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Estée Janssens
Chapman | Wellness > Mental Health

15 Completely Random Things To Do Instead Of Doomscrolling

Updated Published
Savanna Miller Student Contributor, Chapman University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chapman chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Hobbies and pastimes to replace mindless scrolling.

Studies show that roughly 53% to 75% of college students struggle with “doomscrolling” and the average screen time for college students is between six and ten hours. This has been proven to affect mental health and cognitive behavior. These statistics are starting to sound very concerning and they’re growing every year. A goal I am setting for myself this year is to spend less time scrolling, and more time doing things that make me feel creative or more intelligent. But, sometimes I just do whatever silly things come to my mind, as long as it’s not scrolling mindlessly.

Here are a few completely random things to do instead of doomscrolling: 

  1. Become extremely knowledgeable about anything of your choosing.  Research whatever interests you. A few ideas are:
  • Learn all about wild herbs and edible flowers. How to recognize them and know which ones you can eat and which ones have health benefits. You can make a salad straight from the forest. 
  • Research dinosaurs. Learn about all the different types and how each one is unique. You can even go to museums which will also help you pass time that doesn’t involve screens. 
  • Teach yourself everything there is to know about cars until you know exactly how your car works. This way you’ll feel less nervous going to the mechanic alone and you’ll feel confident in your knowledge on your own vehicle.
  1. Make a physical vision board. Find photos from magazines or print things from 

pinterest. If it’s physical, you can hang it up somewhere you can see it every day which will keep you motivated. 

If you want to do a digital vision board, this website has multiple templates to choose from: 

WEBSITE

  1. Write letters to your future kids / your future self. This is a fun exercise and it’s also cool to look back on in the future and see how much your goals or point of view has changed. 
  1. Make a natural, homemade face mask / hair mask. There are tons of recipes online that only need simple ingredients from your kitchen. 

Egg Yolk Hair mask: 

TUTORIAL VIDEO

Oatmeal Face mask:

TUTORIAL VIDEO

  1. Learn to do your own nails. The supplies are not as expensive as you think and there are infinite resources on tiktok and online about how to start. You will also save so much money if you stop going to the salon too.

The BEST $10 base gels that I swear by: GELS  

Basic $9 reliable nail tips: NAIL TIPS 

STRONGEST $6 nail glue: GLUE 

UV lamp for under $20: LAMP 

  1. Teach yourself a new impressive yoga move. Take it slow and follow a youtube tutorial until you have it down and have a new party trick.

How to do a forearm stand: TUTORIAL 

  1. Origami. Super cute and you only need limited supplies and that is just paper. You can even make adorable stars out of paper strips. A fun gift idea is writing things you love about someone on the strips and turning them into stars and giving them to a friend in a jar on their birthday. 

How to make paper stars: STEP-BY-STEP

  1. Start doing Sodokus when you’re bored. Playing sudoku exercises your brain which helps keep it sharp and mentally agile. It boosts working memory, sharpens your logic and improves focus and also keeps your brain “young”.

Sudoku book: AMAZON

  1. Make themed playlists for every occasion / every mood. This will make your life feel like a movie and much more interesting than scrolling for hours. It will also be cool to see how much your music taste varies. 
  1. Teach yourself to sew. Not only will you be expanding your brain but you will have the added perk of being able to make whatever clothes you want for yourself. 
  1. Coloring. You can get so many cute themed coloring books online and it’s a creative but chill pastime that can help you wind down.

$9 cozy coloring book: AMAZON 

  1. Create a dance choreography to your favorite song. You don’t have to be a professional dancer and no one else has to see it but you. Moving to music triggers the brain to release feel-good chemicals that elevate your spirits.
  1. Stream of consciousness journaling. Writing down every passing thought, feeling, and sensory detail exactly as it pops into your head without editing or stopping down every passing thought, feeling, and sensory detail exactly as it pops into your head without editing or stopping, 
  1. Bedazzling. Weirdly monotonous in the best way. Super fun way to customize your belongings like your makeup and skincare or phonecase.  

Bedazzling kit: AMAZON

  1. Make a zine. A zine is a mini magazine that you can make at home. It can be on any topic you want and you can get really creative and put hours into. 

How to make a zine: REALLY COOL WEBSITE

Savanna Miller

Chapman '30

Savanna is a Communications major at Chapman University, looking to focus in Film Journalism. She is California native and she grew up in a small town in Northern California called Ukiah. She loves all things pop culture and creativity, especially magazines. She is currently involved with multiple magazines on campus and she is very passionate about online affiliate marketing which she has been doing regularly as her job for almost a year.