Ditch The Doomscroll And Try The ‘Granny Hobbies’ Bringing Real Peace Back

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You don’t have to be a victim of the toxic workplace in your head. Take a vacation from your phone whenever the mood strikes, with the “granny hobby” trend that brings peace and joy to the offline space where your doomscroll used to be. Early adopters, aka your grandma, knew exactly how to calm the digital distress of your heart using a world-class innovation: yarn.  

If you missed out on cottagecore aesthetic back in the early 2020s, when everyone got so into homesteading they were practically churning butter in their bathtubs, please immediately book a ticket to Grannyville. Now, instead of serving as a temporary cope, studies show that ditching Instagram and TikTok for analog experiences such as sewing, crafting, and reading lead to improved mental health. Your 1,000-piece puzzle is so self-care right now.

So which grandma-worthy hobbies are guaranteed to take the edge off? While glammas, gigis, and gams of all ages get their cardio on with pickleball, swimming, and lawn bowling, the most stress-reducing activities rely on slowing down. Grab an ice cold Diet Coke “fridge cigarette,” pull up a rocking chair, and chillax.

With nearly 150,000 tags on TikTok, needlepoint takes the gold at the unofficial granny Olympics. Emma MacTaggert, Gen Z founder of What’s The Stitch, described her passion for a contemporary spin on needlepoint, saying, “It was a really therapeutic way to kind of distract yourself from either work or stress, but also just do something with your hands instead of doomscrolling.”

Crafters can also enjoy the soul-soothing benefits of repetitive movements through a needle-based flex such as cross stitch or crochet. And if you like chunkier materials, it’s always quilting or knitting season, too. “American Idol” contestant and mom of three Hannah Harper auditioned for the show’s 24th season in a patchwork dress she stitched herself. “You’re like my favorite person. You’re wearing homemade clothes,” judge Carrie Underwood told Harper. “You’re singing songs called ‘String Cheese.’”

When it comes to grannycore, it takes one to know one. Underwood revealed that she makes her own kombucha and grows peppers for homemade hot sauce, which is straight granny. “This entertainment world that we live in is not reality,” Underwood confessed. “Reality is vacuuming, and cleaning toilets, and doing laundry, and gardening, and cooking, and that’s a world I love.”

Okay, just for the record, you don’t need to pack your day with all of granny’s activities. But letter writing, sketching, gardening, and reading all offer the mind, body, and soul a welcome digital detox. “Dude, you know what actually just rips in your thirties, dude, is like, birds, dude,” says TikToker Chickenjawsh, enjoying a chill stroll past some trees to, like, bird-watch, dude. 

Baking, canning, and preserving serve star baker-granny energy, with even singer-songwriter and known Pop-Tart maker Taylor Swift admitting on the “New Heights” podcast, “I’d say all my hobbies could be categorized as hobbies you could have had in the 1700s.”

Snag a little inspiration from grandmas around the globe by trying your hand at a Puerto Rican abuelita’s game of dominoes, a Chinese nǎinai’s mahjong hang, or the cozy “fika” coffee habit of the nearest Swedish mormor. Serving “trad granny hobby” with a twist, jewelry making, ceramics, and pottery offer the unplugged relief you didn’t know you needed. Plus, you’ll have a cool thing to hold, which lets you cash in on the tactile grounding experience of connecting with physical objects. Just another way to touch grass — which, by the way, also boosts your mood.

My grandmothers were brilliant at gardening, needlepoint, piano, painting, cooking, baking, card games, creating unbreakable bonds with friends and family, and always having a little piece of wrapped candy ready 24/7. This is anecdotal evidence of the trend, of course, but good storytelling is a granny hobby, too. 

But hold your retro horses for a minute. For a granny hobby to offer the most possible peace, it must remain joyful and calm, without triggering even a shred of anxiety. If spending half your paycheck on an authentic 19th-century spinning wheel sparks joy, do it. If it stresses you out, there’s a chance you’re not doing granny hobbies right. 

After dabbling in bread-making and accidentally killing several sourdough starters, I got into the curative art of puzzling. Okay, so my love affair with jigsaws probably lasted a week. But it was enough time to dive into the dark web of professional puzzle-doing, and download the I Love Hue app to get better at noticing slight differences in color. I followed Karen Puzzles and The World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation on YouTube, hypnotizing myself with footage of puzzle-solving championships that look like it’s stuck on fast-forward. 

After watching the winners go from plastic-wrapped box to finished puzzle in less than 30 minutes, I quickly came to the realization that I didn’t have a future in puzzles. Stressing out over flipping all the pieces to the picture side would have destroyed the healing journey of finally finding that last edge piece on the floor after two glasses of wine. 

Putting the icing on the homemade cake, grannycore is a flex. You can partake in granny hobbies solo, take ’em on the road, or make it a group thing with a meetup that’s all about that adult LEGO flow. Yes, the idea is to ditch screens for your health. But unlike half-watching “Love Is Blind” while stressing yourself out on TikTok, granny hobbies gently occupy your fidgety fingers without distracting from the storyline of your favorite show.

As licensed clinical psychologist, Patricia S. Dixon, described it, “When people immerse themselves in a hobby, they often find an escape from daily pressures, creating a calming space where they can unwind and recharge.” Take it from generations of grandmas, banana bread is about the journey, not the destination.

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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.