Is 2026 the year we all try new things?

If you asked me what my hobbies are, I wouldn’t have a very good answer for you. And I’m sick of it so I’m setting myself a mission to try new things and have what someone might actually class as a hobby or maybe more of a ‘productive hobby.’ Interestingly I don’t seem to be alone in this mindset, online there are whisperings of an analog bag, trying to spend more time offline and just get out there more.

The Current Problem

When I think about myself and what I spend my spare time doing I am truly ashamed to say that I don’t do very much. LIke many people of all ages I tend to just scroll away the hours on my phone, whether that be on TikTok, Instagram or even the local area facebook group (watching the arguments unfold in real time is a guilty pleasure of mine.) It wasn’t always this way though. I used to make things, go to the cinema and take walks along the canal near my home. So why did it stop? Simply put, I got lazy, I got a job and it sucked all the life out of me. Any time I wasn’t at work, I was in bed and any time I wasn’t in bed I was at work. I have let myself fall into this repetitive cycle of doing nothing that brings me enjoyment or amounts to well, anything. At this point in time I guess I could count gaming as a hobby of mine, but all that really does is gets me agitated and ruins my sleep schedule as the only time the internet in my house is even slightly usable is at one in the morning. Not good. The thing is, I don’t want to be like this anymore, I want to try new things and return to the old activities that I used to enjoy. Breaking bad habits is the hardest step, unfortunately it’s also the first step.

The Plan

At this moment in time my hobbies consist of journaling, writing these articles every week and pissing away so much time on the game Marvel Rivals (I’m not even that good at it.) What I would like to do is tap back into my creative side: draw more, paint more, make things with clay. I’d really like to get into pottery and ceramics but I’m not too sure how one goes about that.I’d like to bake bread, make cakes, go on walks in the country, attend live music events. This list goes on and on and on. In short, I want my life to be spent doing things instead of staring at a screen. I find I feel much more fulfilled when I’m actively doing a task or activity. I came to this realisation over the last week. My boyfriend had a week and a half off work, and I saw him pretty much everyday, so when he had to go back and also move house at the same time, I had a lot of time to fill and the silence became very overwhelming. In the first few days, I got so miserable and I really didn’t know what to do with myself, so I did what I do best. Find a distraction.

Trying New Things

It began in a very small way, I cleaned out some drawers. In doing this I found a ton of stickers and post-its and glittery pens and I wanted to use them, so I started journaling, spending time writing about what was going on in my life and how I was feeling, weirdly therapeutic I must say. In the drawer I also found my old Nintendo switch which I hadn’t touched in years, I started a new island on Animal Crossing and now instead of doomscrolling on the way to work, I spend the journey designing my perfect tropical island getaway. That’s a bit better than watching someone unbox a matcha dubai chocolate labubu blindbox, might not be the most productive, but it’s definitely soothing for the soul before a four hour hospitality shift. One of the things that I had been banging on about the most was that I wanted hobbies that produced things, something that when I’d spent time doing it I could show off my creation and feel a sense of pride, so the next thing I tried was baking bread. Obviously. My Dad had mentioned that we were having Shakshuka for tea, which I’d had before with focaccia, but we’re not that posh, we don’t just buy a focaccia, so I made one. Yes, it took ages, yes it wasn’t perfect and yes maybe I went a little bit over the top with the flaky salt. But it was my first attempt at something new, it was never going to be the perfect loaf right off the bat, but it was mine and it proved to me that I could do it. That’s what it is all about for me, the proof that when I try things there is some evidence of my capability. I think many of us deprive ourselves of new experiences because we’re scared of not getting it right straight away, but that’s not what matters most. What matters is that you tried it.

The Death of Hobbyism

As always though, it’s not just all sunshine and rainbows and warm fluffy kittens, there has to be a downside. Come on now, I’m not really an optimist- I really do try, I promise. Hobbies aren’t allowed to just be hobbies anymore. In our glorious capitalist society there is always money to be made, and when the jobs don’t make enough money to keep up with rising costs we turn to our leisure activities as a way of making a quick buck. I’ve known this for a long time, for me writing started as a hobby but it has become something I have profited from. Not really a hobby anymore. This week, I drew a pattern to fill some time and also because I didn’t have any wrapping paper and one of my Dad’s first comments was that I could sell it and that I needed to look into it immediately. Now, he might be right, someone might buy it, but that wasn’t the point. I made it to bring enjoyment to myself. I’m not opposed to making money, I’m just not too sure that everything needs to be monetised. Are we unable to just do things for our own pleasure anymore, everything seems to be a means of survival.

The Analog Bag

Further to this, we seem to have blurred the lines too much as to what actually is a hobby and how does one start. You may have seen the recent trend of people having an ‘Analog Bag’. The concept of this is lovely- in theory. It’s the idea that people make a dedicated bag without electronics to further their hobbies and to take them out into the world with them, for example, knitting while at a coffee shop. The glaring problem with this though is that it has originated on social media platforms which kind of undermines the whole idea, with comments reading like, “What are we all putting in our Analog Bags,” or “Is journaling a chic hobby?” Literally people get a hold of yourselves, a hobby is for yourself it doesn’t have to be performance although I fear it has become one.

Final Thoughts

Do it for yourself, don’t do it for anyone else. It doesn’t have to be a performance or a business venture. You don’t need an analog bag, you don’t even necessarily need to buy into every hobby that trends online. If you bake something, it doesn’t have to be perfect, if you draw or paint the lines are allowed to be wobbly, if you walk it doesn’t have to be for miles and miles and miles. A hobby is something that is supposed to bring you enjoyment, don’t let others dictate whether knitting is a ‘chic’ hobby or not. No one really cares anyway.