Instead of losing your mind in quarantine, train it with some new hobbies.
Being normal is so 2019. In this unprecedented time, it’s hard to know what to do. You can only watch Netflix so much, and you’ve already reorganized your house 10 times over. While quarantine has locked us away in our houses, some people have rediscovered the benefits of hobbies. If fighting boredom wasn’t a good enough reason to try your hand at baking, it is extremely beneficial to your mental health, too.
A 2015 study by Matthew J. Zawadzki found people who spend time doing a hobby or hobbies tend to be less depressed, have better cardiovascular health, less stress, and lower risks of dementia. You can start a new hobby at any age, but it’s easier before age 25 to learn hobbies and new skills.
Over quarantine, Taylor Gillespie, a Ball State University junior, was glued to TikTok, like all of us. After following @couponwithkayla, she decided to give it a try for herself. Besides, what college student doesn’t want to save money?
“After declaring that I wanted to learn to coupon, I went to the store the next day,” Taylor says. “I did a very small transaction, only using one or two coupons. About a month later, I did a huge transaction using about eighteen or twenty coupons, both digital and paper. Overall, I jumped right into this hobby, however, it took me about 3-4 weeks to do it well.”
Taylor started out saving a few dollars here and there, but now she’s making money off of her math skills. Couponing takes a lot of planning, math, and shopping, Taylor says. Planning and prepping the trips are especially important in our quarantined world.
“It has been very challenging for me to find cashiers who don’t hate coupons,” Taylor says. “It was difficult for me to realize that this type of couponing is not for me. I already have anxiety, and the fear of getting caught misusing coupons made my couponing trips 100 times more stressful. I have also had trouble buying the right number of coupons. However, I have started asking for coupons from people who get them in the paper like my grandparents and parents or even their neighbors.”
This past summer, Taylor stepped her couponing up to the next level. She was making daily trips and was reselling stuff at the end of the week to help pay the bills. Finally doing something rather than just watching TikTok helped Taylor get through her quarantine. Finding something to do was just what the mental health doctors ordered. Just like Ball State freshman Eli Sparks.
“I had procrastinated a graduation gift for my best friend, and the night before on a whim, I decided I was going to make her a nice rosary,” Eli says. “I had no idea how to make a rosary, but I was locked in. I went to YouTube, watched a few videos, drove over to Jo-Ann Fabrics, and the rest was history.”
For Eli, choosing a hobby to preoccupy his quarantine was easy. He wanted to focus on his religious devotion and appreciation for traditional liturgical art. Creating rosaries was a way for him to practice his faith and give back to his family and friends, on a college student’s budget.
“It was easy to get into because I felt that it was meaningful work,” Eli says, “I could work on it for several hours without wanting to stop and take a break. Initially, I was not as efficient, but as I continued, I became quicker.”
According to Ball State professor of sociology Melinda Messineo, people choose certain hobbies based on expression. Hobbies provide a creative extension of who you are, they are a form of personal expression and create a distinctive space for this expression.
“We never know when our physical and mental capacity will change so we want to have lots of hobbies to help us stay engaged. We want to have hobbies that can age with us,” Messineo says. “You want to do it long enough so you are in flow, but not so long that you become bored. You also want to make sure that your involvement is not negatively impacting other aspects of your life like work, finances, socializing with friends, family responsibilities, etc.”
According to Messineo, hobbies are a great way to relax, but it’s also important to stay committed to interacting with others.
“Humans are innately social and we need that connection for our physical and mental well-being,” Messineo says. “Having a sense of belonging is crucial for mental and physical health.”
The next time you go to bake a batch of cookies, build a rosary chain, or snap a picture, consider posting it online.
You don’t have to be alone in this pandemic, someone will always be there to share a hobby. Go grab your mask, find a craft store, and start something new. Or you can scrounge up supplies hiding in that drawer of old school supplies. Your brain, heart, and new Insta followers will thank you later.
