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?

Houseplants.

So many you can grow. From ones that are super easy to care for like spider plants and peace lilies to others where you so much as look at them the wrong way, they will wilt and die…looking at you maidenhair fern and streptocarpus!!

It can be a real challenge to keep them all going, learning about feeding etc but it means your home looks beautiful and you learn something. There’s so many different ways to display them too.

You already read so what about starting a book journal?

The OU have free courses and there are various MOOCs if you want to learn something random.

Learn some magic tricks?

Yes, this is a great answer.

If you like games, Board Game Arena hosts digitised versions of physical board and card games. Some you can play solo, but you can also play multiplayer games in either real- time or more slowly over a week or so.

You can join games with a free account. A premium account is pretty reasonably priced and means you can access all the content and start games for other people to join.

I also find YouTube yoga videos very mentally demanding because I'm so bloody clumsy. Takes my full attention not to trip over into the coffee table. That might just be me though.

Tangram. It's a geometric puzzle using 7 pieces to form various shapes.

A new, to me, word puzzle, which I’m finding quite a challenge:
www.parseword.com

Love to do cross stitch. I have the tv pn for background noise but I love seeing a pattern come together. I feel a great sense of achievement when i finish a project.

@IceBrowniei love the idea of your yearly theme

Another vote here for cryptics. The Quiptic in the Guardian is a good one for beginners. And, dare I say it, The Sun - not the classiest examples of clues but it's pretty good for spotting the different components.

Also boardgamearena. It's free to join and play all sorts of board games online with other people in real time. There's so many to choose from, you can play snap or Catan or poker - whatever you like.

You could spend hours on Pokemon Pokopia on the Switch 2. Even when you complete the story part, there’s still hours of gameplay left.

@Searchingforananswer2023 thank you for starting this thread. I set myself a challenge of reading 50 books in the year to the end of Aug, but I might get distracted now. I'm inspired.

Hi op, I am 46 and also work full time. I've just started learning the cello - I know I'll learn slowly because I don't have hours to practice but I have enough time to go a little a day and I have a half hour lesson on a Friday night. I just wanted to reassure you you aren't too old, even though most of the other students where I have my lesson are children, the school and my tutor were more than happy to take me!

I am very sorry for your loss. I hope the diversions are helping x

We've got to keep our minds occupied and active. I am recently bereaved and trying not to sink amidst my grief and new life alone.

I would love to learn the harp but it is so expensive. Someone recommended the lyre and they are roughly £60 and I can teach myself. I am seriously considering buying one, but maybe for the winter when I will naturally be in the house more anyway. Best of luck with the cello.

So off the back of this thread I have:

Ordered a dot to dot book
Got my bananagrams on the way
Joined an online book club and am reading the book ready for the meeting.
Found lots of online puzzles/games through your recommendations and have had a go.
Ive ordered a very basic cross stitch pattern (to make a card)
Am considering purchasing a lyre (mini harp)

Thank you and can I recommend Vinted for crafting bits, puzzle books, games etc to you all as I've done all of the above for £10 (not the lyre)

My son is at uni and so I am (a single mum) home alone. I work full time.

I tend to listen to audiobooks and enjoy playing games on my ipad like scrabble or chess. I also play computer games from time to time like sims4 and two point hospital. I go through phases then won’t play for a while. I plan to exercise more (though it’s not my favourite thing yet) and walk and play with my dog. I sometimes do puzzle books.

I am dabbling with growing things but have had little success so joined Pot Gang for a couple of months where they send you boxes with everything you need and really good instructions. I am going to have a go at growing salad and herbs this year and generally make my garden nicer. I am also decluttering.

Some other things I am considering are duolingo, sketching, colouring (which I used to enjoy), reading actual books not just audio books and painting. I am also doing some studying with work but quite fancy revisiting gcses maths.

There are some really good ideas here. Good luck in finding something to suit you OP. I am sorry for your loss.

What about getting a ready serviced/ ready to use singer 99 hand crank sewing machine? You can make lots of things very slowly. Can be bought from dealers on eBay or Facebook and there’s lots of online support.

This is one 😊. Great fun building.

Please keep us updated @Searchingforananswer2023 and @LadyMacbethWasFierce on how your projects are going.

I've been keeping a One Paragraph a Day journal for the last 13 years and it helps me record ups and downs.

I have bought a new Leuchtturm 1917 notebook yesterday with a matching pencil in a red & blue Bauhaus design (everything starts with a dot) & I'm plotting what to do with them.

DH does chess puzzles. If he gets them correct he moves up a percentage. I do Fantasy Football and in April I'll do a Fantasy IPL team. DS's do them too and we all try to get highest score but you can do them on your own to try to get a daily highest score. In April/May you could do some nice colourful planters for outside your front door and back garden.

As per pp Duolingo - do you speak Spanish?

UCAT assessments are great fun, really taxes the mind.

grow indoor plants, fruit? Tomatoes? On window sills.

Pilates or online exercise groups? Les Mills is half price at the moment

A course through the OU?

They do some free short courses or you can do anything from a level 1 stand alone module right up to a Masters depending on funding and your current level of education and interest.

Cross stitch, can get printed easy to follow kits so no need to count stitches.
Online scrabble.

I do pc gaming - I'm running a little youtube channel on the side, and my social hobby is carriage driving once a week.