Hobbies to Explore in Retirement

One important thing that retirement gives you is time. During your working years, there’s a good chance you’ll be incredibly busy with your job, your social commitments, your family, and everything else in life. When you retire, you’re suddenly not spending eight hours a day working anymore, so you get that time to enjoy yourself. 

For a lot of people, that means new hobbies!

While you may have some hobbies already, now that you have more time, you might want to pick up a few others. Having hobbies is a key to enjoying retirement, not getting into a rut, and keeping your mind and body active. Not sure where to start? Here are a few options.

Painting

You don’t need any artistic background or training to take up painting. All you need is some creativity and imagination. Painting has been shown to be great for your mood, your emotional well-being, and for lowering your stress levels. Don’t worry if your first few paintings aren’t gallery worthy, this is about expressing yourself, not about being the best. However, if you’d like to learn some techniques, many community centers offer workshops. You can even watch tutorials online. 

Birdwatching

There’s something truly peaceful about birdwatching, but it can also be exhilarating. Don’t believe it? Spend some time with other birdwatchers and hear the excitement in their voices when they talk about the birds they’ve seen. Not only is this hobby fun, but learning different markings, calls, and behaviors will help you identify various species of bird, which is great for your cognitive skills. Keeping track of the ones you’ve spotted and being on the lookout for those you hope to see can be a fun activity to do by yourself or with a group. 

Woodworking

Woodworking is a popular hobby for retirees. Whether you’re carving, whittling, or building with wood, this can be a fun hobby that also provides some practical results. You can decorate your home with your creations, design and craft gifts for loved ones, and perhaps even build some furniture for your home! It also helps you stay creative and gives you some long-term projects, so you’ll have goals to reach. 

Gardening

Gardening is a one of the most common retirement hobbies because you can make it into whatever you want it to be. Do you want to spend your time tending to a few flowers in your window box? That’s great! Do you want to plant an elaborate garden all around your home? Go for it! You can choose flowers if you’d like, and bring color and life to your property, or you can plant vegetables and feed yourself and your family fresh and tasty meals with ingredients you grew yourself. 

Yoga

Yoga is a low-impact form of exercise that is great for retirees. Not only does it help build strength and flexibility, but it can also improve your mood. It’s been shown that people who do yoga are more relaxed, have a more positive outlook on life, and have lower levels of stress and anxiety. Many community centers and recreation centers have yoga classes available, but you can even find training videos online that will help you get started. 

Swimming

Swimming is another very popular retirement hobby. Much like yoga, it is a low-impact exercise that won’t hurt your knees or hips while still giving you a good workout. It helps improve cardiovascular health, keeps your muscles strong, improves your range of motion, and helps you maintain a healthy body weight. 

Volunteering

Spending your spare time volunteering can be incredibly enriching. Find an organization that matters to you and ask if they need help. There’s a good chance they will be happy to receive some voluntary assistance. Through volunteering, you’ll meet interesting people, do important work, and feel a sense of happiness and belonging. It is truly rewarding to give back to causes that are meaningful to you and a great way to build a legacy for yourself as well. 

Explore Retirement Hobbies

When it comes to retirement hobbies, there are so many options available out there. If you’re not sure where to start, look around local community centers, recreation centers, or similar facilities. They’ll probably have a wide list of programs available and there’s a good chance costs will be quite low. You don’t need to have much experience to participate in these sessions and you’ll probably meet other likeminded retirees while you’re there.

If you’d prefer to do a hobby on your own or with a partner or friend, away from an organized setting, checking out what’s available at local facilities can give you some good ideas.

The important thing to remember is that having a hobby doesn’t mean being a master at something. You don’t even have to be particularly good at it! The goal is to try new things, experience different options, meet people who have similar interests, and enjoy yourself.