Learning new skills and hobbies adds variety and makes the days more fun and interesting. Research also shows it benefits the brain. Learning new skills helps grow more neural pathways by increasing the density of myelin, a protective white matter in the brain. The denser the myelin, the better the brain functions. Improvements include thinking faster, better long and short term memory and comprehension. Decreased myelin has been linked to health issues like alzheimers, dementia and multiple sclerosis.
Learning a new language is a popular recommendation. I learned French in school, took a little German, but never learned Spanish. I installed a free language learning app on my phone called Duolingo and now spend five minutes a day after dinner learning Spanish. Over time, it adds up.
There are a lot of websites that offer free online courses. Some are even from top universities like Harvard and Stanford. Some of these websites include Coursera, Udemy, edx, lynda.
freeCodeCamp has a whole bunch of programming certificates that you can earn.
YouTube is also another great resource for learning new skills.
Even picking up a book on the topic you want to learn is a good start.
There are tons of things to learn, but some random ideas are:
- crafts, which has a ton of options ranging from knitting, weaving, painting, pottery to woodworking.
- math/science topics like astronomy
- marketing, computer repair, programming or web design
- crypto investment or web3 development
- gardening with the bonus of cutting down on food bills
- craft brewing
- playing video games
- fitness/nutrition
- chess
- playing a musical instrument
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