25 Cosy Things to Do Instead of Doomscrolling This Autumn

We’ve all been there. You pick your phone up “just to check one thing” and forty minutes later you’ve somehow watched a stranger reorganise their airing cupboard, argue about something you have no opinion on, and read three headlines that have left you slightly more anxious than before. Sound familiar?

Autumn is the perfect season to put a bit of distance between yourself and the endless scroll. The nights are drawing in, there’s a real reason to get the blankets out, and there’s something about this time of year that just makes slower, more hands-on pastimes feel right. So if you fancy trading screen time for something a little more satisfying, here’s a big list of analogue hobbies worth trying.

Baking

There’s a reason baking has stuck around as one of the most popular ways to switch off. It’s methodical, it smells incredible, and unlike your phone, it gives you something you can actually eat at the end of it. Start simple with a banana bread or a batch of brownies if you’re not confident in the kitchen, or go all in on a proper autumnal bake like spiced apple cider cake or a cinnamon babka.

Gaming (The Non-Doomscrolling Kind)

Gaming gets lumped in with screen time, but there’s a real difference between mindlessly scrolling and sitting down with a game that actually engages your brain. Cosy games like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing are made for this time of year, or if you want to go properly analogue, dust off a board game or a pack of cards – Death on the Cards is one that we play a lot, and who doesn’t love Uno? Even solo card games like solitaire or patience scratch a similar itch to your phone, minus the algorithm trying to keep you hooked.

Reading

Obvious, but worth saying: reading is one of the best antidotes to doomscrolling because it trains your brain to focus on one thing for longer than eight seconds again. Pick up an actual real book, not an app that happens to have books in it. I’ve been in my Greek Myths era recently so am reading anything and everything related to this (highly recommend ‘Circe’ by Madeleine Miller – it is so good)!

Read in different places – take your books to a cafe, or the local park. If you’ve fallen out of the habit, start with something gripping rather than worthy. A page turner is far more likely to get you back into it than a book you feel like you *should be* reading.

Colouring

Not just for kids. Adult colouring books had their moment a few years back and the appeal hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s repetitive in a good way, needs just enough concentration to quiet your thoughts, and there’s something really satisfying about picking exactly the right shade for a leaf or a teacup. Grab a set of decent pencils and a book with a theme you actually like.

Walking

Getting outside does more for your mood than another hour indoors ever will, and autumn walking has a magic all of its own. Crunchy leaves, that low golden light, the smell of woodsmoke drifting from somewhere. You don’t need a big hike either – even a twenty minute wander round the block with a coffee counts. Leave your headphones at home occasionally too. There’s something restorative about just walking and noticing things.

Journaling

You don’t need to write pages of deep reflection every night, even a few lines about your day can help. Journaling gives your brain somewhere to put things down instead of endlessly refreshing an app looking for a distraction from them. Grab a cheap notebook and don’t overthink it. Bullet points, doodles, a list of what you’re grateful for – whatever works. It’s always great to get things out of your head and into a notebook.

Doodling

If journaling feels like too much pressure, doodling is the low stakes version. No skill required, no right or wrong way to do it. Keep a small notebook and pen somewhere handy, on the sofa, by the bed, in your bag, and get into the habit of reaching for that instead of your phone when you’ve got five spare minutes.

Jigsaw Puzzles

There’s a reason jigsaws had such a resurgence a few years back. They’re slow, they’re screen free, and they give you an excuse to sit at the table with a cup of tea rather than slumped over your phone. Get one on the go on a table somewhere in the house so you can wander over and do a few pieces whenever you fancy it.

Wordsearches and Sudoku

Perfect for that in-between time, waiting for the kettle to boil, sat in a waiting room or winding down before bed. They give your brain just enough of a puzzle to focus on without needing the concentration of something bigger. Pick up a puzzle book and keep it wherever you’d normally reach for your phone.

Listening to Records

There’s something about actually choosing an album, putting it on, and sitting with it rather than skipping every twenty seconds that feels completely different to background streaming. If you’ve got a record player, put an album on and just listen, no multitasking allowed. Charity shops and thrift stores are a great place to find old records (and are an analogue activity in themselves!).

Gardening

Even if you haven’t got much outdoor space, autumn is a brilliant time to get stuck into gardening. Planting bulbs for spring, tidying up beds, potting up something for a windowsill. Getting your hands in the soil is grounding, and there’s real satisfaction in watching something grow that has nothing to do with your follower count.

Cooking

Similar to baking but broader, autumn is the season for slow cooking. Stews, soups, casseroles, things that simmer away for hours and fill the house with a lovely cosy smell. Try a new recipe each week rather than the same three things on rotation, it gives you something to look forward to and keeps cooking feeling like a hobby rather than a chore. I like to work my way through a cookbook, cooking each recipe in turn. The last one was Nigel Slater ‘A Cook’s Book’ and it’s great for this time of year.

A few more worth trying

• Knitting or crochet: easy to pick up with an evening telly programme on, and you end up with something useful
• Letter writing: lovely to send and receive, and takes real thought compared to a text
• Candle making or soap making: satisfying, smells amazing, makes great gifts too
• Photography with an actual camera: forces you to slow down and think about a shot rather than firing off fifty on your phone
• Learning an instrument: even ten minutes a day adds up, and there are plenty of free tutorials to get started
• Pressing flowers or leaves: very autumn appropriate and a nice way to hold onto the season a bit longer
• Home baking swaps with a friend: turns a solo hobby into something social too
• Cross stitch or embroidery: portable, cheap to start, and you get a cute finished thing to hang up at the end
• Birdwatching: doesn’t need any kit beyond a window and a bit of patience, and autumn brings some brilliant garden visitors
• Scrapbooking or making a photo album: a nice way to actually do something with all those photos sitting on your phone
• Pottery or a ceramics class: messier and more sociable if you fancy getting out of the house, and endlessly satisfying
• Writing postcards: even to people down the road, there’s something lovely about post that isn’t a bill or a parcel you didn’t order
• Seasonal crafts: Check out Pinterest for all kinds of amazing seasonal crafts, from air dry clay to bracelet making to nature crafts. Make some home decor, or cosy seasonal decorations and don’t buy more stuff destined for landfill after the season ends.

Give yourself permission to be a bit bored

Here’s the thing nobody says out loud: a lot of these hobbies work precisely because they’re not instantly stimulating in the way your phone is. There might be a bit of a lull before you settle into them, and that’s fine. That’s actually the point. Boredom is where a lot of the good stuff – creativity, calm, even better sleep – tends to sneak back in.

You don’t need to give up your phone completely or feel guilty every time you pick it up. Just try swapping it out for one of these every so often this autumn and see how it feels. Chances are you’ll notice the difference within a week.