A couple weeks ago, I deleted social media off my phone. Insta and reddit was all that was left, but I noticed how much of a useless time sink they were becoming. My daily mood has also improved.

Now, I’ve been reading manga and playing chess online to fill the gap. But I’m still looking for suggestions on what else there is to do besides doom scroll. It’s not like I’m outlawing the internet entirely, I still have interests and hobbies etc, but I’m open to just about anything.

      • sunbrrnslapper@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 month ago

        Oooo, I should try that! I have been using KU, which I know isn’t awesome, but did allow romance authors to break the publishing model (fascinating story: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/romance-novels/). And there’s a part of me that wants to give the middle finger to publishers who took in a bunch of money from romance books to pay for books/authors that would never recoup their costs.

        • AtariDump@lemmy.world
          1·
          1 month ago

          My friend Anna started up an archive of some sort; you should check it out. At least that’s what she told me over dinner the other night.

      • AtariDump@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 month ago

        And a certain archive my friend Anna seems to be running. Not that I know anything about it; she mentioned it at dinner the other evening.

  • will_a113@lemmy.mlEnglish
    11·
    1 month ago

    Duolingo. My whole family has caught the bug. I hear the little ba-ding! noise from all corners of the house all evening long.

    Y todavía no puedo hablar bien español 😕

  • Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world
    9·
    1 month ago

    Various solitaires via LÖVE Solitaire.

    Simon Tantham puzzles

    And, due to a Lemmy post I saw the other day, a game called Slice and Dice.

    • sicarius@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 month ago

      Yes slice and dice! I would hate to know how many hours I’ve played on that game over three different phones.
      If you haven’t tried them yet, slay the spire and balatro are also brilliant.

      • Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 month ago

        Slay the spire has so many hours on my PC. I absolutely adore that game. For some reason I bounce off of Balatro, it doesn’t hook me in the same ways and I’m not sure why. I don’t feel smart enough for it lol

  • DigitalDilemma@lemmy.mlEnglish
    92·
    1 month ago

    Mostly tiktok scrolling. It’s got a bad rep, but there’s a huge amount of seriously talented people on there doing amazing and creative things. I’m a 50-something year old guy and it quickly figured out I like videos about mine explores and restoring vintage vehicles. Once you learn to downvote stuff you don’t like, it’s quick to learn and aside from the comment bots or obvious trolls (Typically pro-Russian or Pro-Trump, if there’s a difference) it’s generally a positive thing, in moderation.

    I totally get your desire about avoiding socials and have experienced the mood swings it can bring too. That’s made me quite tuned into how the algorithms are steering me. For me (and everyone’s experience is different) - Facebook is mostly bland generic stuff but quite useful for local content - just avoid the drama llamas), and use an advert blocker. Reddit is mixed. I used to be on there a lot and contributed and modded a bunch of stuff, but quit for a year after spez screwed over the app people. I skim it a bit now, but don’t give it much mind. X is awful, won’t go near it. Lemmy is less of a shitpost zone than most but still has too few people to be significant. We’re all helping with that though.

    Lemmy aside, I think most algs will figure you out pretty quick. If you get involved in nasty commenting, it’ll feed you more of that. If you do the odd positive thing (as I try to) then it can be less toxic - but with all things, remember why you’re there. The more you feed it, the bigger to you it becomes. Balance is important, and be aware of how stuff is affecting you.

    Anyway, beyond TT, crosswords, some news sites and the occasional candy crush.

    Good question though, I’m reading other comments as it’s harder to find stuff outside of the main channels now.

  • Monster@lemmy.world
    5·
    1 month ago

    PPSSPP and Dolphin. Playing through the entirety of Paper Mario: TTYD, Luigis mansion, Sims 2, and Killzone wasted a good chunk of idle time for me.

    • 🎨 Elaine Cortez 🇨🇦 @lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      1 month ago

      Dolphin is honestly such a cool emulator. I also love how it’s technically two emulators at once! Never had a single issue with any of the games I’ve played on it. It’s so solid

  • Lemisset@lemmy.world
    4·
    1 month ago

    I read lots of books. Libby is an app to electronically check out books from your local library for free. You can also read lots of amateur stories online on various sites. Royal Road has been one of my favorite sites for regular stories that you can read in public.

  • Banana@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    1 month ago

    I do solitaire, cryprograms, crossword and mahjong, and sometimes I’ll read creepypastas from the archive like I used to do in highschool

    Other than that if I know I’ll have to wait somewhere and occupy myself I bring a book with me.