Self-Care: List of 61 Fun Hobbies to Try Today

I am a huge advocate for self-care. However, throughout the year, I often find myself falling into a routine of work, eat, and barely sleep. The same thing every day and with this routine comes a steep dive in my mental health. I get depressed, anxious, and unable to work to my full capability. I am self-aware when I am stuck in these unhealthy thought patterns, and it is so hard to pull myself out of them. One of the things I do that I find helpful is pulling my focus off from work and other stressors and turn it towards something I love, my hobbies. Whether it is crafting, reading, or dancing, I find that putting my entire attention on something that brings me joy is the best to get me out of these patterns, and for my mental health.

Society tends to tell people that hobbies aren’t important. In my experience, the world we are living in values work and money over hobbies, which translates into valuing unhealthy practices over mental health. When I started focusing on the things I love more than a stressful work environment, I was berated by my employers and coworkers for having incorrect priorities. I was told that I would never make it anywhere because I was too focused on wanting to get home to craft rather than stay late because of their own poor planning. This is why I have taken it into my own hands. I always prioritize what I love over anything else. Life is too short not too.

I always prioritize what I love over anything else. Life is too short not too.

With my brain, I have had a lot of hobbies over the years. I tend to hyper-fixate on one thing for a week or a month, and then move onto the next thing. This has led me to be a newbie in a heck of a lot of hobbies. But I do have a few that stick around. A few that I will focus on for a month, lose the fire, then come back to it a year later. But anyway, don’t look in my closet or you will see all my supplies from my dead hobbies.

I wrote a post similar to this last year, that you can check out here! I am adding and expanding on everything I wrote there. I included about 20 different hobbies on there, and I am planning on putting a lot more on this list.

This post is going to include a huge list of all the hobbies I can think of. With mental health being a huge focus for me, it is important that everyone finds something they love. Try a couple of these out, you might be surprised at what you love to do.

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Huge List of Hobbies to try

Crafting

• Crocheting
• Knitting
• Sewing
• Quilting
• Pottery
• Jewelry Making
• Calligraphy (digital or physical)
• Painting (acrylic, watercolor, etc.)
• Drawing
• Coloring (Grab a coloring book and some colored pencils)
• Candle Making
• Bullet Journaling
• Digital Art
• Diamond Painting (one of my favorites)
• Screen Printing (and then teach me how, I wanna learn)
• Book Binding
• Model Airplanes, Cars, Trains, etc.

Food

• Baking (breads, cakes, cookies, brownies, etc.)
• Cooking
• Coffee Art (latté foam art, delicious macchiatos, etc.)
• Candy Making

Active

• Dancing (Jazz, ballet, hip hop, modern, etc.)
• Running
• Yoga
• Pilates
• Kick Boxing
• Bird Watching
• Team Sports (rec centers often have groups that play on the weekend)
• Bycycling
• Gymnastics (some gyms offer adult and teen geared beginner classes)
• Gardening (indoor and outdoor plants)
• Dog Walking (make money with apps like Rover)
• Fishing
• Skateboarding
• Surfing

Technology/Social Media

• Coding (there are so many easy and cheap resources on the internet)
• App Building
• Blogging ; )
• Graphic Design (graphic design is my passion)
• Photography (whether you have a fancy camera or a phone)
• Making Tik Toks
• Making Youtube Videos
• Producing Music
• Play Video Games

Etc.

• Writing
• Interior Design
• Writing Letters with Pen Pals
• Learning to Play an Instrument
• Nail Art
• Woodshop
• Geochaching
• Thrifting
• Listening to Music
• Journaling
• Watching Movies/T.V. Shows
• Collecting (Old Vinyls, stamps, coffee mugs, etc.)
• Playing Board Games (especially old obscure ones)
• Magic Tricks (learn something cool and show all your friends)
• Puzzling
• Singing (I love singing, no matter how aweful I am)
• Pressing Flowers

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This list doesn’t even come close to including all the hobbies out there. Just think of something you love, or even like, and go from there. I know, when my mental health is in the gutters, it can be difficult to define something that I am interested in, I get it. If you can’t define anything, just try something random. It might pull your attention away for just a second, and any second away from anxiety and depression is worth it, even if it is brief.

And a gentle, non-gentle, reminder that you do not have to be good at a hobby enjoy doing it. There are so many reasons to do hobbies, and being good at it is not one of them. If you like drawing but you don’t think it is as good as people who have been illustrating their whole life… who cares? You are making art, which is wonderful.

There are so many reasons to do hobbies, and being good at it is not one of them.

Hobbies aren’t going to cure any mental illness. It has never cured mine. But if you are looking for something, anything, that might make you feel a tad bit better, a hobby is a great place to start.

Let me know in the comments below what your favorite hobby is and why! I love hearing people talking about the things they love.

Thanks for reading!