I often wonder, if doom scrolling is that bad for my brain, and I have nothing to do, what activities can I replace the doom-scrolling with? And to be a little more specific, what creative activities can I practice to replace doom-scrolling? In this article, I will share with you 5 creative things to do to replace doom-scrolling on social media. Now these are not the most touch the grass kinda activities, and they are not really the most productive either. But, they are much better for our brains and general health than scrolling online for hours.
This article was inspired by my favorite podcast: Anything goes with Emma Chamberlain
What is doom-scrolling?
If you have never heard of this term before, doom scrolling to me is when you go on social media and scroll mindlessly to kill time. And you might think, well if it is my free time, I can do whatever I want to do with it. And while that is a fact, doom scrolling often leads to functional paralysis where instead of scrolling a little then continuing with your day, you end up scrolling for hours, skipping a meal, not getting the things you want to do done, etc.
Why replace doom-scrolling with creative activities?
When we engage in a creative activity, we are usually sensed to use our brains, our hands, our eyes and maybe even more of our senses, physical and mental abilities. If we take painting for example, before actually painting, you will need to sit with yourself and think of what you want to paint. Or maybe you would go on Pinterest and actually mindfully scroll through different art pieces looking for inspiration and figuring out the stuff you can recreate based on your artistic ability. And then once you start recreating, you will be faced with many little problems to solve along the way, like figuring out a color palette, creating depth, painting a subject accurately or even simplifying it to a basic visual representation.
Creative activities to replace doom-scrolling
My 5 creative go to activities to replace doom-scrolling
1.Make your own art journal
I know you have many empty notebooks laying around, and it is definitely time for you to put them to a good use. Art journaling is the one of the most therapeutic and fun creative activities to replace doom-scrolling in my personal opinion. You can check out this article to learn more about art journaling: Art Journaling: Tips to Fun and Therapeutic Sessions.
And if you need some easy and fun prompts, here is an article I have previously shared on that: Journaling prompts from my journal that you are going to love!
2.If you love fashion, do something fashion related
I love fashion. It is a very cool and expressive thing to me. And instead of doom-scrolling, I often go through my closet and try to make new outfits from my already existing clothing items. I wear more skirts and dresses on daily basis, so my go to activity is to try and elevate my outfits through accessories, new makeup looks and hairstyles, or even shoes. I have seen a video on Tiktok where the creator takes pictures of outfits in her closet and then put them in the notes app and then she sits and makes combos on her phone and tries to recreate them in real life to match her initial vision and that to me is so much fun.
3.Try beaded embroidery
Themed in fashion still, this is an activity that I recently started practicing and it is so therapeutic and rewarding to me. And I assure you that it sounds harder than it actually is. I have watched one Tiktok on how to embroider for beginners and so far, I have only embroidered on canvas, but I am planning to make beaded embroidery pieces out of some basic shirts and t-shirts I already own.
I have a whole guide where you can learn beaded embroidery for beginners, check it out here:
10 Stunning hand embroidery art designs and how you can start embroidering
4.Get yourself a DIY art kit
These include so many creative practices that you can spend your free time enjoying, and they are guaranteed to make you feel happy and accomplished instead of the lingering laziness that doom-scrolling often leads to. Here is an article with everything you need to learn about the best DIY art kits for adults that you must try.
5. Go out and actually touch some grass
You may think that this is not creative and not art related at all and that it should not even be part of this list. But, hear me out. I love walking and it is one of the things I would do daily, but to make it more creative, I would play some mental games while doing so. One of my favorites is to let colors lead me. I would decide on a color (lets see white for example), and then I would only follow the white signs or buildings during my walk and see where it would lead me. This is a great way to discover new places in your own city and figure out the colors you connect the most with.
Conclusion
This was my little list of the 5 creative activities to replace doom-scrolling. Let me know what you do to stop scrolling on your phone for hours and enjoy creating <3
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