What hobby can I take up?

[Mallowmarshmallow]

In the Christmas thread with the intention of basing present requests upon it....

I'm mid 30s, two under 5s, work part time and would like to take up a hobby I can do at home in the evenings as I waste far too much time being non productive on my phone.

I don't like watching tv any more as I struggle to concentrate on anything, love to read but suffer similar issues. I'm not artistic so definitely not drawing related.

Bonus points if it's portable so I could do it on the train/flights on business trips abroad....

Crochet
Needlefelting
Calligraphy
Baking

Knitting
Sudoko
Crochet
Reading
Quilting
Online games community, chess, backgammon etc.

I've recently taken up baking, it's actually a lot more enjoyable and even feels quite calming because I'm doing it for fun so it doesn't matter too much if I mess up, I'm not fussy, cake is cake so I'll it eat no matter
It's fun to do with kids too, but I often leave the decorating bit for once my DS has gone to bed, I say it's to surprise him in the morning with how 'amazing' it ended up looking, but it's really because I love the piping bit and don't want him distracting me or messing up the perfect frosting swirls by trying to get involved

Definitely crochet! When I had my son I swapped from sewing to crochet as I could easily do it in front of the TV, which was a bonus

Look at Bella Coco on You Tube to get going, also Attic 24 has some great blanket patterns when you're ready for that.

Golf on Wii...although not sure how that would work on a plane/train!
Yoga - same tho ^
Do ppl still do scrapbooking?
I just crocheted a poppy for remembrance, and found crocheting quite easy.

Houseplants or succulents?

The problems with concentration could well be related to spending too much time on your phone. There’s an interesting article about the effect of the internet on concentration.

Crochet, knitting or drop spinning all have a comforting rhythm to them once you get past the initial learning stage. Crochet is probably the easiest to get started on (and the initial outlay is low if you don’t take to it).

You may find that it becomes easier to concentrate on tv or an audio book once you have a rhythm going. I heard Donna Williams speak once about tapping and self-stimulating behaviors in asd, and she made the point that while to a neurotypical person that fidgeting looked like the person was distracted and not listening, it was actually enhancing concentration. I’ve used it (discreetly) myself at times.

You might like to try crosswords too. They have a way of taking over that part of your brain that niggles away at stuff so instead of having work problems bugging you, your brain is occupied working out a word for xxx is seven letters beginning with -

Embroidery!

Needle felting. Lots of kits available to get going. Don't get one with beautifully colourful mohair though. It takes forever to felt. Or buy a book and some wool from wingham wool works.

Adult colouring books.
Cooking - maybe try out a new main course every week.
Crosswords.

Try pom pom making. Added bonus is you can replicate those very expensive Christmas displays in years to come. Just watch if you have dogs though. They might try nicking the balls.

What very expensive Christmas displays Lizzie need pics?

Like this one. £70.

Hmm...I am considering something with the pom poms. Hmmm...food for thought and thanks for the pic!

I suck at anything crafty. Like I want so bad to raise chickens and sew all my own clothes and kneed my own bread but forget it. I suck and I don’t even find it that interesting.

I have you tried getting into programming. All you need is a cheap notebook computer, stick Linux on it (of course if you already have the joy that is a Mac laptop then forget that and use your Mac :p) and pick something to play around with. My recommendations:

C and (maybe) assembler if you’re interested to understand on a deeper level how computers work.

Haskell if you like maths.

Java and JVM based languages if you think you might like to do it for work someday.

Ruby on Rails or node.js if you want to do webbased things.

Python or (if you have a Mac) Swift if you want to knock things out quickly and hackily.

Lots of options. Lots of fun to be had. Also if you’re interested in exploitation:

www.pwnadventure.com

Calligraphy
Adult colouring - I find it very relaxing
Embroidery