It can be difficult to think of activities to do at home besides watching TV, especially if you’re already in the habit of watching a lot of TV during your spare time.
Did you know that watching television can be addictive and can easily get out of control? It’s very common to watch TV during one’s spare time, but it’s a better idea to find other activities to do at home that are better for your body and mind.
The expression is, Sitting is the new smoking, and an overly sedentary lifestyle (such as always watching hours of television in your spare time) can be very harmful to your health.
In moderation, TV isn’t necessarily bad for you, but it’s healthy to switch things up and keep your mind and body active.
Healthier activities to do at home such as drawing, reading, and gentle yoga can be much more beneficial to your health than hours of screen time or television. In this article, we’re going to go over some great ways to entertain yourself at home without the TV.
Is Watching TV Bad for You?
Watching TV isn’t necessarily bad for you if it’s in small doses, but it’s important to be mindful of just how much TV you’re watching at home. A couple of hours of TV in the evening isn’t going to harm your physical or mental health, but binge-watching all night or all day long is a different issue altogether.
Binge culture is real, and while we all love to settle down and binge an entire TV series in one sitting, there are some potentially negative implications if you take part in this harmful habit regularly.
Studies have shown that couch potato habits can have a negative impact on our health in the sense that they lead to a lack of physical exercise, and a tendency to overeat. These same studies have also revealed that spending too long sitting down and mindlessly watching TV can also lead to increased feelings of depression and a lack of motivation.
Binge-watching has been shown to lead to unhealthy dietary habits in many studies. Binging the latest TV series for prolonged periods of time is linked to snacking on unhealthy foods regardless of whether or not you’re hungry. When this happens regularly over time, it can lead to weight gain and a higher risk of heart problems.
Sleep is essential for proper brain function, and interestingly it is the frequency of binge-watching as opposed to the duration that can have a negative impact on sleep. This is because it interferes with the brain’s ability to cool down at the end of the day, and studies have shown that frequent binging can lead to it becoming harder for us to fall asleep.
Is all TV Bad TV?
Of course not all TV is bad. In fact, TV can be a great way to engage the mind, and it can help us learn new things or tap into our emotions.
A great tear-jerker movie, for example, releases oxytocin because crying releases oxytocin. Television and movies are also incredible creative outlets that allow us a glimpse into the mind of visionaries and to share in the worlds they create.
There are many good things that can be said about TV, especially when it brings people together to discuss the latest episodes or share theories. There are so many positive sides, but the important thing is to remember that it needs to be viewed as a treat, not a regular habit. Like anything else, binging TV shows can lead to addictive behaviors that can become problematic.
Activities to Do at Home Besides Watching TV
Have spare time and want to do something healthy with that time? It’s time to shake up that daily routine by introducing new habits and activities to do at home that are better for you than screen time or television.
Don’t waste your life in front of the TV. You have goals, aspirations, and a healthy body you want to keep healthy.
Below are 10 activities to do at home besides watching TV:
1. Learn to Bake or Improve Your Cooking Skills
Why not try out a new recipe, just for fun, at home by yourself? Even if you’re not having guests over, it’s fun to test new recipes and then that way you’ll have it perfected when someone comes over.
Similarly, baking can be very relaxing as well as delicious, and it’s a great skill to have if you want to make your own bread and cakes. Similarly, improving your cooking is an excellent life skill, and it can also bring you closer to your loved ones if you do it together. It’s a fantastic way to spend your spare time.
2. Start Journaling
One day, when you’re older, you’ll be grateful to have preserved your memories in a journal.
If writing long paragraphs doesn’t sound like your thing, give it a try anyway. You can always try bullet journals, which are more creative and allow for a more artistic approach. However, if that’s not quite your thing, a simple written journal can be just as effective. It gives you a way to express your feelings, take notes about your day, and work through things you might be experiencing while also providing a creative outlet. Again, journaling is also a great way to preserve memories.
3. Get into Yoga or Meditation
Yoga is fantastic for your mind and body, and when combined with meditation, it can be a great way to relax and create a more tranquil headspace. Yoga is also a form of physical exercise that can strengthen your muscles and core to help improve your posture, strength, and even digestion.
Yoga can easily be done at home, all you need is a yoga mat.
4. Become a Plant Mom (or Plant Dad)
One of the best activities to do at home is at-home gardening and plant parenting. Become a plant mom (or plant dad) and tend to your plants while you’re at home.
Being a plant parent can be fun in many ways. You can paint potted plants a design of your liking, hang plants as a form of home decorating, and use the presence of plants to boots your well-being.
5. Listen to Music or Sing
Kicking back and listening to music for a few hours can help to clear your mind and relax your brain and body, helping you to relieve stress from the day and refocus your thoughts.
Sing along to your favorite songs as a way of regulating your nervous system and getting a dopamine hit.
Or, get comfortable and close your eyes, and if you don’t feel like music, you could always try a podcast or an audiobook instead.
6. Read
Reading is an enriching activity for your brain and can also help improve your vocabulary and intelligence, while ensuring your mind remains active and alert.
You may want to read an educational book that will teach you a new skill, or a self-help book if you’re struggling emotionally. Or, you may dive into a juicy fiction that allows you to get lost in a story and escape the troubles of modern-day life.
7. Draw or Paint
Drawing is a wonderful creative outlet and stress-reliever. You can unleash your creativity and expressing yourself when words fail you.
If you like to draw or paint, you can also put your skills to good use.
Is a friend or family member’s birthday or baby shower coming up? Why not draw or paint a card for them, instead of spending money on a generic store-bought card? Drawing is one of those activities at home that can be both fun and practical.
8. Knit
Looking for activities to do at home? Take up knitting! The holidays are around the corner, and you could knit beanies, scarves and mittens as gifts for your loved ones. It can also be incredibly soothing to knit while listening to your favorite podcast or playlist.
9. Take a Nap
A nap might be better for you than the TV. Naps are good for us; breaking up the day with a 20-60 minute snooze can help us feel refreshed. A nap is perfect for organizing our thought processes and clearing up any jumbled trains of thought that might be causing us stress. If you have a problem you can’t fix, see how you feel about it after a nap.
10. Do Nothing
Doing absolutely nothing, in silence, can be incredibly good for you. Doing nothing is something that should be encouraged more often. We live in a world where we punish people for not being productive all the time when the reality is that it’s healthy to just shut off and do nothing.
Doing nothing doesn’t mean watching TV; it means just laying on the couch or sitting down and doing absolutely nothing at all while staring out the window. It means taking a complete break from mental stimulation, and it’s exceptionally healthy.
Final Thoughts
There are so many great activities to do at home aside from TV, and we hope this guide has given you a nudge in the right direction. It’s good for your physical and mental health while also allowing you to explore new interests that could turn into passions.
We might have given you 10 activities to do at home besides watching TV, but there are plenty more out there for you to explore once you have finished with this list.
(Think puzzles, jewelry making, soap making, and more.)
Do you think you might have hidden talents in your DNA that will help you figure out what to do at home? Take a CircleDNA test to get to know yourself better. You’ll find out if you’re genetically gifted at music, dance, and more. This will help you figure out which activities are best suited to you, based on your unique DNA.
References:
- NCBI, Are all Sedentary Behaviors Equal? An Examination of Sedentary Behavior and Associations with Indicators of Disease Risk Factors in Women:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32290586/
- PLOS ONE, Watching TV and Food Intake: The Role of Content: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0100602
- JCSM, Binge Viewing, Sleep, and the Role of Pre-Sleep Arousal:
https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.6704 - NCBI, Hidden addiction: Television:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4114517 - SCL Health, The Actual Health Benefits of Doing Nothing:
https://www.sclhealth.org/blog/2020/02/the-actual-health-benefits-of-doing-nothing/ - NCBI, Effects of a Short Daytime Nap on the Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8507757/
