10 New Hobbies To Learn That Are Effective Happiness And Productivity Boosters

As Covid-19 continues to spread across the globe, people are tired of staying home alone. Work from home has taken a toll on their health and they’re constantly stressed or worried. In such a situation, it’s crucial to develop a hobby and spend time in an innovative manner. Your hobby reflects who you are and this is absolutely true. The kind of hobbies you have shows your personality as an individual. We can know someone better by their choices and hobbies. Today, we bring to you unique hobbies, creative hobbies and hobbies to do alone.

Here are some new hobbies to learn that might help you spend your me-time creatively and efficiently.

1. Write, Set, Repeat: Journaling For The Love Of Words

Do you ever wonder what it feels like to maintain a journal? Journaling is basically a process of noting goals, happenings, ideas and the like. It helps you track your progress, self-reflect and grow. It also helps you to improve writing and pour in more creativity to your work and eventually, life.

To begin, you can start small and add a section of self-care in the routine. You can plan out what you’re going to add in the journal and go ahead with it. This is a hobby that will enrich your mind and soul in the long run and hence, it’s important to have a hobby like this one right here.

2. Baking: A Delicious Hobby With Sweet Results!

They say, baking is therapeutic. As a hobby it keeps you involved and happy while you’re at it. Creative hobbies definitely add ‘Baking’ at the top of the list. You may bake a cake, a cupcake, a muffin or something else and experience the kind of joy it brings along with it. 

Baking isn’t merely about cakes and their topping. It’s about colours, skill, art and love. If you bake with love, you create well-crafted baked goodies. No wonder, baking is more about being passionate enough, always. It’s led to a successful generation of home bakers who have grown on the basis of their innate passion and hobby.

3. Gardening: Let There Be Green!

Are you fond of horticulture or house plants? Have you ever wanted to build your own little garden at your place? Gardening is a go-to hobby for many souls like yours. It can fill your life with gaiety and innovation if you decide to pick it up as a hobby.

Gardening may take a few hours of your day or extra hours on a weekend. However, if you’re looking forward to creating a cutesy home garden, nothing should stop you. It’s vital to do the gardening chores dedicatedly in order to have a flourishing garden. 

Qualities like perseverance, dedication and commitment will take you a long way. This can be developed into a full-fledged passion project if done in an appropriate and accurate manner.

4. Reading: Books Can Be Best Friends

Novels, novellas, anthologies, short stories, etc. are a way to a reader’s mind. Readers insist that reading is the best hobby of all and here’re a few reasons why you should develop reading as a hobby.

Along with improved vocabulary and language, you can also become a good orator if you read out loud regularly.

You can become a great writer by reading value-added stuff consistently. Become a reader first, writing comes along the way.

A few books that you can read in your free time as a beginner are The Alchemist, Catcher in the Rye, The Palace of Illusions and We Should All Be Feminists.

5. Write Letters & Postcards: The Good Old-World Charm

Writing to a loved one or your future self is an attractive thing to do. Hand-written letters and postcards still have a sense of the old world charm. Curating those is wonderful and makes us nostalgic, taking us back to our old days, when we were in school or college. 

Although everything is rapidly shifting to digital, letters are a preferred choice for millenials and Gen Z to showcase their love for oneself and their partner.

Writing letters to your future and present self is an in-thing to do as it motivates you to fulfill your goals and set targets.

Postcards can help you treasure memories of places and close ones. They reach you while you can’t reach the destination that you miss so much. These are a specialised gift to oneself or others as it’s customized according to one’s own needs.

It is a hobby that a person can cherish now and forever as words don’t die. Letters will always be special to one’s heart. The emotions that are expressed through postcards and letters are meant to touch your soul with all that they have.

6. Prepare Your Own Hygge Box: It’s Time For Some Self-Care

A Hygge Box is the perfect form of self-love and care. It fills your life with happiness, comfort and affection. It’s a warm hug in itself.

But wait, what is a Hygge Box? How do you prepare one? 

The word ‘Hygge’ is of Danish origin, with a profound meaning of comfort and coziness that leads to contentment and well-being. These boxes are prepared for the sake of this and people bring Hygge into their lives and homes by means of these boxes.

You can curate Hygge boxes inside the comfort of your home by adding handpicked items like cookies, stationery, candles, mugs, bookmarks, etc. These can have a specific theme such as Coffee or Travel. These can also fall in the general category which is intended purely to add comfort and warmth.

Truly, you live by that warm, fuzzy feeling by having this hobby of curating Hygge boxes.

7. Learn A Foreign Language: Go Beyond Borders

If you ask us about hobbies to do alone, we’d surely recommend learning a foreign language. There’s a rising demand for languages such as German, Spanish, French, etc. across the globe. If you’re looking forward to seeking higher education in a country that’s not your home country, this skill is an add-on. You have a variety of options to pick from and this gives you an upper edge for selection. Even if you’re not a student, you can still choose this hobby to seek the attention of employers or just for fun.

So, which language are you planning to speak fluently this year?

8. Armchair Travel: The Ultimate Food For The Heart

With borders locked worldwide and people stuck in their homes, armchair travel is a relief to the wandering souls. Armchair travel means traveling the world through media, digital or print. Transporting people to their fairyland via a movie, show or a book is the most mesmerizing thing ever. It’s a hobby you should definitely indulge in if you love traveling. Experience a virtual solo journey by immersing yourself in armchair travel. 

Don’t let the pandemic stop you or pause your dreams of traveling the planet.

You can also watch Parts Unknown, Gotta Do! India, TVF Tripling, Highway on my Plate and Love Travel Repeat amongst others, to travel virtually.

9. Play Solo Board Games: Have Some Fun With Yourself

One of the unique hobbies include playing solo board games. It’s amazing how board games have evolved from a team game to a solo game, enhancing ecstasy and amusement in daily life. Filled with elements of horror, suspense, love, etc. these games are meant to ease stress levels and boost happy endorphins. This is a great hobby to enjoy as an individual at home.

Some suggestions include Onirim which is a solo board game, Mage Knight – a fantasy solo game and Coffee Roaster.

Let’s opt for a friendlier alternative to online gaming. Of course, this is friendlier to your eyes and saves them from blue light. Happy Board Gaming y’all!

10. Try Art & Craft: Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

Art brings alive the hidden talent inside us. It gives us a reason to live. Creating artsy stuff such as wall-hangings, coasters, etc. can be an engaging way to spend time. Spending one hour on this everyday gives you peace and solace which increases your will to work. Surprisingly, this has immense potential and you are not aware of things that it has in store for you. Someday, you might start your small business out of this hobby.

Artsy stuff can be in the form of mason jars, decorative gifting boxes, greeting cards, hand-made keychains, etc.

Now you have some idea which new hobby to learn while dealing being alone at home! Because, learning a new hobby is a beautiful experience in itself. May it be learning a new language or cooking a delicacy, a hobby once inculcated is always cherished. And, guess what? Apart from this, hobbies are believed to not only enhance productivity but also boost quality of life. Immerse yourself, enjoy it to the fullest and witness the magic happen. 

Which hobby will you pick up if you were to choose one for yourself? Share your experience with hobbies in the comment section below