What are some good hobbies to start when life feels boring or repetitive?

hey mates, been feeling like my days are all the same ,just work, scrolling on my phone, and sleeping. I kinda want to do something different in my free time, but I’m not sure where to start.
what hobbies do you guys enjoy or recommend for someone trying to add a bit of fun and creativity to their routine.
I’m open to anything , like drawing, writing, cooking, photography, even something totally random.
I just want to use my time for something that feels refreshing and maybe even helps clear my head.

:old_man:
Mid 70’s here.

  • My hobbies:
    Arduino projects,
    Electronics designing,
    Woodworking,
    Cooking,
    Helping new users to get involved in Arduino hardware and software.

  • While you are being bored, look through this very long thread.

Your first cooking lesson:

Stella Drivas has a great web site.

To clear my mind I love to do something completely irrelevant, that takes 100% concentration. in my case flying from A to A with model airplanes. No time to think about anything else.

Next I became member of a shooting club and learned that pistol shooting has enough “zen” for me. And I could make some Arduino based gadgets for the shooting range :slight_smile:

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Hi, @jamzee
During COVID I restarted my teenage hobby of model building, but this time with cardboard.
Minimum materials and tools required, but that quickly changed as I got more involved.


Templates available for free online.
There was a template for the moon online, my first effort to get the hang of the size and alignment.

With grandsons on the moon.
I also resurrected my Amateur Radio License, great way to communicate.

Tom.... :smiley: :+1: :coffee: :australia:
PS. I do like watching motor racing , but very picky about what is on, currently settling in for 2025 Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercars.

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The feta-egg biscuit pics look great, but I think that recipe would feed only 5.6 to maybe 6.2 people, not 8.

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Try Mimosa Flower Tea and see if you feel motivated.

this is our way!

3 string guitar. you can play a rock and roll or blues song in a day. that will most often be Smoke On The Water, which you DO! NOT! play in a guitar store, because it’s the first song every guitarist learns and the employees are beyond burned out hearing it. if you have woodworking skills you can build your own, but they cost as much as a Chinese 6 string.

“PS. I do like watching motor racing , but very picky about what is on, currently settling in for 2025 Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercars.”

15 years in the mojave desert, 31 years in the Sonoran desert. SCORE off road racing for me. 4 dimensional; the usual 3 + slideways. bestial engines and a run what ya’ brung visual aesthetic.

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I joined a group of beginner C++ programmers, and we’re currently focusing on Synchronized Confusion and Competitive Overthinking.

Lots of fun.

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Interesting

As we get older, there's a tendency to look back at our early years.
With about 4 hours a day of black and white TV, from Watch with Mother until the test card, you had to be inventive how you spent your time, and that usually meant hobbies.
If it moved, I modelled it. Planes, trains, boats etc.

The local model shop was my second home, filled with Keil Kraft, locomotive kits.
I was blessed with a school report from a Miss Davies "spends more time on model aeroplanes than mental arithmetic". Thanks, Miss, but it was also a good grounding in practical skills.

I loved the local streams and ponds that started a career in environmental sciences.

I lived in a town with a station on the old LNER line. Saw the last of the A4 Pacifics and then the mighty Deltics. The town also had a boating lake since filled in as a safety hazard :cry:
Also built crystal sets and bought some red and white spot transistors at Henry's Radio. Never got them to work.

Now I have time and a bit more money, I'm re-living some of those cherished memories, and, you guessed it, brand new balsa plane kits, Hornby and Bachmann railways, refurbishing sewing machines, and of course Arduino. Major projects include making the house more energy efficient and looking for ways to incorporate MCUs to make life easier.
Also really in touch with MCUs on a second by second basis as an ICD keeps my heart ticking.

It's important when you leave full time employment, to find things to keep your mind active, have something to look forward to, even if it is a new kit. Running 3 PC's, Windows and Linux and hundreds of Excel spreadsheets certainly keeps the brain active.

Hobbies should be available on repeat prescription as real stress busters. Better than pills any day.

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Full marks for the A to A

There's been a real resurgence of interest in flying models, which all to the good.
I like my guns too, though strictly legal and home use.
When my mother said "you can't have an airgun", as soon as I flew the nest, it was one of the first things I did.

Some new ones, for next door neighbours rats, and a lovely 1910 BSA Lincoln Jeffries underlever to pick up and sigh. Ancient Webley & Scott pistol for garage target practice and eye, vision, coordination.

3D Printing seems neat but I haven’t done CAD since the late 80’s and pretty sure it’s required. My drafting days were paper and graphite that turned 3D in my head.

Your second (it just WORKS):

I have followed this recipe with a five pound prime rib up to a ten. Good kitchen ventilation highly suggested for a larger roast. Trust the cook time, and no peeking!

PS: once it's out of the oven, the drippings in the pan make a great base to use with Bisto beef gravy (to smother the garlic mashed potatoes you were wise to pair with the roast, and seasonal veg of course such as broccoli).

Note: "Herbs de province" can be tricky to find but no need to stress. Any "Italian seasoning" blend that's dried basil, oregano and other green dried herbs does the same thing.

Synchronized Overthinking, Competitive Confusion Exercising Regularly:

Could always coach youth football...

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archery

Hi, @tigger

My dad was from Slough, so Gods Wonderful Railway fan.
Here in Australia, we had 20' x 12' layout in purpose built shed.
So HO/OO Triang Hornby mostly.

Then he got a job managing a toyshop, so my brother and I were in heaven.

I went the way of electronics and brother to modelling, he still does in N Gauge, currently I'm getting a speed measuring Arduino for his display layouts.

Tom.... :smiley: :+1: :coffee: :australia:

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Very much in agreement.

My childhood revolved around hobbies that were available at the time. The local model shop was my second home, next to the boating lake, a choice of three chalk streams and the station on the London Kings Cross line to Edinburgh.

Crystal sets, Keil Kraft, Triang railways, making all sorts of things, taking other stuff apart, making gunpowder, Airfix kits etc., etc

Now, in later life, I'm doing them all over again. There's never been a better time for hobbies, with lovely replica kits available. And of course, a bit of Arduino. Given gunpowder a miss.

The difference now is that my practical skills are better, fitting kitchens and bathrooms, I have the right tools and the funds to do it properly. There's something very relaxing in choosing, ordering, receiving, opening, a new kit. I love those card railway building model kits.

It's why the house looks like a workshop.

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Be aware that the OP has been suspended for posting spam in this topic. I'm leaving the topic open as it seems to be a reasonable topic for Bar Sport, so do continue.

Cooking dishes from a country you never been too.

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