To ask if you are happy in your own company what do you do

[AmanitaRubescens]

DD(16) busy with studying, training, socialising and work.

DH busy volunteering and has got a new hobby that gets him out of the house.

So I'm spending increasing amounts of time alone. I meet friends for dog walks or coffee.

Interested to hear what people do if they enjoy longish periods of time alone. I expect I will, once it becomes the norm

I love a bit of alone time. I use it to go for walks, meet friends, read etc. But I also use it to catch up on housework and batch cooking so that when my kids and husband are actually around I can enjoy their company and be more available for them. My circumstances have changed only very recently which allow me to have some alone time so it's still very new to me and I'm loving it! Up to a few months ago I never used to get a single minute to myself.

I work, volunteer, craft, walk,wild swim, read, paint, print, garden, help with PTA, run a book group and spend a lot of time on Pinterest.

7 mile hikes!!! Spin classes. Facials.

I have a lot of alone time.
I cycle. I try to get 50+ miles in and often cycle to the coast, go to a cafe and cycle back.
I swim
I go to the gym
I go to the cinema and theatre. The matinee mid week theatre tickets are usually cheap so I'll get a train to the city and make a day if it, usually once a month.
I go walking and hiking. The hiking I usually plan a ' big day out' and go to the bigger hills and mountains ( I dont recommend this unless you are very competent with a map and have the right kit)
I mumsnet ( a bit too much recently)
On rainy days I like being in the house by myself watching old black and white movies or films noone else is interested in watching.
That's about it really.

I often do nothing... just sit, watch the birds, stroke the dog, truly relax.

Listen to audio books normally while doing something else like jigsaw, walk etc. Projects round house that I never normally get time for, baking, catching up on TV that I actually like, planning perfect trip away once covid over, online quizzes, sorting out digital photos to make albums, exercising, treat myself to magazine and sit in coffee shop, mooch round shops, Bath with good book
I am very happy in my own company I love meeting friends and family but also love space on my own. I only get odd few hours on my own which I treasure.

I read, write, play piano, meet friends and watch tv, go for walks, knit. And then stupid housework, cooking etc. I have two kids as well.

My DH has done regular stints working abroad (was at home for a year when each child was born)since we moved in together 20 years ago so I'm used to it.
I love having the bed to myself and having a balance between pleasing myself with what I have for tea, what I watch on tv and doing stuff together.
Best of both worlds imo.
I only don't like it if he has to go somewhere a bit scary eg I wasn't keen on him going to Cairo (there was some political unrest there at the time). But mostly he goes to ok, interesting places and if it's a new place to him he takes lots of pictures and brings presents. From Tokyo we got a selection of exotic flavoured kitkats

I love time alone (prefer it actually ), I do get lots of time alone as my DS is now working & living away from home & DH often works away. I work part time so have plenty of time to myself.

I do volunteering and meeting friends for coffee, some not much walking, but I enjoy visiting places on my own - different towns, National Trust places etc. I like mooching round charity shops. I am quite happy doing not very much a lot of the time . I spend time with my elderly mum - she has recently been widowed after 60+ years of marriage but is, fortunately, amazingly happy & confident in her own company.

I'm actually rather worried about my lifestyle after DH retires next year ... .

Do you not work?
I love gardening. I can potter for hours in the garden.
If I didn't work I would do more volunteering.

Ds 18 moved out last month. I hate to say it but I love being alone! Never lonely. I lived alone for 10 years before I had him. I study and prepare lessons (teacher training) I eat when I want and talk to the dog if he’s her, and to myself and the robotic hoover if he’s not! I’m very happy 😊 Not that I wasn’t happy living with DS I must add!

Do you not work

Yes but not at the weekends.

@BeyondMyWits

I often do nothing... just sit, watch the birds, stroke the dog, truly relax.

More people need to lear to so nothing and how important it is 😁

Op, read, nothing, study, play a pc game, watch a movie, gardening.
Just nice and relax

I spend time with my elderly mum - she has recently been widowed after 60+ years of marriage but is, fortunately, amazingly happy & confident in her own company

That's lovely - what's her secret?

I can't remember what alone time feels like as DS is 3 and at a very, erm, "active" stage! But if I book a day off when he's at nursery I go shopping, read, go to the cinema, and sometimes organise my clothes/shoes.

I absolutely love being alone, but I don't get to do it much

I listen to podcasts
Go to the gym
Go for pretty walks
Visit the library
Buy a newspaper and read it in a coffee shop
Read
Watch Netflix
Play video games
Do wider reading for my work that interests me

Do you find it hard to relax OP?

What did you do with your DH & DD when they were round, can you do the same sort of thing or is just 'being with other people' that you miss?

You could always volunteer at a charity shop at weekends, I manage a charity shop and it is often hard to find volunteers at weekends- you could offer every other Saturday morning for example if you didn't want to over commit. Choose your shop carefully to make sure you like the ethos/fit of the team. I have a couple of volunteers who work full time in the week but love doing something completely different at weekends.

I am a single parent of young kids and work so my alone time (when they are with their dad) is filled with housework, socialising and sleeping but if I have any extended time I do odd jobs around the house, gardening, swimming and caring for older family members. I like to go on holiday on my own occasionally so my free time can be spent relaxing rather than being sucked up by drudgery. I prefer to be on my own (when not with my kids) than with other people.

My mothers 'secret' is that she always had plenty of friends, interests of her own etc Although she & my DF had a happy marriage they were absolutely not joined at the hip ... they did plenty of things separately.

She also did tons of volunteering... so many different things over the years ... this week I had to gently suggest that at nearly 89 she really was a little too old to volunteer in my charity shop . She will even now look out for new opportunities and groups to join, she's just about to join a new Bridge Club.

I like train travel and luckily we've got interesting places within reach. At spring I like to go to see the daffodil/Spring flower displays. In summer it's summery things. Christmas it's Christmas markets/stately homes. All with theatre thrown in. I love days doing nothing but reading and watching rubbish TV like a 'below decks' or four in a bed series. I've got back into fitness, so there's some of that everyday.

I love spending time alone... as a single Mum I don't get much chance to be completely alone in the house, but on the rare occasion that the kids are with their Dad I am increasingly finding I opt for staying at home by myself over seeing friends/ going places. I relax and read mostly and quietly get in with any chores at my own lace with lots of downtime!

I am generally a bit unsociable and lazy though when I get the freedom to be so...

The other thing to do is to have a list of little things to try that you have not done before.

It might be as simple as cooking something you haven't had before or making something or walking somewhere you haven't been while taking photos or trying a sport or hiring a bike or taking the train. Essentially anything you haven't done before. It is liberating and makes you more optimistic. You may also find something you love along the way.

Alone time is a looong distant memory as I have a 15 month old but before she was born I used to work part time and on my days off I’d go for a run or take a yoga class, complete sewing projects and go into town to meet friends for lunch. I also volunteered from time to time at my local school and nursery and I regularly dog sat for a pug on borrow my doggie.

Read

I had a great day alone yesterday. (I don’t work Mondays) I got DC off to school then went back to bed for 3 hours, had a leisurely bacon sandwich breakfast, took the dog for a lovely long walk then spent a couple of hours doing the garden. I was hauling the lawnmower up and down the garden, arms aching, covered in grass and I just thought “I’m so fucking happy” my Monday’s off are a new thing and I had planned to get lots of housework and shopping done but yesterday I thought fuck it, I’m not doing any chores. I think this is the plan for Monday’s going forward. But for now, I must go to work

I read, garden, cook, go for walks, watch TV progs that DH doesn’t like but I do. If I can cut my work hours in a few years’ time I would like to get back into art or sewing.