12 Free Activities that Are More Enjoyable (and Productive) than Binging Netflix
Recharge and build your future in your after-work and weekend time
Modern society has hijacked our ability to enjoy things.
Dopamine-leaching porn, alcohol, drugs, video games, and sugar-laden junk have numbed us to the “mundane” yet actual joys of the world.
You know, the activities that are fulfilling — not just momentary highs with miserable protracted lows.
I want to share 12 such free activities — not “pleasurable” like Netflix but far more satisfying.
Skip the Drugs, Get a Natural High
Be it a lush green park or your apartment complex, a quick run will reset and refresh your mind.
If intense enough, the euphoric runner’s high will ram into you — endorphins that will cure the worst of moods.
Can’t or don’t want to run? Brisk-walk, jog, walk while talking on the phone, or let your dog tug you along. Biking’s also an option.
Get your heart racing with wind buffeting against your face amidst changing scenery.
Reinforce Your Finances and Rejig Your Passions
The pandemic shattered the myth of job security — but “Quit your 9 to 5 and become an entrepreneur!” isn’t glamorous either.
The solution’s a side hustle — use your full-time job to pay your bills and explore your passion(s) stress-free:
- If it proves lucrative and you have an emergency fund, take up your side hustle full time.
- Or continue your job, reap the additional income stream, and explore new side hustles.
You don’t have to side-hustle yourself into midnight burnout either — as Eve Arnold explains, 1 focused hour per day is enough.
Say Hi To Joe Rogan
Thanks to 3-second TikToks, our attention spans have gotten worse than a goldfish’s — gone’s our ability to “bear” value-packed interviews and podcasts.
So, pair listening with a physical activity that isn’t mentally intensive—be it running, biking, gardening, lifting weights, or walking in the park.
- Nav. Al, The Tim Ferris Show, Lex Fridman, and 1STMAN are my top podcasts.
- Get started with “The 60 Best Audiobooks of All Time”
- Great interviews — Jordan Peterson, Kobe Bryant, Elon Musk, and Conor McGregor.
An internet connection. A pair of headphones. A truckload of knowledge gained — without a single extra minute spent.
The Habit (Almost) Every Successful Person Swears By
Reading is stupendously powerful — no wonder Jeff Bezos, Einstein, Bill Gates, and Roosevelt were all bookworms.
“But, but, reading isn’t free. I’ll have to shell out money for books. E-readers cost even more.”
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Or ways:
- Get free online copies—and read them on your phone or laptop.
- When people ask you what you would want for your birthday, scream “Books!”
- Free libraries exist — even the normal ones charge only a nominal fee.
- Borrow paperbacks from your friends.
Seriously, if you can afford a Netflix subscription — you can afford books.
The Endorphin Rush We Talked About Earlier?
Get it from the comfort of your home without pulling out your running shoes.
Smash a 15-minute body-weight workout — only a few hard sets of pushups, pullups, and squats will batter your entire body.
You’ll build strength, muscle mass, and endurance — not fitness-model tier, but enough to get and stay fit.
Sink Into Your Chair and Admire the Setting Sun
The modern world has forgotten the power of leisure.
Studies have found that leisure boosts productivity, enlivens your mood, reduces anxiety, and increases gratitude.
Shut your laptop, turn off the Wi-Fi, fling open your windows, sink into your chair, and admire the receding sun.
Pay rapt attention to the barking mongrels, chirping birds, honking vehicles, and swaying trees.
That, my friend, is mindfulness — without even the hassle of sitting down to meditate.
2 Minutes to Unburden Your Mind and Plan Your Day
About 6200 thoughts blaze through our minds every single day.
The only way to catch, understand, and cultivate our thoughts is to capture them—what better way than a pen and a piece of paper?
While the first few words can be painfully stubborn, journaling becomes cathartic as you get into the flow.
It’s also an excellent way to plan your day and boost your gratitude.
Since most of us lack the patience or time to jot down pages, go with bullet journaling — my optimized template takes less than 2-minutes!
Stop Thumbing Your Phone’s Keypad
Lost in the world of heart emojis, LOLs, and #OOTDs, we’ve forgone the beauty of phone calls and real-world connections.
Cease the insidious key-thumping and schedule a call or meetup — feeling bold? Call or drop by their place randomly.
Be it your sweet ol’ grandma knitting away or your long-lost middle school bestie, it will rekindle the human element.
Stop Being Strangers Under a Single Roof
Nuclear families have the name for a reason — since we’ve nuked actual families and made them co-living strangers.
But this defeats the purpose of a family — to flourish in an environment of love, acceptance, and support.
“Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”
This is where the bonding glue of banter comes in—drop by your mother kneading dough in the kitchen or your brother pacing in his attic.
Take a Walk Down Memory Lane
Lost in the doomsday fretting of the future or the mindless business of the present, we stress our brains out.
Throw FOMO-fueled dissatisfaction into the mix and it worsens — the key’s looking back into the past.
Be it the warmth of forgotten positive memories or the surprise at the progress you’ve actually made, your gratitude and happiness levels will shoot up.
Dig up old photo albums and sink into the nostalgic beauty of childhood.
Bring Back the Board Games
One of my fondest memories from school is playing Monopoly with my brother as the hours whizzed by.
While video games are “fun”, they strain your eyes, exhaust your brain, and unleash copious amounts of dopamine. But good ol’ board games like chess and checkers?
They’re refreshing, light, and amazing to bond with family and friends.
You’re Most Probably Sleep-Deprived
1/3 of American adults are sleep-deprived — thanks to society’s romanticization of midnight-oil hustling and late-night partying.
Sleep deprivation’s consequences are disastrous — hormone disruption, fuzzy memory, irritability, fatigue, cardiac risk, and even death.
While a nap isn’t a replacement for 8 solid hours of sleep, it can augment it by reducing fatigue, boosting your mental energy, and “resetting” your focus.
Shoot for 20 minutes — naps longer than 30 minutes can disrupt your sleep cycle.
Recap for Your Memory
Addictive “pleasurable” activities won’t make you happy — “mundane” yet fulfilling activities will. Here are 12 such:
- By biking, running, or walking in lush greenery, enjoy a sweet endorphin high.
- Use a side hustle to boost your income and explore a passion stress-free.
- Listen to podcasts and audiobooks while performing physical activities.
- Read books—download e-copies, borrow from your friends, or visit the local library.
- Smash a 15-minute body-weight workout from the comfort of your home.
- Disconnect from your devices and sink into the present moment.
- Unburden your mind and jot your thoughts through simple journaling.
- Ditch texting and hop on a call — or schedule a real-life catch-up.
- Banter with your family and bond better with them.
- Reminisce with your old images, videos, and childhood photo albums.
- Ditch your devices and try board games — this can be family bonding as well.
- Take a 15 to 20-minute power nap to beat the afternoon slump.
