The phrase “cheap hobbies” isn’t classy, but your favorite pastime doesn’t need to be prestigious and impressive—it can be something you do while lounging on the couch wearing just a bathrobe.
A hobby, after all, is deeply personal and just as relaxing.
That’s why there’s something to be said about uncomplicated hobbies that you can start right away without spending a cent on Amazon or the like. The five hobbies below will bring hidden benefits that you can enjoy in your everyday life.
1. Improve Your Handwriting, Improve Your Life
Total students enrolled: 2,945
Course length: 2 hours
Key lesson: How to improve your handwriting habits and practice more efficiently.
Let’s forget the psychology behind handwriting analysis (also called graphology) and just focus on the immediate benefits. If first impressions count then it can be the trigger for good grades.
As a hobby, you can start with handwriting practice and move on to calligraphy. And yes, once you get up for the paper and pen, you can do it from the cushions.
The 12 keys in this course will show you how. Each key comes with specially designed practice pages. As you go through the keys, you will spot the flaws in your method and the means to correct them.
This short course isn’t just meant for children with handwriting difficulties but for anyone who wants to express their individuality through writing.
2. Dan Rather on Journalism & Finding the Truth in the News
Total students enrolled: 5,251
Course length: 4 hours
Key lesson: How to become more informed by challenging the facts you read every day.
Let’s just agree that reading is the best hobby ever. Reading the news (or even watching it) is a habit and can also be a hobby that makes you more world aware and smart. But if you haven’t been hibernating then you should be aware that “fake news” is in the dictionary now.
Dan Rather has an antidote. This critical thinking education is a must for our data addled times. The core of the course takes you inside the world of 21st Century journalism. This gives you an insight into how news is generated and marketed.
The short course from a respected journalist will make you a more informed consumer and maybe, a proactive citizen journalist.
3. Genealogy: Learn to Climb the Branches of Your Family Tree
Total students enrolled: 120
Course length: 4 hours
Key lesson: Learn how to chart your own family tree.
In a 2012 article, ABC News said that genealogy was the second most popular hobby in the US. Digitization has helped to make it an armchair activity though you would do better if you hit the road too. Free genealogy websites on one end and cheaper DNA tests on the other are doing their bit too. Maybe, this course will make you trace your own roots.
The short course will teach you the basic tools to start your own research with a methodical plan. The scientific research methods you learn here and practice will also help you in any other investigative project later.
For instance, the skills of conducting interviews and notetaking are valuable in other areas of study too.
4. Mental Math Tricks to Become a Human Calculator
Total students enrolled: 10,788
Course length: 2 hours
Key lesson: Learn how to do speed math without the aid of a calculator.
You carry a calculator in your pocket. It’s called a mobile phone. Even Siri and Google Assistant are at your command. But nothing beats the ability to crunch numbers in your head and spit them out in a few seconds. Yes, mental math can be a hobby if you love working with numbers or even Sudoku.
But the biggest benefit? It will keep your brain sharp and kill the fear of numbers, formulas, spreadsheets, and math games.
High-speed Vedic maths has its own tricks that help it overtake conventional mathematical methods for calculations on the fly. Don’t worry, it’s not advanced mathematics. Just a better way to add, subtract, divide, and multiply numbers without reaching for a paper.
The only requirement is that you should at least know the tables from 1×1 to 9×9. After that, you just have to unlearn some of the old ways of number juggling.
5. School of Origami: Learn How to Fold and Master Origami
Total students enrolled: 934
Course length: 3.5 hours
Key lesson: How to turn paper into beautiful 3D objects.
Your origami hobby can grow into something big. You can be someone like John Collins who is well-known just for his paper planes. Or you can be like Robert Lang, the NASA physicist who quit his job to focus on the art of paper folding. But not before he contributed to spacecraft designs. Origami is easy to pick up, easy to learn, cheap and gives you instant rewards. What’s not to like!
This course will teach you how to fold 24 traditional origami designs. The easy to follow, step by step instructions will take you from the level of a beginner to the proficiency of folding a Chinese vase.
Origami is one of those therapeutic hobbies that you can pick up anytime in your life without any serious demands on your time.
The Importance of Hobbies for Happiness
How different will your resume be with one passionate hobby? How different would be your day if you could come back home and swap the stress for the hobby?
Each one of these hobbies can help you test your passions without investing any money. Except for the price of the Udemy courses if you decide to take them. But as you know, every paid course on Udemy comes with:
- Lifetime access
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Certificate of completion
Thanks to technology, you can pursue multiple passions in your life. Hobbies are great for testing the waters. So, start with one and don’t let your hidden talents die silent deaths.
Image Credit: VadimVasenin/Depositphotos
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