Lately, I’ve felt like my phone is becoming a permanent extension of me, and not in a good way. It seems like I am constantly picking up my phone, which leads to scrolling. I always say it will just be a few minutes, and next thing I know, it’s been much longer. At first, it wasn’t a big deal, but as time has gone on, I’ve realized how much time I’ve lost to scrolling. In the past week, I realized I wanted to make a change.
Inspirations
It would be wrong of me to say that I’ve thought of all this on my own. I saw a few posts on Instagram that helped me realize that scrolling was part of the reason I have felt so drab. For starters, Jaycie (jayciesdiary) has started a series titled “claiming my life back,” where she tries a new hobby to help lower her screen time. This was the first post that made me think, “maybe I should do something about my screen time.” It’s so easy to feel exhausted after doing schoolwork, so I decide to scroll for a few minutes when I get home, but it never stays that way. Her account has inspired me to think about all the different hobbies I could spend my time doing.
A second account that inspired me was diaryoflo_, aka, Lauren, whose account is all about hobbies. Her account was another that opened my eyes to all the different ways I could be spending my time. Lauren’s videos make me feel like I could be doing so much more to romanticize my life and enjoy the little things. Plus, she is constantly trying new hobbies, which provides a lot of inspiration.
I have never loved being on my phone; in fact, I have deleted social media many times. The thing is, I don’t want it to be all or nothing. My goal is to have social media, but not spend hours on it every day.
What I’m doing about it
I recognize that lowering my screen time is going to be a process. There are so many studies about how social media is addictive, so I recognize I can’t change my habits overnight. I have come up with a few habits and hobbies I want to introduce into my life. I am hoping that coming up with more things to do will give me options, and over time, I’ll find what works for me.
Journaling
In high school, I used to journal all the time. My therapist recommended it to me as a way to get all the thoughts out of my brain. It is so much easier to deal with things when there’s not a million things in your head. I haven’t journaled since the end of my second year, and with how I’ve been feeling, I think it’s time to bring it back. I have a journal arriving tomorrow, and I plan to make the most of it.
I have always been the type of person who feels like things need to stay in separate categories. With that, I used to think I needed different notebooks for different things. That is changing with this notebook. It sounds silly, but this notebook will be filled with anything and everything that I need out of my brain.
Reading
This probably sounds obvious, but I am trying to bring reading back into my routine. I try to read a chapter every day, and so far I have succeeded. I have been both reading with my eyes and through an audiobook. Audiobooks have quickly become one of my favourite things. I listen on my commute and while doing chores, which gives me a lot of extra reading time.
I have loved reading since the time I learnt how, but over the past year, I have read very little. I realized I’ve missed it, so it’s important to me to bring it back into my life. I am really pushing hard to complete my 10 by the end challenge, but school definitely eats up a lot of my time right now.
Animal Crossing
I mentioned in a previous post that while I was at home for reading break, I found my 3DS. This discovery has been amazing for my mental health. I restarted my Animal Crossing world, and have been loving building it back up. This is such a fun hobby for me, and one that I have been missing. I have really wanted to start playing again, but didn’t have a way to, so finding my DS was a pleasant surprise.
Cross-stitch (or other crafting hobby)
I haven’t started this hobby yet, but I think it’s one I would really enjoy. I want to find hobbies that I can combine, so I can make the most of my free time. I think cross-stitching would go well with watching tv or listening to an audiobook. I don’t know why I am drawn to cross-stitch, but I guess I’ll find out if I like it once I try it. This hobby probably won’t start until I am finished with this semester, so that I can dedicate some time to learning what I’m doing.
I want to try a bunch of different crafting hobbies to find what I really enjoy, but for now, I want to start with cross-stitch. Other hobbies I am interested in are drawing, diamond paintings, water colours, and knitting or crochet. When I was growing up I took a bunch of art classes, but during university I haven’t been very creative in that sense.
Walks
Since junior high, I have loved going on long walks, but over my time at university, this habit has fallen by the wayside. Walking is similar to journaling for me, as it helps me clear my head. As well, I think it would be good for me to get outside in a capacity other than commuting. Additionally, walking gives me another opportunity to listen to audiobooks or music, depending on the day. Usually, I would just walk around my neighbourhood, and while I want to reintroduce that to my routine, I also think going to parks would also help get me out of my routine a bit.
Puzzles
Last but not least, I want to start doing more puzzles. My mom and I were big into puzzles during COVID, and it was honestly a lot of fun. We had a big table set up in the basement where we would do puzzles and watch tv. We watched a lot of documentaries, which led us both to learning a lot. Puzzling, similar to cross-stitch, is something I can pair with other hobbies, such as reading or watching tv.
While I know lowering my screen time will be a process, it is something that is very important to me because I don’t want time to keep slipping away. It is so easy to push things off for later, but I want to encourage myself to start doing things I love now. Spending time scrolling on social media only leads to comparing ourselves to the highlights we see online. Instead of wishing for more, I am going to see the beauty in the mundane and create more for myself.
Thank you for reading! If you have any cozy hobby recommendations, please let me know down below or in my dms on Instagram. I hope everyone is having a good week, and remember to take some time for yourself as life gets busy leading up to the holiday.
Hailey
It’s actually so bad for me recently. I’ve been glued to my phone.