Including the positive impact after removing unwanted habits or hobbies too
I’ve been seeing small bands play locally. I love metal and all it’s sub-genres and my town has been absolutely stacked for smaller shows this year.
I saw Hippie Death Cult and The Obsessed in a tiny venue for $22/ticket and even got to meet some of the members of the bands as they were walking around or working the merch booth.
I’ve got at least 2 concerts each month for the rest of the year and may fit more in if I can.
Hell, even the most expensive show I went to was $50/ticket and that was for Alcest, Deafheaven, and Mastodon (favorite band of all time). It was absolutely mind blowing and I’m still buzzing from the “high”.
I should note I’m 3 years sober from alcohol and have struggled with crippling social anxiety and panic attacks over the years. I’m using these events as exposure therapy (along with actual therapy) to social situations and knowing that I can leave at anytime helps to avoid the uncomfortable cyclical anxiety loop I was getting caught in. It’s actually been enlightening how much I’ve been able to enjoy and has made a massive positive impact on my life.
Step outside of your routine. Drive 20 minutes down the road on a whim and go to the park. Go for a walk. Break the monotony of life in small ways all throughout the day/week. Less screen time too.
Is this the “touching grass” activity they spoke of? Seems scary.
Well kind of. But it’s more like touch DIFFERENT grass. Like whereever you live I bet there’s a river or creak or lake or whatever within a 30 minute drive. Go there. Check it out. Sit next to it for a minute. Let yourself be an ape for a minute. It’s what we are. Just follow your whims. See a cool rock? Go check that shit out.
Spinning yarn. Fiber arts in general, but spinning is very low effort. It keeps your hands busy while you watch something on TV (or if you’re waiting in a waiting room) so you don’t feel the urge to grab your phone. Drop spindles are also very affordable and probably the best way to learn. You could spin wool roving or top. You could also go forage a ton of wild nettle (do that it in the winter so it doesn’t sting), process the nettle, then spin that. Or you could get into the dying process, which is super fun. It’s an entire rabbit hole.
The fun thing is you can use the product of the low effort hobby in higher effort hobbies like weaving. And once you get fabric from weaving on a rigid heddle or floor/table loom, you can amp up the effort even more in following a pattern and sewing things from that fabric. Or just hang it and look at it.
Do a kindness to someone without expectation of recognition or return
Read a book
Find an enjoyable exercise
Sit under a tree on a nice day
call friends & loved ones even if there’s no particular reason to
Cutting off stressful, negative, or hateful friends and family members has had a hugely positive effect in overall life quality and wallet.
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10-15 min walks. Great time to just get the body moving and get into deep thought or listen to an audiobook
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Having a regular water refill routine
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Weekly/monthly budget/finances review
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All the small annoying non “fun” stuff that every old persons unsolicited advice essentially.
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Going for a walk is generally a good thing.
Instead of cherry picking “low effort” habits or hobbies. Pick habits you value and hobbies you like, then just put in a bit of effort starting from the lowest amount. Stop when you think it’s too much.
I take the stairs, when i’m sad, frustrated or upset i do pushups
Knitting, reading, gardening, at least one walk every day.
blinking eyes.
Like, extra. We don’t blink enough and they get dry.
Hobbies I’m not sure, none of mine seem low effort.
Habits, just off the top of my head:
- Going to bed early
- No alcohol
- A good weekday stretching routine
- Not making social plans on Sundays (assuming a Mon-Fri work week)
- “No screens” rule in the bedroom
In my last job which was WFH I would go for a bike ride in my lunch break. Now I cycle to work so that also works for regular exercise.
Gardening, can get all the rosemary and sage I want for free and cover roast potatoes with it.
Smoking
- Good for socializing
- Bad for health and wallet
Since when are drug-addictions a hobby? There isn’t even any noticeable benefit of smoking. Drinking, gambling or even the harder drugs at least give you something back.
Lol someones on the wagon, calm down mate, do you want to live forever?
I would like to. But i wouldn’t trade a longer life for a totally benefit-free smoking. I’d take weed or even cocaine over something that just reeks and burns money :-)
OP asked for habits or hobbies. IMO smoking is a habit.
Yup he said that, didn’t see it. But “habit” makes it sound so harmless though. Would you call it the same if it wasn’t socially semi-acceptable or if it was crack not tobacco?
Yeah, I’d call smoking crack a habit. I don’t categorize habits as harmless
Hm, addictions can involve learned habits, but it’s surely more than a habit. “Habit” implies the ability to just stop. But this is semantics :)
I see public smoking to be problematic and anti-social, since such folk don’t seem to care about the health of others due to 2nd hand smoke.
Last year I flew from Midway to Laguardia and when I arrived I realized that I left my smokes in the central time zone. I walked out to the smokers pen and asked someone there for a cigarette and we wound up chatting for like 20 min before our pickup arrived.
Wait until you find out about tge health effects of fire, gas cooking, and car exhaust
three things i think about everytime i stop smoking :( why bother? I feel better when i dont smoke, after the first three days anyway
I don’t like those too. A reason why I support the popularisation of electric vehicles and induction cooking.
And is it not like saying ‘the climate will likely change, so why have complaints on the global warming adding to it’?
Why pour oil on the fire?
