To ask those of you with an analog bag that’s working- what’s in it?

[S3mple]

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jan/09/rise-of-analogue-bag-fashion-answer-to-doomscrolling

I’ve seen this idea online and think it’s a great idea. Trying to use things I’ve already got but has anybody who is having success with this got anything particularly good in theirs?

Not a bag but I’ve been doing a cosy colouring book since Christmas.

I take my knitting with me most places.

Is it helping not to doomscroll?

I crochet.

I have books, smaller paperback when out
Will buy an analogue newspaper or newspaper when out, we read it as a family and do the puzzles always have so it’s not like it’s something new

And have a sketchbook and kit

Yes this reduces screen time

My journal and a novel

Where do you do these activities?

Well they are not in a bag, but within easy reach and often used I have books, sudoku, playing cards, crochet, fidgets, chess board, sketch book.

A book. To read while the DC run around the park. One day I'll add a mini sketching kit.

Surely it's just a handbag?

I always take my book with me wherever I go unless it's just to the supermarket or a gym class

Same places you can doomscroll

You can doom scroll anywhere but you can’t necessarily paint draw and sketch anywhere.

I can’t think of many places where I couldn’t draw. Maybe a couple where I couldn’t paint?

If it’s handbag then mine would be novel, sudoku, mini sketch book and pocket kite.

There’s no need to be rude @InterestingDuck - this was a harmless and inoffensive thread. It’s not on calling people thick.

Apologies, the comment was aimed at the article, not the OP. Although I apologise for any offence to the OP, I don't apologise for expressing an opinion on the article.

I'm reposting to make it clear I'm talking about the article and will ask for previous comment to be withdrawn.

Talk about reinventing the wheel 😂
It's a handbag containing things you might need such as women have been using since handbags were invented.
The fact that some people, for a relatively short period of the handbag's existence, might have been putting less in their handbags and relying on mobile phones instead, does not mean that the handbag as a container of things you might need had become extinct and needed a rebirth as an 'analogue bag'.
I really hate this sort of thick-person journalism - unable to comprehend that more than one way of going about daily life can exist.

Actually @InterestingDuck , while one poster suggested it could be a handbag, the article is referring to the idea of having a dedicated bag of analogue activities which could be used instead of reaching for your phone.

So, for someone who usually uses their phone at home on the sofa, it might be a different type of container instead of a handbag. It could be a handbag if you usually use your phone when out and about.

The idea is to just have things to stop you doom scrolling, not keys, make up and other hand bag crap etc but a collection of things to keep your hands busy to hand. It’s becoming popular amongst younger generations who have never lived without phones too and I think it’s a great idea.

The idea of keeping your 'analogue activities' in a container at home is even less novel, unless you habitually leave your knitting strewn over the living room carpet or your books hung over the lampshade or your notepad and pencils scattered across the sofa.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jan/15/whats-in-our-analog-bags

I keep a thin paperback in my work bag to read in my lunchbreak if I don't have errands to run in town. I generally have a book with me for medical appointments too. That's it really. I can't read on a bus but will stare out of the window listen to other people's conversations rather than scroll on my phone as much as possible.
Surely you can't sketch anywhere you have to stand?

Haven’t read the article in full and don’t have a bag but I have a few things next to the dining room table for me and DS to play to reduce his (and probably mine too!) screen time.

A deck of cards - taught him how to play solitaire
Two decks of top trumps (yes they’re ’educational’ ones but he still enjoys them)
Connect 4 (oldie but a goodie)
A joke book and a ‘would you rather’ book

Seems to be working really well so far.

Books, a paperback isn't much bigger than a phone. I always read on the train and I've had to be in hospital a fair bit over the last year. I read before bed on my lunch break. I also do quiet reading with ds we snuggle up on the sofa and both read our books. It's just nice