I need something to do in the evenings

[Britishsummertime22]

Single, no kids. Get home from work normally about half four. Once I've eaten and showered there's still a lot of time until bed. Sometimes I'll ring a family member or friend, one night a week I go to the gym (not feeling like going to the gym more) so I feel a bit of a loss really. End up watching tv and/or scrolling. I tried colouring/online scrabble/online games but just feel bored and lonely. My friends and family are all busy with family life.

How about jigsaw puzzles? Do you like gardening? You could grow some seeds. If you like cooking you could then try out some new recipes with what you have grown.

Do you like crafting or being creative? I do various craft stuff on evenings in.

I go for a swim 3 times a week. It means I can shower there and get into bed clean and relaxed. I often go to the cinema by myself too. There’s a posh one near here, with sofas and side tables. I get a nice coffee and some warm biscuits to have as I watch ☺️.

Honestly, I hate exercise 😂 I go to one gym class once a week and I have to absolutely force myself every week. I've tried different classes, don't like any of them. Don't get the buzz from exercise some people talk about unfortunately. Yes could go for a walk but where I live I would just be walking the streets and that's not enjoyable either!

I felt the same, I'm married, no kids but husband does shifts, so every other week I'm home on my own, and while that doesn't bother me, my evenings can get repetitive. Here are some things that I do/did:
Got a cat (understand that's not for everyone 😂)
Read books and get really into them
Cook
Bake
Exercise classes that I actually enjoy, such as Bounce
Long baths with nice products like Lush, or hair masks
I find it tricky to find hobbies that don't involve me spending ££££ on accessories tbh, but needle felting is also very enjoyable

@TheChosenTwo meant to tag you in reply

I've got a cat but he's really timid and just hides most of the time. I've tried everything to make him less timid and more sociable. I don't have a bath anymore sadly because I loved baths.

Are your friends and family all at the young children stage OP? Have you asked if anyone fancies meeting up in the evening? And if none of your existing friends want to meet up then maybe have a look at some other meet-ups- there are quite a few different sites on Facebook for women to meet up with others in their area. Or, as another poster has said WI has lots if different groups even in one area. Do you like music? Theatre? Cinema?

Yeah they are all at the young kids stage

I hate the gym and jogging but love most kinds of team sports. If you tried a sport like pickleball where others might be new to it too, you could have a laugh, get a bit of exercise and make friends. Even something like skittles or croquet or boules are great. It isn’t about getting sweaty, just being social with a bunch of people who also want to be social.

Sod sitting around at home “crafting”, life’s too short to pretend to be in little house on the prairie.

Plan a holiday ? It doesn't even have to be real, I have roped in someone I see regularly into this little pipe dream. We look at hotels we might stay in, towns we would like to see etc. It is never going to happen without a substantial lottery win, but its fun imagining it !

Are you happy being single ? If not why don't you write a wish list of what you want from your ideal man/women and dip your toe into OLD ? You don't have to meet anyone but you could see who was out there ?

Volunteer ? have a look at what organisation's there are locally that might need your help ?

Start a group, people who don't know how to fill the time between finishing work and going to bed, maybe all meet up for a walk or a chat in a pub, you are probably not alone in being alone ?

Do a course, Futurelearn have a lot of courses that cover a myriad of different subjects ?

I'm usually fine if I have a busy day. I am a bit bored tonight though. Good idea to try your local WI. A book group is a good idea too.

I crochet or knit and listen/watch TV and I am now buried in blankets but still get excited by new projects. It feels meaningful to make something practical. I also in the summer sit at the kitchen table and do jigsaws. It's easier if you live alone and don't need to keep putting it away, or I've just started a diamond painting which feels like similar sort of mindless thing. I love it, I listen to podcasts or free audio books when I do it and it helps clear my mind after work and stop the anxiety/doom I feel when I have evenings scrolling. I think you might need to try a few things to find your niche

I know you said you don’t like exercising but if you like music what about one of those Discocise classes they even do them in the dark with glow sticks (could be fun/enjoyable)
craft clssses
swimming
if you have a car - go to a large park , till it gets a bit lighter go after work
box set Netflix
gardening / when it’s a bit warmer

I took some evening classes in dressmaking.

I was fun learning to use a sewing machine and making my first skirt. Made a few friends on the course.

A decade or so down the line and I can pretty much make anything I want. Some projects take an evening (a skirt or a top) some take several weeks (a fitted wool coat or a bag with lots of different pockets).

Dressmaking is the main hobby but it forks off into lots of other hobbies like shopping for fabric, shopping for patterns, instagramming stuff you have made, browsing other sewists instagram pages, stroking the fabric you own and making plans for it etc, going to the big shows at ally pally etc to mingle with other sewists.

Best of all you can watch TV and drink wine while you do it.

Evening course -face to face
Evening fitness classes
Paint and drink evening
jogging club
Walking? Any of your friends got a dog you could join them.
I would think about your interests and build from there. Have you tried meet up or groups similar?

I re-covered some 2nd hand Ercol furniture!

What are your interests? I think you need to find a group or club related to that as otherwise you are very isolated. Social interactions are proven to benefit good health, life expectancy and mental wellbeing in general.

I'm like you, I don't love exercise! But... I started a beginner's yoga class 4 years ago and found it really hard at first, stuck with it and after a few weeks I started to really love it. It feels really good to stretch and use muscles you don't normally use and it unwinds my brain too, always feel much more chilled afterwards! And as a bonus, I'm definitely more flexible and stronger.

I would look locally at what's on - evening classes, ladies clubs, arts and crafts, quizzing, reading groups. I'm sure you can find something you're interested in and it's a great way to meet people too.

Why not have a pamper night once a week, give yourself a nice facial scrub and mask, hair conditioning treatment and hand and foot treatments? You can buy those moisturising booties in home bargains for a couple of quid, give your feet a good scrub/pumice then put the booties on and put some fluffy socks on. After an hour you'll have lovely soft feet! Dry them off and paint your toenails a pretty colour ☺️

It all depends on the kind of thing you like OP. Do you like mixing with people or happy in your own company?
book group
Walking group
Cooking classes
Any local colleges who offer discount beauty treatments/ or our college had a lovely restaurant one night a week where the food tech (?) Students would cook a meal at for the general public as part of their course.
Volunteering
Listening to Podcasts
Pamper night
Sound bath /meditation groups or home mediation type stuff
Pub quiz
Mystery shopper (dunno if they still do this)

What do you like doing?

I'm also single with kids and will rejoin a running club when the clocks go back.

Since September I've been learning bridge. I love cards. Was so nervous going to a class alone. Met 3 other women and love it. We have such a laugh. Bridge is hard but great fun if you're a card player. And very sociable if you start playing duplicate competitions. Look it up.

Knitting or crochet.

@Franjipanl8r

"Sod sitting around at home “crafting”, life’s too short to pretend to be in little house on the prairie." Love this! (Crafter)

Also, as a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, I recommend reading the entire series of books. Brilliant and fascinating if you'd like to know how to build a log cabin from scratch, make a fish trap, train an ox to pull a plough, best way to eat a carrot, etc. Less cross-stitch than you might imagine... 😀

Have a look at languageforfun.org they have face to face and online French, Spanish and Italian classes all over the country, just for fun, not for exans etc. Very sociable.

Also I recommend joining a choir (even if you don't think you can sing). You'll probably find several in your area, so you can find one that suits. Mine is very friendly and a great way to mert people. Plus it's good for you in lots of ways, especially mental health.

If I'm at a loose end I go to the cinema. A monthly pass for mine is only £15 and its perfectly normal to go alone.

If I was in your position I think I'd want to have something physical /practical and something quiet to do at home. Then something sociable and something quiet to do outside the home.

So physical at home could be gardening, yoga, cleaning, decorating, dancing. Quiet could be reading, crafting, an online class.

Then out of the home. You could do exercise, walk a neighbours dog, go to a class or meet up. Quiet you could do cinema, theatre, museums, photography.

Have you considered computer games? There are so many genres and when you find the right one you will lose hours to it.