I have a ok laptop but its not the greatest, i want to have something such as a creative outlet that i can do in a simple manner? Ive thought about many of things but im unsure if i should try them? Im stuck inside alot and im bored alot aswell. I just want something to do other than light gaming and watching youtube.
What would you advise and why so?
I go through phases of collecting/trialing hobbies as a hobby. I develop a list of things I’m interested in, what about them is drawing my interest, how much it would cost to jump into entry-level projects, and a target I want to hit to understand if it’s a hobby I want to keep one not. Also how I’ll learn.
So for me that looks something like:
-
leatherworking, I really want a customized notebook holder that fits exactly what I’m looking for. That’s $20 in basic tools, $50 in leather including enough for simpler projects as I develop skills. Target is to try something simple, like a baggage tag or simple bifold wallet to see if I like it before spending more time and money on it. Plenty of YouTube videos available, local Tandy store has classes, my sister also knows the basics.
-
digitizing the parents’ photo negatives. I want a brain dead project to do while watching movies during cold winter evenings when I’m not going outside. Cost is negligible, I have the stuff I need. Time needed to develop a good workflow and file naming and tagging system. Maybe some YouTube videos if needed, brother is a photographer and willing to consult on workflow. Longer term: buy external hard drives and gift to siblings or talk to brother about his Immich server. Branch off into new project to self-host Immich myself?
I have six more items on the “do I want to turn these into hobbies” list. It’s a hobby in itself to learn about and plan potential hobbies.
-
I second 3D modeling, it’s super fun and entertaining. Blender is the software.
Thirded. If you eventually get a 3D printer, too, that can be a good time sink - as long as you are happy to spend time tweaking and fiddling with things to keep it working.
That way, your 3D blender designs can come to the real world.
I need to learn blender. I got into 3D printers and learnt FreeCAD for parts. It’s very good and easy to use but it lacks complex modelling and I think it runs on one thread only.
I use freecad for designs that need to be specific sizes and shapes, and Blender for things that don’t need to be too exact…
As long as you don’t need CAD levels of precision, Blender is fine. I still need to use FreeCAD when making enclosures and assemblies but Blender works well if it’s more of a decorative piece. I think they are making an actual CAD mode soon so this might be outdated!
Even the pro systems have single threaded portions for modelling. Multi thread, multi processor is only taken advantage of in a few areas, and even then the performance improvement is not drastically different in most tasks
Soldering. You don’t need a huge amount of space. A desk and a box to keep stuff in. You can buy reference kits which allows you to build your own devices like headphones amplifiers. The reference kit should come with instructions and the PBC board will show which components go where. Kind of like painting with numbers.
Once your confident with it then it’s also useful. Replace bad caps on monitors, motherboards, anything really.
Fuck yeah, soldering is incredibly empowering. Getting into it is crazy cheap compared to many other hobbies.
For the love of all that’s holy, get a proper ventilation though. A lot of people who soldered with leaded solder for years will tell you that it’s not necessary, and that alone should tell you everything.
It’s unclear if you want to have a hobby on a laptop or whether that doesn’t matter.
If it doesn’t - mending is great. Some people have already recommended knitting and crotcheting, and while mending clothes is usually a mix of these two and sewing, I find it easier and faster paced than making something anew. Also regarding the sustainability aspect - buying new yarn and making something that you possibly might not need or enjoy vs repairing something you own and might otherwise throw out (and if you end up messing up you have hardly any losses. It was a try to save something from the landfill). It’s in a way a gateway to knitting, sewing, crotcheting, embroidery, but it is great on its own.
But it doesn’t have to be just clothes. Trying to figure out how you can make broken stuff last longer or adapt it as necessary is also great.
The only downside is that if you work a lot on your computer or something desktop-ish, then you might want to choose something outside to give your eyes a rest from focussing on something that is rather close.
