"Clara opens her door on Friday night. She throws the keys on the table, takes off her jacket, and plops down on the sofa. Scroll, scroll, scroll. She messages Tom to ask how his meeting went. Scroll, scroll, scroll. She goes to the toilet, puts her food in the microwave, and waits. The food will take three minutes, so Clara goes back to get her phone. There's not a chance in hell she'll just stand there. Three minutes staring into space? She's not a psychopath."
"But what does she do with the hours she has remaining? What does she do with her evenings, weekends, and "free time"? According to a 2024 UK survey, one in four adults now list "scrolling social media" as their main hobby, and 8% say they have no hobby at all. Paper, after paper, after paper shows that more and more people are turning from real-life passions to digital surrogates."
Clara represents a common modern routine: immediate digital distraction filling leftover hours after necessary tasks. A 2024 UK survey finds one in four adults list scrolling social media as their main hobby and 8% report no hobby, and multiple studies show a shift from real-life passions to digital surrogates. That decline in passion contributes to reduced wellbeing. Nature photographer Georgia Barker exemplifies a cultivated passion in birdwatching and demonstrates how learning to spend time differently can deepen experience. One recommended step is to allow boredom rather than immediately reaching for a phone, since many passions begin from moments of idle time.
Read at Big Think
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