mindless, low effort tasks

[mothpanic]

first, I have no idea if this is the right board, nor if this topic already exists and is hiding from me. okay, now go watch this video, I think it's pretty good and nicely addresses, well, the title. and no this thread isn't just me complaining about phones.

if you didn't watch it (or if you did and want me to explain what about it I'm interested in, which I hope you do anyway, since you're reading this), one of the main things that come up is the hands as an extension of the mind, along with how it links to phone use and the impulse to scroll i.e. do something with your hands. the linked studies have been interesting so far, go read them, brains are weird, blah blah blah. you get my idea.

with this in mind, three main things were suggested to actually do instead of doomscroll: drawing random patterns, needle felting, and crochet. these, however, are things that I've seen so often it's become cliche. nothing wrong with them, of course, but are there any other ideas? especially since, as addressed in the video yet again (is there anything this video can't do?), I'd probably have trouble selling any of these ideas to the average guy if this subject were to come up in real life.

I'd just like a nice variety of mindless tactile things to do where I can let my mind wander, instead of google telling me to take a walk at 2am, or exercise, or study for an exam that I don't have coming up.

I've taken up crocheting a plain square. it's going bad but hey anything's better than nothing.

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

brains are weird, blah blah blah

:D

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I love to play Kalimba when I have some minutes downtime. My motivation is rather musical than being just busy, but maybe this is also interesting for you?

[noahie]

A great mindless activity is playing with fidget toys. I use silly putty, stress balls, and other little things to keep my hands occupied. I always keep one on me and have multiple stash areas around the house for them, particularly at places where I sit like my desk or the couch.

It's not a hobby. I don't have to make anything. I don't have to think about it. It just works. 

[TheFrugalGamer]

Yesterday I was doing this by shelling pecans. Not everyone has pecan trees, of course, but people used to do this all the time with peas, string beans, corn shucking, etc, and visiting with family and friends.

Quilting and mending is something I do with my hands while watching TV. Also brushing the cats when they deign to come sit with me. Sometimes just having a pet in your lap and petting them can keep your mind still enough for a time.

[Gizmo]

Playing a non-mobile video game would honestly probably be a massive upgrade from doomscrolling. You don't get something tangible in the end like with knitting, but at least you're engaging in a long-form narrative and not actively inducing anxiety in yourself.

[Zero Kirby]

I've found myself fiddling with things like spinners, decks of cards, and flipping coins more often lately whenever I'm waiting for something such as while cooking or the like. I'm sure if I put my mind to it I could learn actual card or coin tricks to do, I just... haven't, for whatever reason. Which is a shame - I've got plenty of decks that would look great in cardistry.

The coin I used to flip all the time was a "Save/Kill" Super Metroid speedrunning coin someone got me when they went to a Games Done Quick. The coin I've been flipping as of late, however, is a replica of Two-Face's coin, and it makes a very satisfying sound when flicked into the air. Starting to see why he likes it so much...

[juniperjester]

I like to draw on post it notes to avoid my phone, it leaves small enough space to force a little creativity while being enough of a space to doodle one or two things. If you like them they are easy to keep, and if not easy to toss. Not super mindless but a good brain refresh activity. I also find more niche fidgets like magnet tiles work for me when needing to have something casual in my hands.

[Dan Q]

There's a few different things that I do to keep my hands occupied during (online) meetings where I need to listen and pay attention but don't need to interact/say anything.

It occurs to me that they're all things that need practice before they become either "mindless" or "low effort"! But they work for me:

• Juggling! If the camera is off (or if I'm watching a recording or similar) I quite enjoy juggling while I watch-along. Juggling is an art of thowing, not of catching, and if your throws are accurate enough you can do it without looking at the balls at all, especially if they're a regular and familiar shape. I use a trio of sand-filled rubber balls I use, because they're quite weighty and it makes me feel like I've done some exercise!
• Card sleights. If you're going to perform card magic, it's helpful to be able to do a variety of common sleights without looking, so when you're looking at something else is a great time to practice! I enjoy doing false shuffles (shuffling a deck but placing one or more cards in a particular place) and double-lifts (turning over two - or more - cards from the top of a deck "as if" they were just one card) while I'm paying attention to other things, which is helpful for when I need to set up such a move while maintaining eye contact with a spectator!
• Lockpicking. A basic set of pin tumbler lockpicks is cheap (or you can make your own by filing-down old bicycle spokes - that's how I made my first set - especially if you're in the USA where this kind of lock have much wider holes than here in Europe. And you can get cheap or free padlocks from people who've lost the keys to them. Picking's all about the feel of the thing so you don't need to look at the lock at all, and it's fiddly and dextrous in a satisfying way. (Obviously know your local laws: ownership of lockpicking tools is legal in most but not all places, and carrying them outdoors can be seen as evidence of intent to commit burglary in some.)

[Twigz0n]

A few things I like to do when I want to do something creative or stimulating with little effort is honestly just rearranging random objects and stationary on my desk into colour assorted groups. Or just rearranging things in general. I find doing this fun personally because I like how things look when they’re all organised in rainbow order lol. Other times I’ll just line objects up based on which ones I think look the coolest to me.

I also like to mindlessly doodle on some random bit of scrap paper or a small note book with coloured pencils or pens. I frequently just draw things on paper until there’s no more room left to draw on. I recommend using coloured pens or pencils because it’s more fun and colours are stimulating just in general. These doodles shouldn’t be anything spectacularly amazing or well thought out as it’s just your hand taking the wheel. (Unless you want to try and draw something more complex that’s up to you of course.)

I do dabble in some forms of craft too. One small craft I like is making kandi bracelets. If you don’t know what those are they’re basically just these bracelets made from small round plastic beads called “pony beads”. I really enjoy making them because you can make them themed around your interests based on the colours or text you add with the letter beads. For example, I love making kandi inspired by my favourite albums. I usually make them based off of the artwork and colours from the album covers and then add the albums name with the text beads!

I think I saw someone mention it in these replies already but if you do have an older handheld console those are really great for keeping yourself entertained, whilst staying away from attention sucking algorithms.