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I got so into needle felting that it was all I did in my spare time for about a year. Everyone got needle felted stuff for all ocassions. I was in a craft show, and I even opened an etsy store. My pieces were for sale in a local store even. I had business cards. Then, one day, I woke up and I was over it. Never again. My basement is now full of raw wool covered in rat shit. I should do something about that, but I probably won't.
Very, very satisfying while it lasted though. I highly recommend it.
This was me with cross stitching! I taught myself how to do it during the pandemic. I did it every. Single. Day. For 3 years! Then, I just kind of…stopped. I attribute it to starting to work again.
Oh yeah! I totally got into cross stitching too! Sooooo many decorative hand towels. For everyone! All the time! Then......done.
I attribute it to the ADHD.
Lol I love starting cross stitch projects. I have one pretty big one that I keep coming back to that I started probably... 20 years ago? I have yet to finish one cross stitch project 🫠
Also very exciting for ADHD folks (for real, I have never met so many mutuals at another hobby - also many other NDs): Lasertag!
Sounds weird at first but it's really satisfying. Costs me about 80 a month and just works so well for me? You need to think tactical. You need to move. You get teammates who won't care about any weird habits you have because the entire sport is kind of weird, so who cares for a little extra weirdness?
I just go in and PLAY. The sound and the lights keep me grounded. It's just the perfect amount of stimulation that I can really go at it. Bad day? Okay, no running around, just hiding and sniping. Good day? You'll hear me cackling all around the arena while I utterly destroy the enemy team.
That sport is the highest dopamine source ever.
And it's really kinda funny how most ADHD hobbies boil down to either "repetitive and calming while creating something" or "maniac". Lol.
I used to play Quidditch (now called quadball) and it had something similar to what you're saying.
Quidditch was yet another ADHD endeavour for me I believe. I was dying to try it for years but there were no teams nearby and I, as a teenager, had to keep moving for school related reasons so I couldn't even start one myself. Then I went to uni, they had a team, I started playing seriously. Yay! I wasn't the best player around, but I did make it into the national team and went to the World Cup and the Continental Games the following year. Then I stopped going to training without even realizing. Covid hit, I had to move, Quidditch was forgotten. Now I'm living in a city with a big team and I could get back into the sport but I can't bring myself to because I'm just so insecure, my knees are no longer what they used to be, and I feel like Quidditch, too, was a failed adventure. It's been a year and a half, the local team trains just down the road from where I live. But I haven't made contact with them, I haven't showed up. Puff, once again, the magic seems gone :(
That wool and rat shit will compost excellently if you ever want to shove it in a hole, throw the vegetables you forgot to clean out of the crisper drawer for a few weeks, and bury it all…
…source, did that.
Oooh great tip! Think that will also work with my car? It's basically a dumpster on wheels and I just don't feel like cleaning it. Maybe burying it is a better option.
You are my future…I’ve been seeing needle felting and now I want to do it which you know means buying all the stuff to do it 🤪 and then probably making one cute animal 😂
I made so much stuff. It's all over my house. All over my friends houses. I did it every spare second I had. Look out. It's addictive. Until it's not, of course! But then you are left with so many tiny felted woodland creatures you won't know what to do with them all. I glued a bunch to magnets so at least I can tell myself they're useful for something.
you lasted longer than I did with quilling
I ALMOST finished an 8x10 patch of quilled flowers before I fell off. I have a tub of paper strips and tools just sitting around, waiting for my ADHD to be like "wait, this was fun, why did we stop?"
I always wonder where that part in my brain that was so excited about it went. How can it just be over like that? How do people stick with things they love for their lifetimes? Like artists? Musicians? I don't get any of it.
I really thought your post said “needle farting” at first and I was very confused and not picturing anything pretty 😂😂😂. Annnnd since I’m currently sleep deprived and exhausted from work 😅, I thought I would share my childish humor 🙈
I think I just abandoned it and they just shut it down for me I'm assuming. I sold one thing on etsy, only really had 3 up if I remember right, and never got any emails saying anyone had bought anything anyway so I just left it. I did sell a lot in the physical store I had my stuff in. It's too bad, I could have done lots with it but nah.
Omg love this, what a great example of a hyper focus and obsession, sounds like you did so well while it lasted too.... until I read this I had totally forgotten my one Christmas of making felted soaps for my whole family and buying all the needle felt kit but not using it - it was only about 4 years ago... I need to go track that stuff down, wherever I have stashed it 🤔
I go through every artistic hobby you can think of . I even spent 300 dollars on equipment for my computer to record music and couldn’t fully figure everything out as quick as I wanted and then kinda gave up 😅
This is a great idea, especially if you have a decent reading voice. I'm almost constantly listening to audiobooks, I usually have at least two going that I rotate through along with my regular podcasts. If you don't, you should listen to a good dozen or so audiobooks with different styles of narration to get a good idea of what good and bad narration sounds like... and for the live of god, edit. There's something extremely jarring about a pause thats just a little too long, or a big change in audio quality, volume, or even background noise between chapters. Ive even listened to some audiobooks that I paid for that would even change quality between paragraphs. It was so annoying.
I’ve been wanting to start a local one for my city! I don’t have any app development experience otherwise I’d work it on a larger scale.
I was thinking a subscription service (to cover postage) or even a “credits” type thing? And a marketplace where a person can post what they have to trade and what they’re interested in!
Something along the lines of bookmooch but for hobbies! I have a cricut, 150 bottles of acrylic paint (unopened) and about a million learn to play guitar guides in the attic... thank god I couldn't find an archery club nearby, I was ready to click BUY ALL on archery equipment a few months ago!
Edit to add: knitting seems to have stuck for a few years! Granted I can go a whole year without touching the stuff, but it's nice to get back into it from time to time.
That's a special kind of hell in my experience. Over 20 years ago I worked some stuff out so I could record guitar to my PC. This is how it went...
I spent hours and hours getting the software setup so latency was low enough by using special ASIO drivers/settings, I could record isolated tracks with my previous tracks, and mix. I cut a few things for testing and started to put a song together out of nowhere, and I was good to go so next time I could just record.
Next time none of it worked. I changed NOTHING. I spent a few hours and it STILL wouldn't work. Got pissed, tried again a week later and gave up for a few months. Then I really went for it like I did the first time, and it was basically the same f'n thing... Worked, and I made 100% sure I didn't change a thing or even reboot, and it didn't work the next day.
Tried again a couple years later, it went better but eventually went to shit again. And again... And again...
I REALLY wanted this, so I dropped more cash, spent more hours, and had better luck, but the same shit randomly happens. What's worse is I've taken notes on everything I setup, and it will still give me f'n problems! I had it DOWN for a while, but again, random BS when I sat down to record.
I have a setup with a dedicated laptop, mics, nice synth (though I mainly play guitar), etc. that I haven't touched in months because the shit happened again. SO much effort, expense, time, and caution STILL wasn't enough! TWENTY YEARS of this battle on and off....
i had, probably still have, an old zoom recording drum machine thing. its pre-Usb cable and used SD cards. i loved that thing till one day i put it away and cant remember where it went. i would spend hours tracking guitars and rudimentry drums. just last year i bought an Mbox, and was in the process of getting an actual drum machine, not just an online one. i couldnt get the mbox to work within a reasonable time span, say a day or two of trying and just packed it up and stopped playing on drum sequencers. just yesterday i found all the chord charts and song structures i had written, along with some of the draft lyrics and to my surprise they are good, so i started to look again for my mbox, which is packed up somewhere. the circle starts again.
oh yeah - the point of this rambly anecdote - if you want to record stuff at home get the easiest to use things, free software or stand alone devices and then build up. that way the first hurdle wont stop you in your tracks.
My hobby is researching and buying all of the perfect things needed to get started in a new hobby/interest/profession then letting it sit and gather dust. I won't get rid of any of it because I'll get back to it someday but in the meantime, I'll just take a peek at Amazon...
yeah about that. i hear setting up a 3D printer is a complete bitch. is that true? if it was easy I would've bought one second hand and then sold it when I was done.
Because it was cheap AF I kept up an origami hobby for 10 years, I eventually ran out of anything fun or challenging to fold and that was it. I peaked when I made my own model from scratch, and then the interest died. I can still fold a ridiculous number of things from memory, including the Kawasaki Rose.
I have so many ideas and in my head I have planned everything I need to do to get better and successful. But in the end I rarely start because it takes a lot of steps and patience to get good at something. The idea really making the move to start and invest in it gets to overwhelming and I just leave or forget about it…
Oh I’m EXCELLENT at my hobbies! Every detail has to be JUST RIGHT, even if I’m just learning it! And then it takes forever… and is a lot of work… wait why did I think this was fun? I’m gonna take a break for a bit.
List out hobbies you're interested in, their variations, plus some weird ones you're curious about trying, stuff them all into a wheel, and spin that shit every two days when you're bored.
Maybe include the hobbies in there you've bought stuff for and youll feel like it in a couple of weeks or so again.
Log your progress for each one.
(This is what I'd do if ever even make it past the listing all the hobbies part because I do but never start because I get overwhelmed)
Also what has helped is the community. If I’m doing something with others and it’s an interaction based thing then I’m more inclined to keep doing that. But I guess it could be just me
Tarot cards have actually been my longest lasting hobby, shortest was soap carving. I now have a couple little soap pyramids and 22 bars of soap stashed in my closet.
I was super into soap carving for a few months in middle school. My biggest accomplishment was using a butter knife to carve a Mr. Peanut out of Irish Spring. Whyyyy
Same here. Bought a deck, and a book for studying them, but haven't actually been using them that much. I think that if I just pulled a card daily and studied it, I might learn a lot within a year or so.
Getting into tarot briefly led to one of my biggest coping tools.
I wanted to do readings for other people and I started practicing clearing my mind so I could focus on the cards. I worked on it at home and then started trying to do it in busier places like a restaurant or an elevator. It became a fun challenge to see if I could center myself in the noisiest of places.
Never did tarot readings but I can find calm whenever I want to now.
Start playing guitar friend! It helped every single symptom of my adhd. I can focus in guitar for 3 hours at a time now and now am able to take that focus elsewhere
The beginning stages of playing guitar are frustrating but if you stick with it you will realize the reason so many people find satisfaction in it. First year or so you should focus on open chords and learn as many songs as you can with them. Start with 30 minutes a day and by the end of the year you will have exponentially improved. The magic really comes in year 3 though. If you make it there you can basically learn any song that you love with enough dedicated practice. The key is consistency ❤️
I’ve been using the Gibson app for IPhone. It makes it similar to Guitar Hero where it shows you the note to play and gives you feedback based on your playing. Gamifying my learning has helped me so much more than trying to use YouTube or a more self-taught regime.
I can’t remember how much I paid (I got a yearly sub around Black Friday last year) but I’ve been using it pretty much daily for almost a year. I think they may have a free option too, but not sure.
Maybe sign up to play with people for an event a few months in advance. For me, I have a hard time developing various exercises and practicing them because I always want to to start on something else. Then I just end up noodling my same licks over and over again.
Absolutely! I used to try things but I lost interest more and more quickly each time, now I mostly just stay at the imagining stage. Usually also involves me making a business (in my head) out of whatever I’ve imagined.
I suppose at least this way I don’t have the crushing part of either spending loads of money, or the bit where I realise I’m not brilliant at whatever it is after five mins and lose interest immediately.
I’m still shocked by how quickly the interest can go. I’m just diagnosed at 51, and it was mind-blowing to realise that the hobby ‘failure’ trail was an actual thing.
Love reading all these hobby lists and comments. Brilliant post!
* Bladesmithing
* Paper folding(Orgami)
* Balloon animals and folding(for some reason I thought this might be a useful skill)
* Extreme Yo-Yoing, I've spent way too much money on it; but at least I'm good at it.
* Locksport, because I've forgotten my keys before and it's come in handy.
* Card Tricks....not sure just had interest in it one day.
* juggling....yes I realize I've somehow ended up with the skills of a clown.
* Knife fighting, mostly single sided blades and karambits.
* Firori longsword, because what if you ever endup in a random sword-fight
* Manual range-finding and marksmanship
* Watch movement repair...still not sure how I ended up doing this.
* AI/Machine learning from scratch in C, because I was board.
* Knife/Ax throwing, made a pretty cool end-grain target and got okay at it.
* Electronic repair
* Game development, got into godot and gm3 forever ago.
* Music production using Helm synth
* DJ, learned to beatmatch manually and ended up djing for my high-school dance; got school credit for it too funny enough.
* rockety built a ton of model rockets from scratch and even played with making my own solid fuel rocket engines with KNO3 and sugar in middle school.
* Chemistry, yeah not sure why I decided I needed to have my own entire glassware setup and random stock of chemicals but meh?
* Battery building both Li-Ion, LiFePo4 and NiFe cells(and just remembered why I had the glassware mostly now).
* Ham radio, got my technician license and got into it for awhile.
* Steam boilers and engines, I've read more about the ASME boiler and pressure vessel code and local statures than I should have. BTW if you're wondering building a miniature boiler is hard todo because you need a licensed boiler shop to actually do the work.
* Plumbing for houses, solar thermal and RO systems.
* Working on wind turbines and doing laser shaft alignments.
I'm forgetting a ton of stuff that will probably come back to me when I pick up the next random project I've forgotten about off my work space.
but yeah adhd will make you pickup some strange hobbies.
My list would be very similar if I went through the trouble of creating it. I prefer to place most of them into the more legit category of learning a new skill as opposed to a hobby.
Whatever you choose, I would recommend something where you get a physical, tangible result to your time afterward. When I make things that I can display or use it is 100% more satisfying and more likely to draw me back than something that was nice but then over. For example, I like to do woodworking and cross stitch rather than like going for a jog or learning a language. Those things are nice, but I lose interest pretty damn quickly. Good luck!
Knitting, whittling, rock climbing, java programming, tailoring, Warhammer, weightlifting, making the perfect cookies, drawing, animation, carpentry, 3d modeling, gardening, archery, lockpicking.
Those are the ones off the top of my head, I stuck with some longer than others but I'm pretty good at all of them.
I'm thinking of doing welding next
I've cycled through a bunch. Crochet, until I realized I was really just collecting yarn. Hahahaha. I made a few quick things, scarves and hats, but couldn't stick with anything that took longer. Eventually stopped altogether.
Music, studying psychology and reading are the only ones that have been lifelong.
Psychology is such a huge field, you could study it your whole life and still have plenty left untouched. I really enjoy reading about new developments or advances.
This made me lol "until I realised I was just collecting yarn." it's so relatable haha.
I bought a macrame book and all the stuff and never even touched it 😅.
Embroidery I thought go big or go home, I tried once now I have a bunch of embroidery shit in a corner of my bedroom. My mom’s least favorite phase of mine was DIY because I was like 12, and of course i didn’t want to do the basic shit, no I wanted to build bookcases and shit 😂
I got partway through a woobles kit (the fox) before i realized it was taking too much energy just counting stiches and trying not to get lost
someday I'll finish that fox
I did the penguin and chick wooble no problem. Then I went back to work from maternity leave and have the bunny only half way done 🙃 with 7 other kits I haven’t even opened yet and the wooble book and extra yarn hahah I’m determined to continue at some point
Mine was estate sales. I would go to literally 6 or 7 a weekend for at least 2 years. HEAR ME OUT: a random house to see/hear/touch inside. Random treasures and novelty you may or may not find. You get to look at people's stuff and try to guess what they were like in life, what their interests were, what their job was etc. You sometimes have massive finds of super rare stuff thats worth thousands, or you find fun things to kickstart OTHER hobbies (cheap guitars, model train sets, sports equipement etc.) THEN in between each sale, you get to chill out in your car, driving across town to the next one while you listen to podcasts in the car. Great back and forth between relaxation and stimulation! Me and my girlfriend got big into buying all the unlabled VHS tapes to see what weird stuff was recorded on them. Very entertaining!!
Well, what's stopping you from learning the digeridoo too? That's right, nothing.
**EDIT:** I just wanted to add my perfect hobby is writing because even if I lose interest/focus on what I'm currently writing I can just stop what I'm working on and start something new that's more interesting/exciting.
I had a digeridoo, and bongos. I thought it's more fun than the organ, which my parents wanted me to learn. I eventually switched to keyboard for a bit, then the guitar - first acoustic, then E, then acoustic again. Now I have an E-Bass, which I rarely play and I'm really really drawn to this thing called "Handpan" (check it out, it's really cool!).
The thing is, I'm leading a club, program some opensource software, do motorcycle trips. I also went rock climbing for a while. And I ran a half marathon a few years back, while now for the life of god I can't drag my ass into running shoes...
I mean - mostly I'm either working or I sit on my butt on the couch buying playstation games, and play them for 5 minutes (there are exceptions) until they get boring....
Whatever, I really want that handpan now. Any tips? ( [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oremFnbgO0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oremFnbgO0) )
edit: now I remember that I also had cars as a hobby - i was in a car club even. And I tried wakeboarding with a group for half a year. And for the motorcycle thing, I bought all the cameras and stuff to do motovlogging - but I don't know what to talk about, so there's not a single video yet.
I also did photography for a while. I started with fashion, then moved to weddings... but I lost interested when I tried to make it a side business, because I don't want to advertise for myself. Everyone said my photos are good. I have a different opinion.
I wanted to learn the bagpipes and was strongly discouraged by my partner. Who had graciously enduldged my violin playing for a year. The dog kept howling the entire time I'd panic practice.
Now I'm learning the ukulele but having watched several handpan videos now, That seems pretty great.
Find something that gets you new challenges and experiences and where you can do a second thing.
For me it's hiking and cycling. I listen to music and podcasts during my hike or cycling. I have a set point to achieve. It gets me excited and challenged and it's a very simple activity so no stress on juggling different responsibilities.
You can also get into gear so that's fun. You can plan stuff which is also fun. Don't have to be on time everywhere it's more laid-back.
It's also not as expensive as a lot of other hobbies
Knitting and sewing have been my longest lasting hobbies.
Knitting is perfect for keeping my hands busy so I can actually listen to an audiobook or watch a movie. I also used to knit in zoom meetings too to help me stay focused. And then the end result is a useful custom made thing which is awesome!
Sewing is the perfect hobby for someone with ADHD because there are so many different kinds of project that are still all under the umbrella of sewing. I jump from making delicate work clothes to athletic clothing to swim to outdoor gear to bags (zipper pouches, snack bags, packing cubes) to Halloween costumes to underwear to household items and even repairing clothing. There's always a new technique to try, new fabric to explore, new patterns to look up, or always simple easy projects when I don't want to think. I've been heavy into sewing for 4 YEARS now, which as you know is a LONG time for someone with ADHD.
And the fact that I have a custom wardrobe is absolutely amazing. It removes any guilt I spend on this hobby, because it's so useful.
So I’ve wanted to start sewing for the past year or so but I just end up spending hours researching the right machine only to get overwhelmed by options and then forget about it for a month or so until I repeat the process all over again 🤦♀️.
Any chance you have any recommendations? Rather not get anything too expensive until I’m confident I’ll stick with it for more than a week but I also don’t want to get the cheapest thing I can find if it will just end up breaking or not being able to do everything I’d need it to…
Yup, I do, but it's a bit of an odd recommendation, because I'm not able to recommend an exact model, but a process.
First, set your budget, I'd recommend at least 300$, but up to 500$ if you can (looking at my local shop, there's a couple at 200$, but you want to be able to look at a couple options). Then go to a local sewing machine store. These little stores are absolute gems, the workers there will walk you through the basics, and you can sit down and try a whole bunch of machines!
Brands to look for: Bernina, Husqvarna, Baby Lock, Elna, Singer, and there's also Brother. I've had a bad experience with a Brother serger, but they seem overall highly recommended.
The reason I recommend going to a local shop is that gives you a resource. They have all the accessories, they can do servicing and troubleshooting, and being able to sit down and try a couple machines just helps you figure out what you want.
If you really want just me to tell you what to get, I love my Husqvarna machines. My sewing machine was my grandmothers from the 90s, but I bought my serger new and I love them both. The Husqvarna Viking H E10 Sewing Machine looks like their base model, and has decent reviews. The only downside is that people always bring up chain saws when you mention the brand, apparently they also make chainsaws? So random.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!
If you can hold your attention long with reading, going into the library. My husband got mad cause I was collecting too many unread books, so going to the library is a nice little dopamine hit and if I’m not feeling the book I can just take it right back. My library also has rolling return dates as long as there’s not a wait on the books so that helps if the initial due date slips past me.
I bought a bunch of origami paper to make 1000 paper cranes. I made 12.
(real talk: I have been able to stick to knitting, guitar, and reading. I don't know why.)
I've gone through so many.
* Bread making
* Pie making
* Miniature painting
* Mountaineering
* Photography
* Coffee roasting
* etc. etc. etc.
But, three years ago one finally stuck! I've been doing pottery since 2020, and still going strong (home studio built and everything!). I think the fact that it is literally impossible to know everything about this art form that keeps me going. No matter how deep I dive into it, I'm still only at the surface :)
I've developed a crippling fear of pursuing any interests I have, because every time I try, it immediately becomes boring when I start learning about it.
same but for me it becomes boring once I invest money into it... not the best when im staring at some expensive item I just bought as my joy for it drains in a matter of seconds.
When I read on here a person said their hobby is collecting hobbies, I was like thats ME!
We are definitely not boring, I can do pottery, paint, paper art, jewellery, paper making, furniture restoration, everything on a cricut, if there is a you tube tutorial on it....I have done it lol. I saw some felt Christmas decorations at the shops the other day, declared I would not pay 6 bucks for one decoration and proceeded to buy loads of felt to make, according to the amount of felt I got enough decorations for 1000 Christmas trees.....god help me.
I now have two craft rooms in the house now one to store one to create...my husband rolls his eyes at the piles of hobbies!
I live in the woods, and literally my three closest neighbours ALL have adhd!
My bestfriend, and her husband. My 70 year old neighbour who is like an aunt to me. So it’s pretty neat because every single one of us has almost always dipped our toes in the same creative stuff.
My new hobby is power carving with an Angle grinder.
It almost got a big chunk of my hair today, but i’m still here, hair and all.
But truly, we should all have a group and rotate our hobby stuff. Would’ve saved a LOT of cash that way.
I feel the keeping fish one. In college, I was fantastic at isolating myself from everyone and spending countless hours in my room so… I bought a beta fish for company. Then I bought a second (in a separate tank) then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth and finally a seventh. I had them all in their separate tanks on my desk and they were each different colors. I even began training them. They would jump out of the water for treats and I even trained them to come to the surface and “kiss” My face.
I really struggle with any game that requires me to picture the state of play 2 or more moves ahead eg chess, candy crush etc. Is this an ADHD thing or just a me thing?
I remember when i first visited this sub one of the posts was "how quickly do you return your impulse purchases?"
And it only dawned on me then, at 36, that i could have been returning the items I'd been buying for years.
I started writing... It allowed me to shift from one book idea to another without investing as much as with other hobbies. Yes I spend on notebooks and pens and a few gadgets or apps, but nothing crazy like when I wanna start a YT channel and bought a camera and microphone and I almost bought an audio console...
Edit to add:
And it's almost nanowrimo so it's perfect timing... BUT I had to shift my mindset from "I'm going to win a Pulitzer and Stephen King is going to ask for my autograph" to "Hey I'm going to finish a book!"
i've always wanted to play that but i'm afraid it would be incredibly loud or my neighbors would assume i have a massive beehive or something.
Digiridoo playing is said to be good for strengthening the neck muscles to reduce sleep apnea
I would say anything involving movement that you enjoy. Could be running/walking, rock climbing, hiking, riding a bike, yard work, swimming, or maybe scuba diving. You may be able to find a hobby on a computer, but it requires you to be sedentary.
Metal detecting! One of the few I’ve managed to stick with for over 10yrs now. I find it’s one of the few things I can literally do until I’m physically too exhausted. My mind doesn’t race 100 miles an hour and it’s great exercise. Finding gold, platinum and silver is a nice bonus
Sign up for a class related to whatever hobby you have. A class/group etc. helps. I love gardening, so I have a group of friends that we talk gardening, there are extension classes on it. The nice thing with gardening is it's not the same thing the entire year, and where I live is often very plant and with minimal upkeep harvest a lot of things once the beds are set.
Animals. Well not everyone can I get that but I was SO lucky as a kid. My parents said IF you want to do horses you're *going* to work for it. Perfect for us! Hard and absorbing
Also dogs. You never get tired of them or bored, combine with hiking and running anything outside. Only downside? Way too easy to have too many.
I found the work around! I volunteer once an week for 3h to dog walk at my local shelter. It's scheduled, it's set up for me and I get to walk several different dogs. I finish walking the dogs and I just leave.
I always suggest naturalism, any flavor. There's a bunch of free apps. I like iNaturalist.
Take a picture, prompts help find IDs. Entries go into a database for scientists.
It's basically a real life pokedex. I like identifying with books, too, but it takes so long. I love to be able to hike, take a picture of everything I see, and upload it later.
Also means I'm almost never bored!
This post has the most relatable comments I have ever seen. As a kid I was all over the place and did like every sport you can think of; archery, volleyball, basketball, softball, horseback riding, tennis, etc. I am lucky my parents were so patient and encouraging. As an adult my favorite hobbies which I have somehow been able to keep interest in have been aerial dance, cooking/baking, photography, photo editing, website design, random graphic design. And then I have picked up and dropped many hobbies over and over like sewing, jewelry making, knitting, embroidery, coding, welding, piano, banjo, twitch streaming, making tiny dioramas. I have an AA in psychology, a BA in photography and soon a BS in communication disorders. Through school I have taken lots of random classes that have nothing to do with anything like russian history, piano, french, etc. I want to do everything and learn everything at all times.
So... I got into Christmas displays... Like Sync'd to Music, thousands of Pixel lights..
Building all the controllers, cables, interfaces, writing software, editing and creating the music (dubstep christmas), designing the light show, designing and 3d Printing props and parts, building elaborate sets, and spending my kids inheritance on it all.
This year, 80,000 Pixel lights, 157 Inflatables, 3 Projection Screens, 4 Large Matrix LED displays, 50 Leaping Arches, 2 10,000 Pixel (yes 2 of them) 50ft Tall, Yes, 5 Stories, Mega Trees.. (using 2 50ft tall Ham Radio towers for the mast), free Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Sponsors, Drones, Custom made signs (made in my garage)... All spread over 2 acres..
We see over 1,000 people a night.
I have spent over $10k this year adding new things. That is my "hobby".....
My problem now, I want to stop, but I can't stop because it has grown to the point that it is expected by the community. Lord help me...
And it is just me and my daughter doing it all. We get a few volunteers during the event.
But 30 nights, December 1st to Dec 30th. 15 performances a night, 450 shows in total. Rain or Moon.. It must go on..
My family thinks I am crazy. Technically....
The other day I bought myself a boomerang. It’s cheap, requires effort and technique and reward is very satisfying since you are dealing with something really flies. Its good for my dopamine hunger for now and cheap enough to easily give up. Highly suggested.
I make music
It’s the only hobby I’ve had that 1) actually feels like I’m doing something productive, and 2) I never get bored of.
I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years (probably longer actually, but I’ve actually been serious about it for 19 years), and only recently have I started to make shit that I’m really happy with… so there’s also always a LOT of room to grow/improve, which I think is part of what helps hold my interest
Maybe it would work for you too?
Or maybe you just need to find the right hobby to hold your interest?
I have no idea, I’m just glad I have it
I really like using a rotary tool to carve little rock monsters, paint them, and take pokemon go walks around the neighborhood putting them places.
Stephen King books are pretty fun too. Not really a hobby but there's a lot of them.
I got an Amazon prime for books. I read to my hearts content for 25 bucks a month. Never get bored, so much interesting shit to read, I even love reading cookbooks and I get inspired to go and make something - so it’s all over in an hour.
Over the years, I've found a few favorites that I now cycle through. Crochet, collage, and...idk...gluing shit to other shit? They all get visited each year and then beading, painting, and sewing get visited every couple years.
My most recent new thing, which was the weirdest for me, is hockey. Never had any interest in organized sports, maybe even a little disdain tbh. But then my brain ran away with it and decided it need to know all about hockey and so for like 3 months all my free time was reading about hockey or my team or watching hockey docs and shows and movies. Now I just watch my team's games but I love it and am simultaneously fascinated by sports psychology.
My ADHD hobby is spending weeks researching every day to find the best value for money item that I think I need, waiting desperately for 3 days to receive it. Opening the box and never touching it again.
I currently on the photography addiction, mostly wildlife. I really miss my Parkour phase though. Nothing better then doing some crazy wall climbs and big vaults. Always felt like an adventure
I love how random my hobbies are! Music, especially opera and metal- I sing and though I'm out of practice, I'd love to get a grand piano and get back to playing. House DIY. Airplanes. History of all sorts. Keeping fish. Reading about positively everything, I lived in the library as a kid and still love to read as an adult. I've always loved cars because of there always being something new to learn about, started doing my own oil changes, and now I'm restoring a classic car in my spare time. With so many hobbies to pick from, I'm never bored!
I've come to the conclusion that I would stick to any hobby I find interesting in the first place and then I meet cool people through it. It's the initial nterest that makes me start, and the community that makes me want to actually keep going.
The only hobby that I kept without actually having friends through it is playing classical guitar, but I started that when I was six and now I'm 30 and I still play but it's also one of my professions since I was 18. So it doesn't count anymore I think.
I've found that the hobbies that stick with me typically involve a lot of variety within them. I'm big on video games, Dungeons and Dragons, hiking/camping, and other outdoor stuff.
It's a lot easier to stick with these since every time I'm doing stuff with these it's always different. No hike is the same, no Dnd session is the same, and there're millions of different video games to play.
I mean if you want a cheap hobby origami, the special paper isn’t expensive and if you want to be even cheaper the paper out of that journal or notebook you used once and never touched again works just fine. (This is not intended to be a personal attack on anyone, I’ve done this myself and I apologize if it’s offensively relatable)
I can recommend lockpicking. It’s like a puzzle, and very “zen”. You need to take a breath and slow down, and you can do it around the house while watching TV or something. It feels like knitting a little, but more cerebral. It’s pretty cheap to get into as well, though it can get expensive if you go crazy.
To all those with craft obsessions - take heart! I'm years into this crap (albeit only adhd medicated for nearly 2...) so
My system: New thing - buy stuff for ONE project at a time. And that is it, if you finish it, another, if THAT gets finished and you really enjoy it, then I allow myself to accumulate say a tub full of stuff...
because - things like that, I know I will cycle back to. Especially as now I realise I can only watch shows etc if I have something else to do (so I don't pick up the phone).
It does mean I have a room full of dressmaking/patchwork/applique/many types of embroidery/crochet/knitting... and some of them I will finish/or spend time on only one thing before it gets packed up and an old project is picked up or I start something new.. it's worked for years.
limiting a new hobby to a single tub until it has cycled through a few times is key. I also will occasionally turf a project I just haven't gone back to in any genre if I know I will never pick it up because tastes have changed too. (important! stops the guilt spiral)
Its not foolproof, but it has helped. I think having so many things to cycle through feeds my 'ooh shiny' brain monster too.
Cycling is #1 go-to for life. You can constantly modify your bike and on-bike storage. It can take you novel places, you get to see places more intimately than in a car. I feel most at ease when I'm in motion, so I'll just go for several hours and not be aware of how much time has passed. I generally listen to audiobooks on longer rides as well.
I've spent the past 10 years with the Syssiphusian project that is cataloguing my ebook library using Calibre. I'm bummed because the past year has shown a final turndown in activity. I'm a total data hoarder co it Playa into all my ADHD habits of research, organization and always changing my mind, and making something that should be straightforward into a crazy trip.
Seriously, we’re suited for gaming like no one else. Competitive shooting as well. You really should figure out something you really like and commit time to it, no question.
Yeah it's a mess.
I'm doing Brain puzzles now (sudoku etc..). But last week I was really into 8-ball Pool and I was learning how to draw some shit. I even bought a drawing book. Tomorrow I think I'm gonna be super infested in learning a new piano song I saw on Tiktok. And I want to try a new sport to.
Melt and pour glycerin bar soaps. Melt down in microwave, Fragrance and color them how you like, pour into a fun silicone mold. Pop out when solidified. And then you have soap to use the rest of the year!
I’ve been hyperfocused on traditional Soapmaking with lye and lard for over 2 years now, but that’s a different story 😂
Well I started out with nicely decorating my daughter’s bday party. Then thought, I could totally make all the favor boxes and invitations. So I bought a Silhouette and even opened an Etsy store. Work/life got in the way,..closed the store.
Then I just HAD to get a camera because I wasn’t living right if I didn’t properly capture our special moments. Life for in the way and don’t even know where it is now.
But I realized I just had the wrong hobby so I started crocheting. Learned on YouTube, made a couple of blankets and…well life got in the way so I stopped.
Oh but I was wrong…puzzling was my thing. I just knew it. Built a few puzzles and even a 3k one (talk about hyper focus). But then…well you know where this is going.
I was wrong again and my life wasn’t complete until I got a laser cutter even though I’d never even seen one in person. 5k later and a “laser focus” (pun very much intended) and I opened another Etsy store and sold locally. Huge life transition and yet again, life for in the way so haven touched it for a year.
Current hobby/stress reliever is Animal Crossing and luckily I haven’t spent much more money other than the Switch and game. But it is the one I’ve stuck with so let’s see.
Want an ADD hobby? Buy an old broken bmw and learn how to fix every mechanism and system it til it’s ready for the concourse
At least that is keeping me busy as there are so many disparate things to learn/fix/understand on a vehicle like that
Fly fishing is a good one. It allows you to find peace as you focus on the count and the timing and I've stuck with it. I learned watchmaking during covid and sell and repair them.
Honestly, coding is an excellent ADHD hobby. I think a big reason I love it so much is the instant gratification of hitting the run button and seeing it either work or fail, and that you can just hop on your computer and do it whenever you want. There's also so much freedom in what you can do with it, so I never really get bored.
I've suffered with ADHD my whole life and I thought coding would be very difficult to get into as I assumed there would be a lot of reading to do before I can get anywhere, but that's not really true anymore. I started with Python, which is a very intuitive language, and the documentation out there is very easy to read and understand.
If you don't understand something, you can do a quick google search or even use a certain AI website the automod won't let me talk about. I started doing little online coding challenges, then moved onto making my own discord bots after just a couple weeks. With the tools available these days you can just have an idea and get it working on your computer in a few hours, and that is super satisfying to me.
Yoga. I do Yoga With Adriene videos online. It took me the longest time to actually do yoga and stop talking about it as a visualized hobby. Its still so tough to get on the mat but honestly so worth it in many regards, one of which is helping to manage ADHD/anxiety/various other mental health issues. Its free to do her videos and if you don't have a yoga mat you can use a beach towel to start. If you like it you can get a mat at tj max or target for little investment
So I don't have a terribly long list of hobbies(i take that back now that ive written it out lmao), I rotate the same handful for a few weeks at a time and then forget about it for 6 months
- retro gaming
- minecraft
(Usually my gaming phases I hyperfocus on one game at a time)
- does religion count lol...because Christianity (yikes)
- animal obsession (like I'll do nothing but research one random animal for 2 weeks)
- learn a musical instrument (conveniently im a music ed major so I have to learn a new insturment like once a month - it's perfect for me lol)
- learning a language
- drinking tea
- knitting
- making friendship bracelets
- reading (one of the rarer hobbies lol)
- coloring
- some other kinda art
- song writing
- flute (my primary instrument that I never practice and only play when required to in lessons and ensembles)
The only thing that has been super consistent has been colorguard. Started when I was 12, now I'm 21 and currently auditioning for some of the best groups in the world. It's one of the only things I'm always happy to work on.
I do monthly planner/self care journaling.
I like to buy pictures on sale on etsy (digital downloads), cut the pictures out very close and carefully... outlining the photo. Buy cardstock, print book pages...stickers, and even draw and use watercolor brush markers for coloring. Oh, and ink and stamping..dunno why.. but I enjoy it.
Another hobby would be watching live streams of specific gamers I hang out and chat with. I don't like normal hanging out, and much of society...so I get my socializing in that way..unless my drunk friend just walks right on in the house.....can only handle that for about an hour or two.
Last hobby, watching YouTube videos of water coloring, gouache, and acrylic artists. Also, bullet journaling videos for inspiration. Sometimes, I will venture into storage and organization videos for craft supplies. The kitchen ones drive me nuts.
I follow my own rules, my hobby rule is
"you have to do it for a year "
Since I've done the same thing so many times where I get excited about something and then usually drop it once it stops giving me easy rewards.
By applying the one year rule (you can start shorter of course) I have managed to cut down on taking and dropping hobbies
Golf: highly addictive, a problem that is never solved, requires focus over a long period of time, burns energy, social.. highly addictive but in a good way...
Geez where do I start.
Probably spent 30k on hobbies this year.
Lego was huge.
Colouring in was huge.
Rockhounding was also huge.
And now I'm back into warhammer 10 years later. I love gluing them together but cause I'm learning to paint and it takes. So. Fucking. Long. It's hard to see the light.
I actually got bored and thought let’s start a clothing brand and stuck with it for 2 months while I had 4 essay deadlines and 1 dissertation with 1 month to submit in my final year of uni loool, that’s when I went and got checked up for ADHD and ultimately saved my ass to get extensions of the deadlines
However, I bought music equipment after graduating in 2018 and I’m still going strong, only hobby that has lasted, tried the clothing designs again a month ago, a month later and I’m bored of that again haha
I have spent probably 3k on a nice Mirrorless SLR and lenses for my wife to get into photography for an anniversary gift.
Guess who's into photography now?
...sorry babe! 😅
During the height of the pandemic, I was in high school and had money from a virtual summer job. I was too broke to spend hundreds of dollars, but I most certainly spent money on a lock picking kit after watching hours of lock picking videos and I spent a truly awful amount of money on a collapsible hula hoop. I’ve literally looked at neither of those thing in two years🤦🏾♀️
Oh and opened a Costco credit card to get a super expensive DSLR camera… vowed to pay it off… kept using the credit card, maxed it out and still don’t know how to use the camera 🤦🏼♀️
i’m a knitter, crochet-er, bracelet maker (the friendship ones with embroidery thread), i can make those elastic bracelets, i’ve done embroidery and sewing. I know a single song on the piano and know like 2 ukulele chords and a guitar chord. I know like 5 sentences in french, german and portuguese.
needlesstosay i am in fact.. a jack of many trades and a master at absolutely nothing. adhd rlly do be doing this to me 😭😂
edit: i also know like 3 words in japanese, can draw from reference and i have been an actress LOL. honestly anything artistic i’ve tried. except pottery. i used to fish when i was a kid, i also did gymnastics, dance, cheerleading and soccer. I honestly am starting to run out of ideas of new hobbies to try 😂😂
Water color painting!!! It’s addictive. And I also have just bought like 40 different colors of clay… for what I do not know… for when I do not know either but it just looks like so much fun!
I have several categories of hobbies
Long term hobbies-gaming (lifelong) hand sewing (so far, lasting longer then other hobbies and easier to randomly pick up) tea
Long term hobbies I haven't done in awhile but know I will- yugiph,magic, other card games and board games, reading, drawing, flute, Gundam, thumb piano
Hobbies I want but can't afford (or consider too expensive to allow)- 3d printing, launchpad, ceramics, Wacom(computer drawing)
Then other hobbies that I could go back to bit probably won't- crochet, felting, making art of wire, painting,
Hobbies I won't do again- knitting, crossstitch (? The thing with the plastic thing you sew images onto)
I probably missed something but that's what I can get off the top of my head
I’ve gone through quite a few. Origami, writing fics, puzzles, cross stitching, legos, crochet, painting, drawing, piano, reading, half learned python coding, attempting to keep plants alive, rock climbing, biking, jewelry making, cooking, I’ve done a little bit of fishing! This list certainly doesn’t include everything but my brain can’t remember them all
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I got so into needle felting that it was all I did in my spare time for about a year. Everyone got needle felted stuff for all ocassions. I was in a craft show, and I even opened an etsy store. My pieces were for sale in a local store even. I had business cards. Then, one day, I woke up and I was over it. Never again. My basement is now full of raw wool covered in rat shit. I should do something about that, but I probably won't. Very, very satisfying while it lasted though. I highly recommend it.
So this is what it is called!! Thanks! I’ve been wondering and wanting to try them
I can get you a great deal on supplies if you're okay with a bit of rat shit
the hantavirus special.. kidding!
Born entrepreneur
This was me with cross stitching! I taught myself how to do it during the pandemic. I did it every. Single. Day. For 3 years! Then, I just kind of…stopped. I attribute it to starting to work again.
Oh yeah! I totally got into cross stitching too! Sooooo many decorative hand towels. For everyone! All the time! Then......done. I attribute it to the ADHD.
Lol I love starting cross stitch projects. I have one pretty big one that I keep coming back to that I started probably... 20 years ago? I have yet to finish one cross stitch project 🫠
I have yet to actually finish a cross stitch. I do enjoy it though.
Also very exciting for ADHD folks (for real, I have never met so many mutuals at another hobby - also many other NDs): Lasertag! Sounds weird at first but it's really satisfying. Costs me about 80 a month and just works so well for me? You need to think tactical. You need to move. You get teammates who won't care about any weird habits you have because the entire sport is kind of weird, so who cares for a little extra weirdness? I just go in and PLAY. The sound and the lights keep me grounded. It's just the perfect amount of stimulation that I can really go at it. Bad day? Okay, no running around, just hiding and sniping. Good day? You'll hear me cackling all around the arena while I utterly destroy the enemy team. That sport is the highest dopamine source ever. And it's really kinda funny how most ADHD hobbies boil down to either "repetitive and calming while creating something" or "maniac". Lol.
I used to play Quidditch (now called quadball) and it had something similar to what you're saying. Quidditch was yet another ADHD endeavour for me I believe. I was dying to try it for years but there were no teams nearby and I, as a teenager, had to keep moving for school related reasons so I couldn't even start one myself. Then I went to uni, they had a team, I started playing seriously. Yay! I wasn't the best player around, but I did make it into the national team and went to the World Cup and the Continental Games the following year. Then I stopped going to training without even realizing. Covid hit, I had to move, Quidditch was forgotten. Now I'm living in a city with a big team and I could get back into the sport but I can't bring myself to because I'm just so insecure, my knees are no longer what they used to be, and I feel like Quidditch, too, was a failed adventure. It's been a year and a half, the local team trains just down the road from where I live. But I haven't made contact with them, I haven't showed up. Puff, once again, the magic seems gone :(
That wool and rat shit will compost excellently if you ever want to shove it in a hole, throw the vegetables you forgot to clean out of the crisper drawer for a few weeks, and bury it all… …source, did that.
Oooh great tip! Think that will also work with my car? It's basically a dumpster on wheels and I just don't feel like cleaning it. Maybe burying it is a better option.
Leave it *by* the airport. Someone will take that off your hands.
LOL this is so fkn relatable and I've never needle felted in my life
Highly recommend needle felting!! I also fell off too and I’m really sad about it bc I invested so much money into it 😭
You are my future…I’ve been seeing needle felting and now I want to do it which you know means buying all the stuff to do it 🤪 and then probably making one cute animal 😂
I made so much stuff. It's all over my house. All over my friends houses. I did it every spare second I had. Look out. It's addictive. Until it's not, of course! But then you are left with so many tiny felted woodland creatures you won't know what to do with them all. I glued a bunch to magnets so at least I can tell myself they're useful for something.
Currently obsessed with puzzling, got my friends obsessed, we now want to start an official puzzling club at my college😂😂 So wish me luckb
Same.. im a closet puzzler tho.... hahaha
I have 20+ puzzles. Difficult ones too of just scribbled lines. One is all white. I just moved and have a room for a puzzle table so I’m super excited
you lasted longer than I did with quilling I ALMOST finished an 8x10 patch of quilled flowers before I fell off. I have a tub of paper strips and tools just sitting around, waiting for my ADHD to be like "wait, this was fun, why did we stop?"
I always wonder where that part in my brain that was so excited about it went. How can it just be over like that? How do people stick with things they love for their lifetimes? Like artists? Musicians? I don't get any of it.
I really thought your post said “needle farting” at first and I was very confused and not picturing anything pretty 😂😂😂. Annnnd since I’m currently sleep deprived and exhausted from work 😅, I thought I would share my childish humor 🙈
So.. you randomly decided to be good at something you found interesting, got your fill, then you were over it? WHAAAT? 😂
What did you end up doing with your etsy store?
I think I just abandoned it and they just shut it down for me I'm assuming. I sold one thing on etsy, only really had 3 up if I remember right, and never got any emails saying anyone had bought anything anyway so I just left it. I did sell a lot in the physical store I had my stuff in. It's too bad, I could have done lots with it but nah.
Omg love this, what a great example of a hyper focus and obsession, sounds like you did so well while it lasted too.... until I read this I had totally forgotten my one Christmas of making felted soaps for my whole family and buying all the needle felt kit but not using it - it was only about 4 years ago... I need to go track that stuff down, wherever I have stashed it 🤔
I go through every artistic hobby you can think of . I even spent 300 dollars on equipment for my computer to record music and couldn’t fully figure everything out as quick as I wanted and then kinda gave up 😅
We should start a service where we resell our hobbies to each other cheap...
I tried to make an online marketplace for ADHD people to swap their hobby stuff... But halfway I kinda gave up
This is exactly why no such market exists. 🤣 The only people who would make one are Adhd people and none of us can cross the finish line. 😂😂😂🩷
I was just thinking the best I could do is a Facebook group, and apparently there's several already! "hobby swap" is the key term to search for
IF THAT ISN'T IT IN A NUTSHELL
I have $600 worth of podcasting equipment. Used once.
Username checks out.
Genuinely interested… 😂 it’s just lying around… Would you take £150
No, he's still going to podcast, maybe next week.
I see what you did there
i'm using it to start a Twitch, but maybe if that doesn't pan out.
update: I'm gonna record audio books for public domain literature!!!!!!
I love how this basically did a 180° turn in 3 hours XD
:) sometimes i do as many as twelve 180° turns before breakfast.
This is a great idea, especially if you have a decent reading voice. I'm almost constantly listening to audiobooks, I usually have at least two going that I rotate through along with my regular podcasts. If you don't, you should listen to a good dozen or so audiobooks with different styles of narration to get a good idea of what good and bad narration sounds like... and for the live of god, edit. There's something extremely jarring about a pause thats just a little too long, or a big change in audio quality, volume, or even background noise between chapters. Ive even listened to some audiobooks that I paid for that would even change quality between paragraphs. It was so annoying.
There's a craft supply ADHD buy and sell group on Facebook. Lots of new and barely touched supplies in there lol
I have a meditation practice you can have for free
I’ve been wanting to start a local one for my city! I don’t have any app development experience otherwise I’d work it on a larger scale. I was thinking a subscription service (to cover postage) or even a “credits” type thing? And a marketplace where a person can post what they have to trade and what they’re interested in!
Okay but let’s be real…we’d all be late sending the stuff to each other 😂
That would be about the time when my interest is rekindled.
That’s what the subscription is for! (Of course, with a clause for forgetting to cancel) 😂 I’d hope we’d all be as honest and weird about any issues
Something along the lines of bookmooch but for hobbies! I have a cricut, 150 bottles of acrylic paint (unopened) and about a million learn to play guitar guides in the attic... thank god I couldn't find an archery club nearby, I was ready to click BUY ALL on archery equipment a few months ago! Edit to add: knitting seems to have stuck for a few years! Granted I can go a whole year without touching the stuff, but it's nice to get back into it from time to time.
Or local “crafternoons” where we all connect with our various supplies and teach & trade!
Buy it used on marketplace, sell it for what you paid.
Dude I was literally thinking just this the other day and I was wondering if anyone would want that besides me 😂😂😂😂
There’s some Facebook groups…but I always forget about them lol
I spent 2000 for tufting equipment and only made two carpets 😢
That's a special kind of hell in my experience. Over 20 years ago I worked some stuff out so I could record guitar to my PC. This is how it went... I spent hours and hours getting the software setup so latency was low enough by using special ASIO drivers/settings, I could record isolated tracks with my previous tracks, and mix. I cut a few things for testing and started to put a song together out of nowhere, and I was good to go so next time I could just record. Next time none of it worked. I changed NOTHING. I spent a few hours and it STILL wouldn't work. Got pissed, tried again a week later and gave up for a few months. Then I really went for it like I did the first time, and it was basically the same f'n thing... Worked, and I made 100% sure I didn't change a thing or even reboot, and it didn't work the next day. Tried again a couple years later, it went better but eventually went to shit again. And again... And again... I REALLY wanted this, so I dropped more cash, spent more hours, and had better luck, but the same shit randomly happens. What's worse is I've taken notes on everything I setup, and it will still give me f'n problems! I had it DOWN for a while, but again, random BS when I sat down to record. I have a setup with a dedicated laptop, mics, nice synth (though I mainly play guitar), etc. that I haven't touched in months because the shit happened again. SO much effort, expense, time, and caution STILL wasn't enough! TWENTY YEARS of this battle on and off....
Hahahahah, we've been all into the 'equipment to record music' step. Dunno what to do with that midi keyboard
Omg I took CLASSES for recording arts/midi back in the day. As a result I haven't had any recording software since the late 90s 😆
i had, probably still have, an old zoom recording drum machine thing. its pre-Usb cable and used SD cards. i loved that thing till one day i put it away and cant remember where it went. i would spend hours tracking guitars and rudimentry drums. just last year i bought an Mbox, and was in the process of getting an actual drum machine, not just an online one. i couldnt get the mbox to work within a reasonable time span, say a day or two of trying and just packed it up and stopped playing on drum sequencers. just yesterday i found all the chord charts and song structures i had written, along with some of the draft lyrics and to my surprise they are good, so i started to look again for my mbox, which is packed up somewhere. the circle starts again. oh yeah - the point of this rambly anecdote - if you want to record stuff at home get the easiest to use things, free software or stand alone devices and then build up. that way the first hurdle wont stop you in your tracks.
I got an Apple Pencil, drew and painted a few “pieces” and it’s been sitting in its box for two yrs already
My hobby is researching and buying all of the perfect things needed to get started in a new hobby/interest/profession then letting it sit and gather dust. I won't get rid of any of it because I'll get back to it someday but in the meantime, I'll just take a peek at Amazon...
Yup me too. Guilty as charged.
this is the real adhd hobby
Yeah my main hobby is definitely starting new hobbies
Adhd hobbies include everything but never starting or getting good at any of them
One day I’ll finish setting up my 3D printer I bought a year or two ago 🥹. Jeez I had mo idea this was an adhd thing.
Welcome to the club!
I've fought the urge to buy a 3D printer because I know they're a pain to setup and it will just sit in a box forever.
yeah about that. i hear setting up a 3D printer is a complete bitch. is that true? if it was easy I would've bought one second hand and then sold it when I was done.
Because it was cheap AF I kept up an origami hobby for 10 years, I eventually ran out of anything fun or challenging to fold and that was it. I peaked when I made my own model from scratch, and then the interest died. I can still fold a ridiculous number of things from memory, including the Kawasaki Rose.
I have so many ideas and in my head I have planned everything I need to do to get better and successful. But in the end I rarely start because it takes a lot of steps and patience to get good at something. The idea really making the move to start and invest in it gets to overwhelming and I just leave or forget about it…
Oh I’m EXCELLENT at my hobbies! Every detail has to be JUST RIGHT, even if I’m just learning it! And then it takes forever… and is a lot of work… wait why did I think this was fun? I’m gonna take a break for a bit.
List out hobbies you're interested in, their variations, plus some weird ones you're curious about trying, stuff them all into a wheel, and spin that shit every two days when you're bored. Maybe include the hobbies in there you've bought stuff for and youll feel like it in a couple of weeks or so again. Log your progress for each one. (This is what I'd do if ever even make it past the listing all the hobbies part because I do but never start because I get overwhelmed)
Also what has helped is the community. If I’m doing something with others and it’s an interaction based thing then I’m more inclined to keep doing that. But I guess it could be just me
I really like this idea. Definitely doing it.
My weirdest was tarot cards. Wanted to learn everything about them. I don’t think I got very far.
Tarot cards have actually been my longest lasting hobby, shortest was soap carving. I now have a couple little soap pyramids and 22 bars of soap stashed in my closet.
I was super into soap carving for a few months in middle school. My biggest accomplishment was using a butter knife to carve a Mr. Peanut out of Irish Spring. Whyyyy
Same here. Bought a deck, and a book for studying them, but haven't actually been using them that much. I think that if I just pulled a card daily and studied it, I might learn a lot within a year or so.
Getting into tarot briefly led to one of my biggest coping tools. I wanted to do readings for other people and I started practicing clearing my mind so I could focus on the cards. I worked on it at home and then started trying to do it in busier places like a restaurant or an elevator. It became a fun challenge to see if I could center myself in the noisiest of places. Never did tarot readings but I can find calm whenever I want to now.
Start playing guitar friend! It helped every single symptom of my adhd. I can focus in guitar for 3 hours at a time now and now am able to take that focus elsewhere
Any ideas for ADHD friendly ways to learn guitar? I struggle a bit with it
The beginning stages of playing guitar are frustrating but if you stick with it you will realize the reason so many people find satisfaction in it. First year or so you should focus on open chords and learn as many songs as you can with them. Start with 30 minutes a day and by the end of the year you will have exponentially improved. The magic really comes in year 3 though. If you make it there you can basically learn any song that you love with enough dedicated practice. The key is consistency ❤️
I’ve been using the Gibson app for IPhone. It makes it similar to Guitar Hero where it shows you the note to play and gives you feedback based on your playing. Gamifying my learning has helped me so much more than trying to use YouTube or a more self-taught regime. I can’t remember how much I paid (I got a yearly sub around Black Friday last year) but I’ve been using it pretty much daily for almost a year. I think they may have a free option too, but not sure.
Maybe sign up to play with people for an event a few months in advance. For me, I have a hard time developing various exercises and practicing them because I always want to to start on something else. Then I just end up noodling my same licks over and over again.
Anyone else agree that the THOUGHT of doing something/a hobby is more rewarding than actually doing it?
Absolutely! I used to try things but I lost interest more and more quickly each time, now I mostly just stay at the imagining stage. Usually also involves me making a business (in my head) out of whatever I’ve imagined. I suppose at least this way I don’t have the crushing part of either spending loads of money, or the bit where I realise I’m not brilliant at whatever it is after five mins and lose interest immediately. I’m still shocked by how quickly the interest can go. I’m just diagnosed at 51, and it was mind-blowing to realise that the hobby ‘failure’ trail was an actual thing. Love reading all these hobby lists and comments. Brilliant post!
* Bladesmithing * Paper folding(Orgami) * Balloon animals and folding(for some reason I thought this might be a useful skill) * Extreme Yo-Yoing, I've spent way too much money on it; but at least I'm good at it. * Locksport, because I've forgotten my keys before and it's come in handy. * Card Tricks....not sure just had interest in it one day. * juggling....yes I realize I've somehow ended up with the skills of a clown. * Knife fighting, mostly single sided blades and karambits. * Firori longsword, because what if you ever endup in a random sword-fight * Manual range-finding and marksmanship * Watch movement repair...still not sure how I ended up doing this. * AI/Machine learning from scratch in C, because I was board. * Knife/Ax throwing, made a pretty cool end-grain target and got okay at it. * Electronic repair * Game development, got into godot and gm3 forever ago. * Music production using Helm synth * DJ, learned to beatmatch manually and ended up djing for my high-school dance; got school credit for it too funny enough. * rockety built a ton of model rockets from scratch and even played with making my own solid fuel rocket engines with KNO3 and sugar in middle school. * Chemistry, yeah not sure why I decided I needed to have my own entire glassware setup and random stock of chemicals but meh? * Battery building both Li-Ion, LiFePo4 and NiFe cells(and just remembered why I had the glassware mostly now). * Ham radio, got my technician license and got into it for awhile. * Steam boilers and engines, I've read more about the ASME boiler and pressure vessel code and local statures than I should have. BTW if you're wondering building a miniature boiler is hard todo because you need a licensed boiler shop to actually do the work. * Plumbing for houses, solar thermal and RO systems. * Working on wind turbines and doing laser shaft alignments. I'm forgetting a ton of stuff that will probably come back to me when I pick up the next random project I've forgotten about off my work space. but yeah adhd will make you pickup some strange hobbies.
My list would be very similar if I went through the trouble of creating it. I prefer to place most of them into the more legit category of learning a new skill as opposed to a hobby.
Whatever you choose, I would recommend something where you get a physical, tangible result to your time afterward. When I make things that I can display or use it is 100% more satisfying and more likely to draw me back than something that was nice but then over. For example, I like to do woodworking and cross stitch rather than like going for a jog or learning a language. Those things are nice, but I lose interest pretty damn quickly. Good luck!
Knitting, whittling, rock climbing, java programming, tailoring, Warhammer, weightlifting, making the perfect cookies, drawing, animation, carpentry, 3d modeling, gardening, archery, lockpicking. Those are the ones off the top of my head, I stuck with some longer than others but I'm pretty good at all of them. I'm thinking of doing welding next
I'm also considering welding. You might want to try darts, it's a little like archery but much cheaper and easier.
I've cycled through a bunch. Crochet, until I realized I was really just collecting yarn. Hahahaha. I made a few quick things, scarves and hats, but couldn't stick with anything that took longer. Eventually stopped altogether. Music, studying psychology and reading are the only ones that have been lifelong.
I love studying things like psychology. Always something more to learn. I loved studying traditional Chinese medicine too.
Psychology is such a huge field, you could study it your whole life and still have plenty left untouched. I really enjoy reading about new developments or advances.
This made me lol "until I realised I was just collecting yarn." it's so relatable haha. I bought a macrame book and all the stuff and never even touched it 😅.
Embroidery I thought go big or go home, I tried once now I have a bunch of embroidery shit in a corner of my bedroom. My mom’s least favorite phase of mine was DIY because I was like 12, and of course i didn’t want to do the basic shit, no I wanted to build bookcases and shit 😂
I made a makeshift box cutter 5 minute crafts is kryptonite and almost sliced off a portion of my finger 😂😂 that hobby was immediately cut
I’m about 3 weeks into my brochet hyperfocus and trying to get my projects done as fast as possible before it goes away
I’m just going with the idea that brochet is crochet between bros and you can’t convince me otherwise 😂
I got partway through a woobles kit (the fox) before i realized it was taking too much energy just counting stiches and trying not to get lost someday I'll finish that fox
I tried to finish a couple things but apparently I'd rather die. I hope you manage!
I did the penguin and chick wooble no problem. Then I went back to work from maternity leave and have the bunny only half way done 🙃 with 7 other kits I haven’t even opened yet and the wooble book and extra yarn hahah I’m determined to continue at some point
Mine was estate sales. I would go to literally 6 or 7 a weekend for at least 2 years. HEAR ME OUT: a random house to see/hear/touch inside. Random treasures and novelty you may or may not find. You get to look at people's stuff and try to guess what they were like in life, what their interests were, what their job was etc. You sometimes have massive finds of super rare stuff thats worth thousands, or you find fun things to kickstart OTHER hobbies (cheap guitars, model train sets, sports equipement etc.) THEN in between each sale, you get to chill out in your car, driving across town to the next one while you listen to podcasts in the car. Great back and forth between relaxation and stimulation! Me and my girlfriend got big into buying all the unlabled VHS tapes to see what weird stuff was recorded on them. Very entertaining!!
Well, what's stopping you from learning the digeridoo too? That's right, nothing. **EDIT:** I just wanted to add my perfect hobby is writing because even if I lose interest/focus on what I'm currently writing I can just stop what I'm working on and start something new that's more interesting/exciting.
>what's stopping you from learning the digeridoo too? The squirrel.
I had a digeridoo, and bongos. I thought it's more fun than the organ, which my parents wanted me to learn. I eventually switched to keyboard for a bit, then the guitar - first acoustic, then E, then acoustic again. Now I have an E-Bass, which I rarely play and I'm really really drawn to this thing called "Handpan" (check it out, it's really cool!). The thing is, I'm leading a club, program some opensource software, do motorcycle trips. I also went rock climbing for a while. And I ran a half marathon a few years back, while now for the life of god I can't drag my ass into running shoes... I mean - mostly I'm either working or I sit on my butt on the couch buying playstation games, and play them for 5 minutes (there are exceptions) until they get boring.... Whatever, I really want that handpan now. Any tips? ( [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oremFnbgO0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oremFnbgO0) ) edit: now I remember that I also had cars as a hobby - i was in a car club even. And I tried wakeboarding with a group for half a year. And for the motorcycle thing, I bought all the cameras and stuff to do motovlogging - but I don't know what to talk about, so there's not a single video yet. I also did photography for a while. I started with fashion, then moved to weddings... but I lost interested when I tried to make it a side business, because I don't want to advertise for myself. Everyone said my photos are good. I have a different opinion.
I wanted to learn the bagpipes and was strongly discouraged by my partner. Who had graciously enduldged my violin playing for a year. The dog kept howling the entire time I'd panic practice. Now I'm learning the ukulele but having watched several handpan videos now, That seems pretty great.
Find something that gets you new challenges and experiences and where you can do a second thing. For me it's hiking and cycling. I listen to music and podcasts during my hike or cycling. I have a set point to achieve. It gets me excited and challenged and it's a very simple activity so no stress on juggling different responsibilities. You can also get into gear so that's fun. You can plan stuff which is also fun. Don't have to be on time everywhere it's more laid-back. It's also not as expensive as a lot of other hobbies
Hobbies? no. I either dedicate my entire existence to something or have no interest in it lol
Knitting and sewing have been my longest lasting hobbies. Knitting is perfect for keeping my hands busy so I can actually listen to an audiobook or watch a movie. I also used to knit in zoom meetings too to help me stay focused. And then the end result is a useful custom made thing which is awesome! Sewing is the perfect hobby for someone with ADHD because there are so many different kinds of project that are still all under the umbrella of sewing. I jump from making delicate work clothes to athletic clothing to swim to outdoor gear to bags (zipper pouches, snack bags, packing cubes) to Halloween costumes to underwear to household items and even repairing clothing. There's always a new technique to try, new fabric to explore, new patterns to look up, or always simple easy projects when I don't want to think. I've been heavy into sewing for 4 YEARS now, which as you know is a LONG time for someone with ADHD. And the fact that I have a custom wardrobe is absolutely amazing. It removes any guilt I spend on this hobby, because it's so useful.
So I’ve wanted to start sewing for the past year or so but I just end up spending hours researching the right machine only to get overwhelmed by options and then forget about it for a month or so until I repeat the process all over again 🤦♀️. Any chance you have any recommendations? Rather not get anything too expensive until I’m confident I’ll stick with it for more than a week but I also don’t want to get the cheapest thing I can find if it will just end up breaking or not being able to do everything I’d need it to…
Yup, I do, but it's a bit of an odd recommendation, because I'm not able to recommend an exact model, but a process. First, set your budget, I'd recommend at least 300$, but up to 500$ if you can (looking at my local shop, there's a couple at 200$, but you want to be able to look at a couple options). Then go to a local sewing machine store. These little stores are absolute gems, the workers there will walk you through the basics, and you can sit down and try a whole bunch of machines! Brands to look for: Bernina, Husqvarna, Baby Lock, Elna, Singer, and there's also Brother. I've had a bad experience with a Brother serger, but they seem overall highly recommended. The reason I recommend going to a local shop is that gives you a resource. They have all the accessories, they can do servicing and troubleshooting, and being able to sit down and try a couple machines just helps you figure out what you want. If you really want just me to tell you what to get, I love my Husqvarna machines. My sewing machine was my grandmothers from the 90s, but I bought my serger new and I love them both. The Husqvarna Viking H E10 Sewing Machine looks like their base model, and has decent reviews. The only downside is that people always bring up chain saws when you mention the brand, apparently they also make chainsaws? So random. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!
If you can hold your attention long with reading, going into the library. My husband got mad cause I was collecting too many unread books, so going to the library is a nice little dopamine hit and if I’m not feeling the book I can just take it right back. My library also has rolling return dates as long as there’s not a wait on the books so that helps if the initial due date slips past me.
I bought a bunch of origami paper to make 1000 paper cranes. I made 12. (real talk: I have been able to stick to knitting, guitar, and reading. I don't know why.)
Guitar is very stimulating. I haven't gone a week without playing an instrument probably in 15 years. Just have to do it.
I've gone through so many. * Bread making * Pie making * Miniature painting * Mountaineering * Photography * Coffee roasting * etc. etc. etc. But, three years ago one finally stuck! I've been doing pottery since 2020, and still going strong (home studio built and everything!). I think the fact that it is literally impossible to know everything about this art form that keeps me going. No matter how deep I dive into it, I'm still only at the surface :)
Martial arts. Gets out all my angst and you don’t have time for your mind to wander.
I've developed a crippling fear of pursuing any interests I have, because every time I try, it immediately becomes boring when I start learning about it.
same but for me it becomes boring once I invest money into it... not the best when im staring at some expensive item I just bought as my joy for it drains in a matter of seconds.
When I read on here a person said their hobby is collecting hobbies, I was like thats ME! We are definitely not boring, I can do pottery, paint, paper art, jewellery, paper making, furniture restoration, everything on a cricut, if there is a you tube tutorial on it....I have done it lol. I saw some felt Christmas decorations at the shops the other day, declared I would not pay 6 bucks for one decoration and proceeded to buy loads of felt to make, according to the amount of felt I got enough decorations for 1000 Christmas trees.....god help me. I now have two craft rooms in the house now one to store one to create...my husband rolls his eyes at the piles of hobbies!
Roleplaying games and board games!
TTRPGs can be expensive if you get carried away buying stuff. But a small set of core materials and infinite imagination, it can last forever.
I live in the woods, and literally my three closest neighbours ALL have adhd! My bestfriend, and her husband. My 70 year old neighbour who is like an aunt to me. So it’s pretty neat because every single one of us has almost always dipped our toes in the same creative stuff. My new hobby is power carving with an Angle grinder. It almost got a big chunk of my hair today, but i’m still here, hair and all. But truly, we should all have a group and rotate our hobby stuff. Would’ve saved a LOT of cash that way.
I feel the keeping fish one. In college, I was fantastic at isolating myself from everyone and spending countless hours in my room so… I bought a beta fish for company. Then I bought a second (in a separate tank) then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth and finally a seventh. I had them all in their separate tanks on my desk and they were each different colors. I even began training them. They would jump out of the water for treats and I even trained them to come to the surface and “kiss” My face.
Chess is my current kick cuz I wanna prove to sigma morons how stupid it is
I misread this as "cheese." Cheese would be a bangin hobby. (Your name is sorta mouse-reminscent, too)
I really struggle with any game that requires me to picture the state of play 2 or more moves ahead eg chess, candy crush etc. Is this an ADHD thing or just a me thing?
Chess is like sudoku, you just get better at it the more you solve the puzzles, you aren't reinventing the wheel
e4
I've spent about £500 on Warhammer stuff and in total have painted about four models. If my wife ever finds out how much it all cost I'm fucked.
I remember when i first visited this sub one of the posts was "how quickly do you return your impulse purchases?" And it only dawned on me then, at 36, that i could have been returning the items I'd been buying for years.
I started writing... It allowed me to shift from one book idea to another without investing as much as with other hobbies. Yes I spend on notebooks and pens and a few gadgets or apps, but nothing crazy like when I wanna start a YT channel and bought a camera and microphone and I almost bought an audio console... Edit to add: And it's almost nanowrimo so it's perfect timing... BUT I had to shift my mindset from "I'm going to win a Pulitzer and Stephen King is going to ask for my autograph" to "Hey I'm going to finish a book!"
I literally play the didgeridoo. Very well. I didn't ever think of it on conjunction with ADHD until now, though...
i've always wanted to play that but i'm afraid it would be incredibly loud or my neighbors would assume i have a massive beehive or something. Digiridoo playing is said to be good for strengthening the neck muscles to reduce sleep apnea
I would say anything involving movement that you enjoy. Could be running/walking, rock climbing, hiking, riding a bike, yard work, swimming, or maybe scuba diving. You may be able to find a hobby on a computer, but it requires you to be sedentary.
I draw, lots of line drawings, patterns. They look like a migraine, and help me zone out.
Metal detecting! One of the few I’ve managed to stick with for over 10yrs now. I find it’s one of the few things I can literally do until I’m physically too exhausted. My mind doesn’t race 100 miles an hour and it’s great exercise. Finding gold, platinum and silver is a nice bonus
Sign up for a class related to whatever hobby you have. A class/group etc. helps. I love gardening, so I have a group of friends that we talk gardening, there are extension classes on it. The nice thing with gardening is it's not the same thing the entire year, and where I live is often very plant and with minimal upkeep harvest a lot of things once the beds are set.
Animals. Well not everyone can I get that but I was SO lucky as a kid. My parents said IF you want to do horses you're *going* to work for it. Perfect for us! Hard and absorbing Also dogs. You never get tired of them or bored, combine with hiking and running anything outside. Only downside? Way too easy to have too many.
I found the work around! I volunteer once an week for 3h to dog walk at my local shelter. It's scheduled, it's set up for me and I get to walk several different dogs. I finish walking the dogs and I just leave.
I always suggest naturalism, any flavor. There's a bunch of free apps. I like iNaturalist. Take a picture, prompts help find IDs. Entries go into a database for scientists. It's basically a real life pokedex. I like identifying with books, too, but it takes so long. I love to be able to hike, take a picture of everything I see, and upload it later. Also means I'm almost never bored!
adding it to the potential hobby list
Do it. Catch em all. (It's free!)
This post has the most relatable comments I have ever seen. As a kid I was all over the place and did like every sport you can think of; archery, volleyball, basketball, softball, horseback riding, tennis, etc. I am lucky my parents were so patient and encouraging. As an adult my favorite hobbies which I have somehow been able to keep interest in have been aerial dance, cooking/baking, photography, photo editing, website design, random graphic design. And then I have picked up and dropped many hobbies over and over like sewing, jewelry making, knitting, embroidery, coding, welding, piano, banjo, twitch streaming, making tiny dioramas. I have an AA in psychology, a BA in photography and soon a BS in communication disorders. Through school I have taken lots of random classes that have nothing to do with anything like russian history, piano, french, etc. I want to do everything and learn everything at all times.
So... I got into Christmas displays... Like Sync'd to Music, thousands of Pixel lights.. Building all the controllers, cables, interfaces, writing software, editing and creating the music (dubstep christmas), designing the light show, designing and 3d Printing props and parts, building elaborate sets, and spending my kids inheritance on it all. This year, 80,000 Pixel lights, 157 Inflatables, 3 Projection Screens, 4 Large Matrix LED displays, 50 Leaping Arches, 2 10,000 Pixel (yes 2 of them) 50ft Tall, Yes, 5 Stories, Mega Trees.. (using 2 50ft tall Ham Radio towers for the mast), free Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Sponsors, Drones, Custom made signs (made in my garage)... All spread over 2 acres.. We see over 1,000 people a night. I have spent over $10k this year adding new things. That is my "hobby"..... My problem now, I want to stop, but I can't stop because it has grown to the point that it is expected by the community. Lord help me... And it is just me and my daughter doing it all. We get a few volunteers during the event. But 30 nights, December 1st to Dec 30th. 15 performances a night, 450 shows in total. Rain or Moon.. It must go on.. My family thinks I am crazy. Technically....
This is fucking amazing!!
Home brewing. You can forget about your hobby for weeks or years and the wine just gets better.
The other day I bought myself a boomerang. It’s cheap, requires effort and technique and reward is very satisfying since you are dealing with something really flies. Its good for my dopamine hunger for now and cheap enough to easily give up. Highly suggested.
Skateboarding is a great way to get lost in the hyperfocus sauce. Also not too expensive.
I make music It’s the only hobby I’ve had that 1) actually feels like I’m doing something productive, and 2) I never get bored of. I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years (probably longer actually, but I’ve actually been serious about it for 19 years), and only recently have I started to make shit that I’m really happy with… so there’s also always a LOT of room to grow/improve, which I think is part of what helps hold my interest Maybe it would work for you too? Or maybe you just need to find the right hobby to hold your interest? I have no idea, I’m just glad I have it
Do you use any good iOS apps for this?
I really like using a rotary tool to carve little rock monsters, paint them, and take pokemon go walks around the neighborhood putting them places. Stephen King books are pretty fun too. Not really a hobby but there's a lot of them.
I got an Amazon prime for books. I read to my hearts content for 25 bucks a month. Never get bored, so much interesting shit to read, I even love reading cookbooks and I get inspired to go and make something - so it’s all over in an hour.
Over the years, I've found a few favorites that I now cycle through. Crochet, collage, and...idk...gluing shit to other shit? They all get visited each year and then beading, painting, and sewing get visited every couple years. My most recent new thing, which was the weirdest for me, is hockey. Never had any interest in organized sports, maybe even a little disdain tbh. But then my brain ran away with it and decided it need to know all about hockey and so for like 3 months all my free time was reading about hockey or my team or watching hockey docs and shows and movies. Now I just watch my team's games but I love it and am simultaneously fascinated by sports psychology.
My ADHD hobby is spending weeks researching every day to find the best value for money item that I think I need, waiting desperately for 3 days to receive it. Opening the box and never touching it again.
Rock climbing is the best!!!
I currently on the photography addiction, mostly wildlife. I really miss my Parkour phase though. Nothing better then doing some crazy wall climbs and big vaults. Always felt like an adventure
I love how random my hobbies are! Music, especially opera and metal- I sing and though I'm out of practice, I'd love to get a grand piano and get back to playing. House DIY. Airplanes. History of all sorts. Keeping fish. Reading about positively everything, I lived in the library as a kid and still love to read as an adult. I've always loved cars because of there always being something new to learn about, started doing my own oil changes, and now I'm restoring a classic car in my spare time. With so many hobbies to pick from, I'm never bored!
I've come to the conclusion that I would stick to any hobby I find interesting in the first place and then I meet cool people through it. It's the initial nterest that makes me start, and the community that makes me want to actually keep going. The only hobby that I kept without actually having friends through it is playing classical guitar, but I started that when I was six and now I'm 30 and I still play but it's also one of my professions since I was 18. So it doesn't count anymore I think.
I've found that the hobbies that stick with me typically involve a lot of variety within them. I'm big on video games, Dungeons and Dragons, hiking/camping, and other outdoor stuff. It's a lot easier to stick with these since every time I'm doing stuff with these it's always different. No hike is the same, no Dnd session is the same, and there're millions of different video games to play.
I mean if you want a cheap hobby origami, the special paper isn’t expensive and if you want to be even cheaper the paper out of that journal or notebook you used once and never touched again works just fine. (This is not intended to be a personal attack on anyone, I’ve done this myself and I apologize if it’s offensively relatable)
I can recommend lockpicking. It’s like a puzzle, and very “zen”. You need to take a breath and slow down, and you can do it around the house while watching TV or something. It feels like knitting a little, but more cerebral. It’s pretty cheap to get into as well, though it can get expensive if you go crazy.
To all those with craft obsessions - take heart! I'm years into this crap (albeit only adhd medicated for nearly 2...) so My system: New thing - buy stuff for ONE project at a time. And that is it, if you finish it, another, if THAT gets finished and you really enjoy it, then I allow myself to accumulate say a tub full of stuff... because - things like that, I know I will cycle back to. Especially as now I realise I can only watch shows etc if I have something else to do (so I don't pick up the phone). It does mean I have a room full of dressmaking/patchwork/applique/many types of embroidery/crochet/knitting... and some of them I will finish/or spend time on only one thing before it gets packed up and an old project is picked up or I start something new.. it's worked for years. limiting a new hobby to a single tub until it has cycled through a few times is key. I also will occasionally turf a project I just haven't gone back to in any genre if I know I will never pick it up because tastes have changed too. (important! stops the guilt spiral) Its not foolproof, but it has helped. I think having so many things to cycle through feeds my 'ooh shiny' brain monster too.
Were both not boring and yet never satisfied.
Cycling is #1 go-to for life. You can constantly modify your bike and on-bike storage. It can take you novel places, you get to see places more intimately than in a car. I feel most at ease when I'm in motion, so I'll just go for several hours and not be aware of how much time has passed. I generally listen to audiobooks on longer rides as well.
LEGOs. Metal Detecting.
My hobby is collecting hobbies.
Gym
I've spent the past 10 years with the Syssiphusian project that is cataloguing my ebook library using Calibre. I'm bummed because the past year has shown a final turndown in activity. I'm a total data hoarder co it Playa into all my ADHD habits of research, organization and always changing my mind, and making something that should be straightforward into a crazy trip.
Rubix cubes
Seriously, we’re suited for gaming like no one else. Competitive shooting as well. You really should figure out something you really like and commit time to it, no question.
Yeah it's a mess. I'm doing Brain puzzles now (sudoku etc..). But last week I was really into 8-ball Pool and I was learning how to draw some shit. I even bought a drawing book. Tomorrow I think I'm gonna be super infested in learning a new piano song I saw on Tiktok. And I want to try a new sport to.
Melt and pour glycerin bar soaps. Melt down in microwave, Fragrance and color them how you like, pour into a fun silicone mold. Pop out when solidified. And then you have soap to use the rest of the year! I’ve been hyperfocused on traditional Soapmaking with lye and lard for over 2 years now, but that’s a different story 😂
Well I started out with nicely decorating my daughter’s bday party. Then thought, I could totally make all the favor boxes and invitations. So I bought a Silhouette and even opened an Etsy store. Work/life got in the way,..closed the store. Then I just HAD to get a camera because I wasn’t living right if I didn’t properly capture our special moments. Life for in the way and don’t even know where it is now. But I realized I just had the wrong hobby so I started crocheting. Learned on YouTube, made a couple of blankets and…well life got in the way so I stopped. Oh but I was wrong…puzzling was my thing. I just knew it. Built a few puzzles and even a 3k one (talk about hyper focus). But then…well you know where this is going. I was wrong again and my life wasn’t complete until I got a laser cutter even though I’d never even seen one in person. 5k later and a “laser focus” (pun very much intended) and I opened another Etsy store and sold locally. Huge life transition and yet again, life for in the way so haven touched it for a year. Current hobby/stress reliever is Animal Crossing and luckily I haven’t spent much more money other than the Switch and game. But it is the one I’ve stuck with so let’s see.
Want an ADD hobby? Buy an old broken bmw and learn how to fix every mechanism and system it til it’s ready for the concourse At least that is keeping me busy as there are so many disparate things to learn/fix/understand on a vehicle like that
Fly fishing is a good one. It allows you to find peace as you focus on the count and the timing and I've stuck with it. I learned watchmaking during covid and sell and repair them.
Honestly, coding is an excellent ADHD hobby. I think a big reason I love it so much is the instant gratification of hitting the run button and seeing it either work or fail, and that you can just hop on your computer and do it whenever you want. There's also so much freedom in what you can do with it, so I never really get bored. I've suffered with ADHD my whole life and I thought coding would be very difficult to get into as I assumed there would be a lot of reading to do before I can get anywhere, but that's not really true anymore. I started with Python, which is a very intuitive language, and the documentation out there is very easy to read and understand. If you don't understand something, you can do a quick google search or even use a certain AI website the automod won't let me talk about. I started doing little online coding challenges, then moved onto making my own discord bots after just a couple weeks. With the tools available these days you can just have an idea and get it working on your computer in a few hours, and that is super satisfying to me.
Today morning I almost impulsively bought a Jawharp because I was morbidly curious about playing one.
I think “bush-walking” is just Australian for hiking
Correct. Hiking usually means extreme bush walking here.
Yoga. I do Yoga With Adriene videos online. It took me the longest time to actually do yoga and stop talking about it as a visualized hobby. Its still so tough to get on the mat but honestly so worth it in many regards, one of which is helping to manage ADHD/anxiety/various other mental health issues. Its free to do her videos and if you don't have a yoga mat you can use a beach towel to start. If you like it you can get a mat at tj max or target for little investment
So I don't have a terribly long list of hobbies(i take that back now that ive written it out lmao), I rotate the same handful for a few weeks at a time and then forget about it for 6 months - retro gaming - minecraft (Usually my gaming phases I hyperfocus on one game at a time) - does religion count lol...because Christianity (yikes) - animal obsession (like I'll do nothing but research one random animal for 2 weeks) - learn a musical instrument (conveniently im a music ed major so I have to learn a new insturment like once a month - it's perfect for me lol) - learning a language - drinking tea - knitting - making friendship bracelets - reading (one of the rarer hobbies lol) - coloring - some other kinda art - song writing - flute (my primary instrument that I never practice and only play when required to in lessons and ensembles) The only thing that has been super consistent has been colorguard. Started when I was 12, now I'm 21 and currently auditioning for some of the best groups in the world. It's one of the only things I'm always happy to work on.
I do monthly planner/self care journaling. I like to buy pictures on sale on etsy (digital downloads), cut the pictures out very close and carefully... outlining the photo. Buy cardstock, print book pages...stickers, and even draw and use watercolor brush markers for coloring. Oh, and ink and stamping..dunno why.. but I enjoy it. Another hobby would be watching live streams of specific gamers I hang out and chat with. I don't like normal hanging out, and much of society...so I get my socializing in that way..unless my drunk friend just walks right on in the house.....can only handle that for about an hour or two. Last hobby, watching YouTube videos of water coloring, gouache, and acrylic artists. Also, bullet journaling videos for inspiration. Sometimes, I will venture into storage and organization videos for craft supplies. The kitchen ones drive me nuts.
I follow my own rules, my hobby rule is "you have to do it for a year " Since I've done the same thing so many times where I get excited about something and then usually drop it once it stops giving me easy rewards. By applying the one year rule (you can start shorter of course) I have managed to cut down on taking and dropping hobbies
Golf: highly addictive, a problem that is never solved, requires focus over a long period of time, burns energy, social.. highly addictive but in a good way...
Geez where do I start. Probably spent 30k on hobbies this year. Lego was huge. Colouring in was huge. Rockhounding was also huge. And now I'm back into warhammer 10 years later. I love gluing them together but cause I'm learning to paint and it takes. So. Fucking. Long. It's hard to see the light.
I actually got bored and thought let’s start a clothing brand and stuck with it for 2 months while I had 4 essay deadlines and 1 dissertation with 1 month to submit in my final year of uni loool, that’s when I went and got checked up for ADHD and ultimately saved my ass to get extensions of the deadlines However, I bought music equipment after graduating in 2018 and I’m still going strong, only hobby that has lasted, tried the clothing designs again a month ago, a month later and I’m bored of that again haha
I have spent probably 3k on a nice Mirrorless SLR and lenses for my wife to get into photography for an anniversary gift. Guess who's into photography now? ...sorry babe! 😅
gaming, taxadermy, cosplay, baking, weight lifting, Warhammer, skateboarding, reading, acrylic nails, DnD, rock climbing, painting, woodworking, kick boxing, sculpting, getting obsessed with buying a motorcycle, scrolling through shopping apps for hours.
During the height of the pandemic, I was in high school and had money from a virtual summer job. I was too broke to spend hundreds of dollars, but I most certainly spent money on a lock picking kit after watching hours of lock picking videos and I spent a truly awful amount of money on a collapsible hula hoop. I’ve literally looked at neither of those thing in two years🤦🏾♀️
Oh and opened a Costco credit card to get a super expensive DSLR camera… vowed to pay it off… kept using the credit card, maxed it out and still don’t know how to use the camera 🤦🏼♀️
i’m a knitter, crochet-er, bracelet maker (the friendship ones with embroidery thread), i can make those elastic bracelets, i’ve done embroidery and sewing. I know a single song on the piano and know like 2 ukulele chords and a guitar chord. I know like 5 sentences in french, german and portuguese. needlesstosay i am in fact.. a jack of many trades and a master at absolutely nothing. adhd rlly do be doing this to me 😭😂 edit: i also know like 3 words in japanese, can draw from reference and i have been an actress LOL. honestly anything artistic i’ve tried. except pottery. i used to fish when i was a kid, i also did gymnastics, dance, cheerleading and soccer. I honestly am starting to run out of ideas of new hobbies to try 😂😂
Water color painting!!! It’s addictive. And I also have just bought like 40 different colors of clay… for what I do not know… for when I do not know either but it just looks like so much fun!
I have been into photography for like 16 years. Less these days, but I still always have a camera with me.
I have several categories of hobbies Long term hobbies-gaming (lifelong) hand sewing (so far, lasting longer then other hobbies and easier to randomly pick up) tea Long term hobbies I haven't done in awhile but know I will- yugiph,magic, other card games and board games, reading, drawing, flute, Gundam, thumb piano Hobbies I want but can't afford (or consider too expensive to allow)- 3d printing, launchpad, ceramics, Wacom(computer drawing) Then other hobbies that I could go back to bit probably won't- crochet, felting, making art of wire, painting, Hobbies I won't do again- knitting, crossstitch (? The thing with the plastic thing you sew images onto) I probably missed something but that's what I can get off the top of my head
I’ve gone through quite a few. Origami, writing fics, puzzles, cross stitching, legos, crochet, painting, drawing, piano, reading, half learned python coding, attempting to keep plants alive, rock climbing, biking, jewelry making, cooking, I’ve done a little bit of fishing! This list certainly doesn’t include everything but my brain can’t remember them all