AIBU to ask for mentally stimulating solo activities at home?

[Searchingforananswer2023]

Living alone, no friends or family and I was wondering if you have any suggestions for actives to do when alone at home. I have just bought a game of Bananagrams on Vinted as I can complete that alone. What else do you do that is mentally stimulating and can be done alone? I am looking for activities that I can get absorbed in

The following are a given: reading, watching a series, word searches, cooking, jigsaw, listening to music, knitting.

Am I missing something else?

Would you take up an instrument?

Family history

Music
eg playing an instrument, singing, writing
learning a new language (I use Duolingo and put Netflix in German/whatever language)

people with better motor skills than me do cross stitch or embroidery or knitting.

Buy yourself a set of acrylic paints, some paper and brushes and start painting. You can lose yourself for hours, it's relaxing and you will create paintings which will bring you joy.

MetaQuest VR headset

Online chess

Lego!

Are you interested in anything creative eg writing, drawing, craft kits etc?

I like zen word and the other brain type puzzles on my phone.

There are tons of videogames based around puzzles and strategy. I love spending a day getting lost in a new world and figuring it all out.

I've done that and have to wait until 2027 for new census records to come out online - it's a good thing to do though.

Guardian crossword.
Or Times.

Cryptic crosswords. The guardians "quick cryptic" series is aimed at beginners.

Learn a new language, book a trip to that country for a future holiday if you can.

Writing a diary, any craft, gardening, yoga, crosswords.

Writing

dance

My fave thing to do EVER is a game my phone called Songpop. They play a small snippet of a song and you have to guess either the artist or the title. Fastest finger wins. Game starts on a Monday and you play all week until the following Monday. Been playing 17 years, I’ve made a couple real life friends from it as it has a chat feature.

Learn stained glass making, a couple of short courses will be enough for you to carry on at home if you buy the equipment and you don't have to be arty to do it.

Video games

I have thought about this but I feel too old. I also work so lessons would be hard to attend. I would love to play the harp, but it's hard and expensive.

The Happy Puzzle company have got some good things which can be done individually. Rush Hour & Genius Star are the two whose name I remember.
Learn Bridge and then play online
Play board games online. There are all sorts of options including Scrabble, Monopoly & Catan
Is there any sort of online tutoring you could provide?
Solving cold cases (I’ve never met anyone who does this but it seems to have formed the basis of some podcasts I’ve listened to so people must actually do it. I have no idea how you’d start!)
Some sort of lobbying or petitioning
Ancestry
Learning an instrument or a language

We snapped on the crossword.
But I can endorse the language suggestion. Duolingo is free and fun.

I do the following:

Pencil sketching (loads of tutorials on YouTube and Tik Tok)

Piano

Duolingo (Japanese)

Audiobooks paired with manual activities (chores/cooking/cross stitch)

Gardening

Every year I choose a theme and go down the rabbit hole all year. Researching/attending talks/museums etc). Everything from Pompeii to Opera and Martial Arts.

Study cuisine techniques - sourdoughs/sushi/onigrini/stocks etc.

This year I'm going to try and write letters for significant moments for DC

I started Duolingo ages ago and had to give up. Thanks for reminding me. German is my language of choice too.

I like dance work outs, trying to remember the routine is a mental challenge! And small DIY projects. I’m about to start stripping and sanding my staircase banister next week. Also have a small project mosaic-ing a small piece to go above my outside sink. I’m not talented enough to display inside! mosaic isn’t easy.

Is this an app? How do I get this?