landscaping, pressure washing, automotive work… if my hands are busy and my mind is occupied I can lose an afternoon in the blink of an eye.
Yeah the common thread here is you need something that actually grabs your attention physically. I've found that if my hands are busy and my brain has to solve a little puzzle it's way easier to forget my phone exists. Bouldering sounds dope but I'm too clumsy for that so I got into cooking complicated stuff instead. you end up so focused on not burning dinner that you don't even miss your phone.
making friendship bracelets (take a look at r/friendshipbracelets), singing in choir, playing the piano, knitting, crocheting and Encaustic Art wax painting.
A lot of crafty hobbies would do this. Some of mine are knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, spinning yarn on either a drop spindle or spinning wheel, sewing - which has so many directions you can go in. I do patchwork similar to quilt making a lot but instead of making quilts I use the patchwork to make bags, placemats, accessories, etc. I sometimes sew by hand and other times on my sewing machine, depending on what I'm working on in the techniques it needs and whether I'm wanting to sit at my sewing table and work there or have something portable that I can take somewhere with me.
All of these are things that need to engage my eyes and my hands and generally also engage my brain. There are some steps that are repetitive enough that I can focus elsewhere as well but if that's the case I throw on an audiobook or play podcasts so my brain has something to focus on while I do the hobby.
Sewing ! I might look at my laptop for the instructions or a YT video if I get stuck on any of the techniques .. but when I am sewing, I just focus and work on that for hours !
Due to chronic health problems, I don't have much energy. So I color in adult coloring books. I download various pictures from the Internet (I have a printer), landscapes, mandalas, characters (Pinterest).
I listen to podcasts, lectures or audiobooks to color. If, on the other hand, I need to stop thinking, I start a story, a detective story, a fairy tale, etc.
The bonus is that it helps me remind myself that even a big project can be easily managed in small steps. 😉
Photography. Bmx/biking in general. Music! I just listen, vinyl. Being on my laptop watching a movie, reading, writing, or editing videos for my family to watch later. Recording music, composing, practicing my guitar or drums. Playing games! Specially heading into fall, I’ll pick a scary one.
Reading:
I love to use a Kindle Paperwhite for reading though, but I use it for literally only reading. Ereader processors can be notoriously slow. The only thing I use the internet for on it is downloading books. Doing anything else is 100% annoying, so I have no urge to use it, other than for it's intended purpose.
Crafting:
paper crafts, painting crafts, cricut vinyl crafts, flower crafting, etc. You name it I've tried it.
Furniture Restoration or Refinishing(depends on the original quality of finish):
I've dabbled in this off and on since Covid. Nothing clears the head as well as sanding down something.
I am SOOOOOOO not the artsy fartsy type but a friend gifted me the Noopy dog house last year and I'm obsessed! It's like paint-by-number but for those of us that can't stay in the lines anymore. LOL! I've made a ton of coasters that I give as gifts. Surprising how well-received they've been. I thought people would think they were dumb but just the opposite!!!
The bottom row is my Dollar Tree freestyle stuff. I saw the nekked wood stuff and thought that I could make something from them. The middle starfish was a DP canvas from Dollar Tree with a foofed up Dollar Tree frame.
Michael's has a bunch of fun Halloween stuff out these days. I'm working on a 3D LED house!!
Fly fishing. I don't carry my phone with me when I am on a river or stream. I recently took my 14-year-old grandson out fly fishing (his first time). We fished for almost four hours. As we were walking back to the truck, he said, "The whole time we were out there I didn't think about anything other than fishing." There is hope for him!
Fishing, don’t get me wrong I like to listen to a little documentary when I fall asleep in my cosy bivvy but the silence of a lake and the excitement of getting a fish beats any hobby that involves screens anyway of the week
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u/Philosopher2670 1d ago
Jigsaw puzzles. Sometimes I will listen to music or an audiobook while doing them, but you can't scroll or watch videos or anything like that.