By
Olivia
Introvert hobbies are therapeutic. After a long day of socialising, you can lose yourself in a relaxing personal activity and just recharge. Sure, there are the go-to video games and movies, but the best hobbies for introverts are those that allow you to accomplish something that’s personally edifying. Here are 20 of our favourites.
1. Cooking
Cooking is an especially rewarding hobby for introverts because it enables you to create something completely on your own that you can then use to bring happiness to yourself and others. Cooking works well as a solitary activity (some would say it’s better that way), and it’s always fun to experiment with new recipes, ingredients, and ideas.
How to Get Started: If you don’t know your paprika from your papaya, or you just don’t know where to start, consider a cooking subscription box. We recommend HelloFresh because it includes the ingredients and recipes all shipped straight to your door. Different boxes are available, including vegetarian options, and monthly plans start at just £34.99. The recipes are simple, and the meals are delectable.
If you’re looking for a subscription that’s a bit more cost-effective, consider SimplyCook. Each £9.99 box includes four different recipes. If you love gourmet Italian cuisine, you might enjoy a Pasta Evangelists subscription. Restaurant-quality meals start at less than £7.
2. Yoga or Meditation
If your introversion is accompanied by anxiety or unrest, studies show that mindfulness exercises can be life-changing. They can help you to decompress before and after a stressful social engagement, and they can help you to feel more at ease in situations that would normally make you tense. Best of all, they can help quiet your racing mind. Yoga and meditation are both excellent mindfulness exercises.
How to Get Started: Yoga and meditation are great social hobbies for introverts because you can join a class with other people and still remain in your own element.If you’d rather not take an in-person yoga class, there are online videos and DVDs that you can follow. You can also find apps that offer daily mindfulness meditation exercises. Some meditations are less than 10 minutes long, but they can provide an instant boost to your day.
3. Mixology
Mixology is an art. Each ingredient and technique has the potential to give way to a whole new undiscovered cocktail. It requires an appreciation of the history of cocktails and an intricate understanding of how different spirits, juices, syrups, and garnishes play off of one another. You have the freedom to experiment, to practice what’s already been done, and to develop and name your own irresistible libations. Best of all, you get to drink the completed product when the work is done!
How to Get Started: There are no credentials required to become a mixologist. Read the books, practice the existing cocktail recipes, and discover what you love in a beverage. Consider an easy subscription box like the Asterley Bros Cocktail Club to get you started. Each month, you’ll receive everything you need to make your own seasonal cocktails designed by award-winning bartender Joe Schofield. As you learn from a professional, you’ll become an expert in your own right. Use code EXCLUSIVE35 at checkout to get 35% off your first box.
4. Gardening
You don’t have to have a green thumb to start gardening. You just need a few seeds, some nutrient-rich soil, and a lot of patience. Growing your own foods is rewarding, and it’s easy to do. Best of all, you’re free to commune with nature completely on your own.
How to Get Started: Visit your local nursery for inspiration, or go online for tips and guidance. For as little as £12.99 per month, Seed Pantry will send you a regular supply of seasonally appropriate seeds, bulbs, and growing supplies, complete with expert instructions.
5. Science and Art Kits
This is a great one if you’re seeking ideas for an introvert child or teenager. An interactive science kit makes STEM concepts accessible, understandable, and most importantly fun.
How to Get Started: Companies like KiwiCo will send an age-appropriate STEM kit to your home each month. It may be a kit for a fully operational pinball machine, robot, or trebuchet. Each kit is easy to build and provides hours of fun. KiwiCo even has two subscription boxes that are suitable for adults (the Maker Crate and the Eureka Crate).
Other fun STEM hobbies include model-building and learning how to code. Sites like codeacademy.com will teach you coding for free. If you decide to try model-building, your local hobby store should have all the kits you need.
6. Crafting
Crafting is one of the classic hobbies for introverts of all ages, and there’s a virtually endless array of activities to explore. If you want to perfect a specific type of craft, start exploring different options and find one that appeals to you. Popular choices include jewellery making, soap making, paper crafting, embroidery, and crochet.
How to Get Started: A crafting kit is an excellent place to start. Want to learn to make your own macrame bag, create your own scented candles, design a colourful needle punch textile, or arrange your own paper flowers? These are just a few of the activities that can be sent to your door if you sign up for a Craftiosity subscription.
7. Blogging
As introverts, we tend to spend a lot of time in our own heads, often to a fault. There is at least one benefit to overthinking: it makes for some thought-provoking writing. Consider the topic you’re most passionate about (even if it’s your own life story), and start a blog about it.
If your blog catches on, you might even be able to earn a bit of money for your hobby. Best of all, blogging is a great way to connect with other people over shared interests while still being in your own space.
How to Get Started: Sign up for a free blogging platform like WordPress, Tumblr, or Blogger. If you’re really feeling ambitious, you can purchase your own website domain for about £10 per year (plus hosting). Then just start writing what inspires you. Try to be consistent about it.
8. Creative Writing
If you love to write but blogging isn’t your thing, you have a wealth of other options at your disposal. Journaling, poetry writing, short story composition…find the type of writing that makes you feel most in touch with your creativity. All you need is a laptop, a notepad, or even just a pen and paper to get started.
How to Get Started: You can keep your writing entirely personal, or you can find your audience through traditional publishing or online writers’ platforms. For fiction writers, WattPad and Inkitt are two thriving online communities that you might check out. Poets can publish their work at Commaful. You can even use social media to share your work. For instance, find Facebook groups that are dedicated to your style of writing.
9. Audiobooks
Most introverts would love to read more, but we don’t always have the time. With an audiobook subscription, you can let someone else do the reading for you. Listen at home, in the car, on the bus, and wherever you have a bit of quiet time.
How to Get Started: An Audible subscription makes it easy. For as little as £7.99 per month, you can choose literally any selection from Audible’s library of 200,000+ audiobooks, including most major best-sellers. Best of all, your first audiobook is free.
10. Physical Fitness
Fitness is something you can enjoy independently, but the benefits don’t end there. Research shows that it can help improve your mental health, reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases, and help you to live longer. Popular activities include bicycling, jogging, weight training, Pilates, and swimming.
How to Get Started: To really get excited about your hobby, consider working toward a goal. For instance, you might jog each day in the hopes of completing a marathon in one or two years.
11. Fishing
Fishing is an ideal hobby for introverts because you spend hours out on the water in total solace, convening with nature and just being present with your surroundings. And when you finally get a bite on your line, the rush of excitement is truly incredible.
How to Get Started: All you need is a rod, some fishing line, and some bait. Depending on where you go, you may be able to rent a fishing boat for the day, but this isn’t always necessary. You can usually fish right from the shore. Just brush up on how to cast a fishing rod before you head out for your first trip.
12. Travel
Solo travel is all the rage right now. It gives you the opportunity to explore the world on your own terms, seeing only the things you want to see at precisely your own pace. Hop on a train from London to Paris, book a flight to Tokyo, or drive to unique parts of your own country that you haven’t yet explored.
Adding stamps to your passport is one of the most fun and rewarding hobbies for introverts. Document your travels on social media and on your blog, and become the envy of your friends and family.
How to Get Started: Save your money, schedule your trip well in advance, and let your trusted loved ones know where you plan to be at all times. COVID-19 is still an international concern as of this writing, so you may want to schedule your next trip for a few months down the road.
13. Jigsaw Puzzles
Puzzles naturally calm your racing mind because they require intense concentration. If you’re seeking some quiet time, you can complete a puzzle with other people and still enjoy minimal distractions.
Puzzles have enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence during COVID-19, and for good reason. They’re a great way to enjoy a stimulating activity that doesn’t involve a screen, and they’re suitable for all ages.
How to Get Started: Check your local stores first. Puzzles on Amazon and similar sites have increased in price since the COVID-19 pandemic, and you may be able to score better deals in person.
14. Digital Photography
Take a photography class, invest in a quality DSLR camera, and start honing your skills. You can spend the rest of your life capturing incredible scenes and improving your talent as a photographer.
How to Get Started: Current smartphones make it possible to take nearly magazine-quality photos without any additional hardware required. However, if you want to get serious about photography, you can invest in a bundle that includes a professional-grade camera, flash, zoom lens, wide-angle lens, filters, and accessories.
15. Collecting
Collecting satisfies a primal hunting-and-gathering urge that has been wired into our brains for millennia. There’s nothing more exciting than finding a valuable, elusive item that’s missing from your growing collection.
How to Get Started: There are traditional hobbies like stamp collecting and coin/currency collecting. But you might also think outside the box and collect something unique like vintage Coca-Cola memorabilia, obsolete technology, or rare books. Find what appeals to you.
16. Playing an Instrument
Being a musician doesn’t necessarily mean playing in a band—although it certainly can, even for the introvert. Learn to play the piano or the acoustic guitar, and you can make music in a completely personal capacity.
How to Get Started: If you can’t afford lessons, you’ll be happy to know that some of the best musicians (and especially some of the best guitarists) are self-taught. Use the internet to your advantage. Whether you decide to write and record your own music or just play your favourite radio hits in your spare time, you’ll feel a great sense of fulfilment.
17. Restoring Old Cars
Okay, this hobby usually requires a sizable investment, so only proceed if you can realistically afford to purchase an old-fixer-upper and the parts needed to restore it. The good news is that one vehicle can keep you busy for a year or more, and—if you do a good job—you should be able to sell it for a sizable profit.
How to Get Started: YouTube has every kind of automotive tutorial imaginable, from “how to remove a transmission from a ‘57 Chevy” to “how to properly prep a classic car for paint.” Still, it’s recommended that you at least have a basic background in automotive or take a few automotive classes before you begin dissecting cars on your own.
18. Graphic Design
Graphic design encompasses a wide range of digital imaging functions, from minor colour corrections to 3D architectural mock-ups. The extent to which you pursue graphic design as a hobby is entirely up to you, but it’s always fun and engaging.
How to Get Started: Start with a few basic Photoshop lessons and learn how to improve existing photography. Then study the finer points of digital image manipulation and creation. Even if you can’t sketch or draw to save your life, you can still create amazing original works using the fonts, settings, filters, and templates that your digital imaging software already provides.
If you’re not in the market for an expensive program like Photoshop, you can use a free, open-source alternative like GIMP to practice the same operations. Find easy tutorials online, and hone your skills.
19. Home Decoration
Any introvert will tell you: Our home is our domain. It’s our safe space and the place where we feel the most free to be ourselves. With that in mind, it can be rewarding to make home improvement an ongoing project.
How to Get Started: There are many ways to upgrade your home: invest in new furniture and decor, reorganize your space, opt for a fresh coat of paint, and keep up with the latest design trends. Pinterest is an excellent source for inspiration and ideas.
20. Learning a New Skill
We’ve talked about some skills already—like playing an instrument and cooking. But the mere process of learning askill is an introvert-friendly hobby unto itself. Thanks to the internet, you can learn anything from the privacy of home.
How to Get Started: Have you dreamed of learning Italian? Try the Duolingo app. Have you always wanted to learn how to mix and master music at home? Take an online production course. Sites like Udemy have inexpensive courses available for every skill you could possibly want to master, from financial planning to confidence building. In some cases, you can even learn a skill for free using YouTube.
There are lots of excellent hobbies for introverts. Try something new, and see if it becomes your favourite pastime.
By Mary 
By Evelyn 
