What do you do in the evening?

[800msprint]

I've got into a rut. Kids go to bed. I slump on the sofa, dick about on my phone and watch crap tv. I want to do something better with my hour or two of peace! What do you do in the evenings? Need some inspiration!

I am the same 🙈
I have tried the following: drawing, painting, reading, writing a diary, learning to play the piano, baking... But always returned to the TV 😅

I knit while watching trash telly

I'm wfh, tv is a great way to turn off without having to makeanything happen, but it can also be lost time, so when my day finishes I go for a walk and/or sit in the garden. At least if I've done that I feel less bad about vegging in front of the telly.

I get home just after 6, my fiancée cooks us dinner, we eat that, I tidy the kitchen up, put the dishwasher on etc, we then take our dog for a long walk around the local park and woods, get back home around 8, I make us some tea/coffee and we watch tv/go on our phones until about ten, then we have a shower and go to bed, I read my book/watch YouTube etc and we both go to sleep for about 11pm. We do this pretty much every weekday evening, sounds boring, but we don’t really have time for much else!

Walk the dogs, do some meditation, journal a bit or do some reading.
Other nights we just chill in front of the TV and dick about on our phones too.

Watch tv, phones, probably eat too much chocolate. Sometimes I colour, study free online courses if I can be arsed

Go for a run often with a friend, do yoga, make elaborate food most evenings, try and read 50 odd pages of a book.

Writing, researching and some dicking about on my phone and watching box sets with DD

Go to the gym, for a run, meet friends, out for dinner with DH ( and DT’s if they are interested). Other than the news, not really a tv watcher.

Evenings are for relaxing, which at the moment is making dinner and me and my daughter watch a few episodes of a box set (at the moment doing ER and Downton Abby). She retires about 10 and I do kitchen tidy and head up to read a few chapters in my book.
I'm busy enough during the day, I just want to chill in the evenings.

Not a great deal, have a beer once my son is in bed, play piano, xbox, read, waste far too much of my life on the internet.

From tomorrow I am having limits on the internet, I’m going for an hour a day tops. Might die 😂

I read, knit and watch telly whilst drinking white wine. I also play sad games on my tablet, look at knitting and food porn

I think it depends on what you do all day! If you’re working all day then slobbing infront of the tv isn’t so terrible.

As pps have said exercise, reading, knitting or crafting are all things you could do if you feel you need to be more productive with your time.

Drink wine and watch reruns of Gavin and Stacey 😂

Some nice ideas. I think the trouble is I'm just so zonked. I've got two young ish kids and work part time. I feel I'm getting more addicted to my phone though and want to reduce mindlessly scrolling.

Netflix!
But I like upcycling furniture and gardening so I usually start Netflix from about 9.30pm. But I don't feel guilty if I watch it most evenings. It's good to switch off from work/ dc etc.

@MrsT1405

I read, knit and watch telly whilst drinking white wine. I also play sad games on my tablet, look at knitting and food porn

You must be my long lost twin!

I’ve taken up knitting during lockdown, I’m crap at it but all my family are getting scarfs and fingerless gloves for Christmas!

Maybe have a social media break in that case OP. Use the time doing something that makes you feel good

@pasteldechocolateconchispa where do you find free courses?

OP, I do pretty much the same as you. Sometimes I have a sewing project on the go, so will do any hand sewing/pinning with the tv on for noise. Sometimes I read. Other times I'm on the hunt for a new project or something to do so scroll Pinterest for hours.

Very occasionally I'll write plans for my Rainbows and Guides but tend to do these better on an early evening while the girls shower.

Other than that, I slob in my chair, faffing about on my phone!

Tv,go for a walk or I read. Have you looked into maybe doing a distance learning course?

A typical week for me would be;

Mon - dog walk with a friend for about 1.5 hours, exercise and chat.
Tue - dog agility for 1.5 hours
Wed - bridge club for 2 hours (not happening atm)
Thu - watch tv & browse the internet, maybe dog walk with friend
Fri - DP comes over, we watch tv
Sat - sometimes go out with DP, meal, cinema etc, or stay in and watch a film.
Sun - Sunday roast at my parents followed by cards

Tonight: read, drank coffee, put in our Sainsbury's order, and are going for late night walk shortly.

Really varies though, I'm not always very productive and admire people who make the most of their minutes.

Watch TV, read my book, do some embroidery

Do an online yoga or pilates session.

I try to make sure I read for half hour to and hour each day. Sometimes it feels a chore but mainly enjoy it.

I also veg in front of the tv but noticed a while ago that I never felt fully rested or relaxed from this. I try and watch more shows with subtitles now as this means I can't 'double screen' and actually just become engrossed and properly relaxed. Plus I get to feel smug about being able to talk about all the foreign dramas I know (yes, this passes as intellectual in my social circle).

Netflix is great for foreign dramas and once you're more disciplined about actually watching tv not being on your phone at the same time its equally enjoyable watching english language.

That mindless scrolling is addictive and soul destroying but requires a huge effort to actually stop. I try to leave my phone in the kitchen so not tempted fiddle about on it.

Things I do in the evening depending on day/week:
Yoga - either class on zoom or YouTube
Book club meetings - zoom
Occasional zoom group chats
Watch tv - usually a box set so can binge watch or a film
Read - if I don't read during the evening, I still always read once in bed
Bake
Jigsaw