I’m tired of all the same advice when it comes to mental health struggles. I don’t have the cure, unfortunately, and have not been able to rid myself of these problems yet. However, I can say that I’ve found some things recently that have helped—surprisingly more than I thought they would.

1. Neverending hobbies

If your depression thoughts are anything like mine, you can get stuck wondering ‘what is the point’? I have yet to find one, so I’m always making silly goals to get through each day. Including pointless ones without an end.

For me, I’ve started listening to albums. Which ones you might ask? All of them. Is it realistic or possible that I will be able to listen to every album ever? NOPE. Doesn’t matter, do it anyway.

This is a hobby that is meant to keep you busy, and your mind engaged in something that is not being sad! The most important thing to do here is record it! Keep track of the times you do this, rank them, and keep a record. I use Notion, and I have a page set up like this with a database table. I’ve got a column for the album names, the artist, year it was released and my status for listening to the album.

As for choosing which albums to listen to, it’s really a ‘choose your own’ adventure. I’ve added some from my favourite artists to keep it more personal, and looked online for other inspiration.

Rolling Stone has a master list with their picks for the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, but you can also look up specific decades too: 90s, 2000s, 2010s. Reddit is also a great source of inspiration, and you will see some of the best, worst, and most lukewarm tastes in your life.

Not into music like that? No stress, here are some other ideas for endless hobbies that you can try and adapt for your needs:

Film and TV – pick a certain category and watch them all! Classics, Westerns, Romance, Supernatural, Thriller, Aliens, Pop Culture etc. (Test how many classic films you’ve seen here for more inspiration!)

Read Novels – once again, you could set a target for a number of books in a year, or go by category. Check which Classics you’re missing, or get some inspiration from these book lists on Goodreads.

Food and drink – need something a little more delicious to motivate you? Pick something you like and try it everywhere! Maybe its donuts, or chocolate cake, or fresh juice, or coffee/tea/matcha. Not something that will break the bank, but something you can consume and rank! There’s people doing this with tin-fish, I’m sure you can find something!

Puzzles – you can pick these up for like $2 at the thrift store

Collecting stuff – stamps, coins, vinyl records, coasters, vases, or antiques. Literally anything.

Don’t forget to document these hobbies! Write down where you were, what you did that day, and how it all felt. Remember, this is for you, so don’t worry about making anything perfect.

2. Start following sports

Stay with me! I also swore off sports for many years, thinking I wasn’t athletic and couldn’t care about it. BUT! Recently I had genuinely nothing else going for me so I gave it a second chance. I reignited my love for tennis and remembered how much I loved it.

Learn the rules, understand the history and controversies, and pick a team wisely! My current rotation keeps me busy all year as I follow Tennis, Formula 1, NRL, AFL, and Cricket.

Following your teams/players gives you something to look forward to every weekend, the drama is delicious, and there will always be other fans to connect with online or in person. Go to the games too! It gives you a reason to get out of the house and always offers a good conversation topic. You’d be surprised how many other people you will connect with over these things!

Ride the highs and the epic lows with your player/team—and keep it respectful. Honestly, this has helped me manage my emotions way more too, as you get used to the ups and downs. And boy were there plenty in 2025…

3. Affirmations

Raise your hand if you’ve ever brushed off affirmations as ridiculous woo-woo! Yeah, me too. But we are what we think, and luckily for us, we can change our minds at any time. Is it easy? Well, is anything?

Not really, but repetition is your friend here. Honestly, I rarely feel ‘in the mood’ to hear these things, but it’s hard to be depresssed when you’re blasting I AM LOVED and I AM SAFE all the time. Play them while getting ready in the morning or at night while you’re in bed (literally turn the lights off, put your eye mask on and listen!).

Ultimately, repetition is key. What we think creates our feelings which informs how we behave and act. Rewrite the bad with good. This is a process, and I am still barely believing any of it. BUT I will keep going until this is all I think because the bad thoughts are painful and I don’t want to stay like that.

4. Working out

We all know this but it doesn’t have to be anything super intense. I really like going for a walk in the sun each afternoon, especially when I can catch the sunset! Give yourself secret missions, like having to spot three different kinds of flowers or animals.

Just get moving and stay moving. This does wonders, and it really doesn’t have to take much time. I multitask and listen to albums or audiobooks while I go. Stack it with affirmations and you too can have an epic hot-girl walk!

5. Make bad art

You heard me. Intentionally get to work making bad art. Why? So you can’t beat yourself up for it not being good! Humans were never meant to just consume crazy amounts of content each day. We are creative beings!

Write a ridiculous story in 500w, paint something crappy, draw Bugs Bunny three times, put on an artist with an amazing voice (Queen, Beyonce, Prince, Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine) and sing along badly! Funny thing is, the more bad art you make, the more you’ll be able to make good art too.

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And there you have my inexhaustive list of things that I am doing lately to try and turn this ship around. Like anything, it’s always a journey, but I’ve seen more progress in the last few weeks than I thought was possible.

Give them a go and don’t beat yourself up as you set these habits in place. The important thing is to do something at all. Perfection is overrated and frankly boring. Do it badly, and with your own twist. And tell me about it, please! I want more ideas too, of things that you do to add a little magic to your own life.