There are many reasons why you would want a quiet hobby. For one, spending some quiet time by yourself is a soothing and tranquil experience. On the other hand, perhaps you live in an apartment with less-than-stellar sound insulation and you don’t want to disturb the neighbors. Similarly, noisy hobbies like woodworking may not be ideal when you have a roommate or a newborn baby.
List of Quiet Hobbies
So are there any fun hobbies that aren’t noisy? The answer is yes! Below is a list of 15 hobbies that you can indulge in quietly at home without anyone realizing it. People who are nocturnal due to insomnia or work will also find that these hobbies cross all their checks of an ideal nighttime hobby–except perhaps the first hobby.
1. GARDENING
First up on the list is gardening, i.e. spending time with the plants. Grow herbs, veggies, and flowers–any living plants that you’re interested in. A visual person might find satisfaction in being surrounded by blooming flowers. If you cook, you might enjoy getting fresh herbs and spices from the garden that you’ve cultivated. Veggies and other edible crops can be sometimes challenging to grow but it brings a ton of satisfaction when you’re harvesting and eating what you grow.
Of course, if you have enough space, you can grow plants from every category–including fruit trees. In terms of noise level, gardening can be done pretty quietly you’re in maintenance mode, during which you water, trim, and remove pests and weeds. However, it can still make some noise when you’re using a hoe or some other garden tools to prepare the soil for the next crop. Similarly, for a small balcony garden, noises could come from transferring plants from one pot to another and the cleaning up work afterward. But the noise level should be at an acceptable level.
Gardening is a hobby that all introverts and people who enjoy solitude should try. Being surrounded by nothing but green plants is an experience that calms your mind.
2. KNITTING & CROTCHETING
Knitting can be done stealthily. In fact, if you’re knitting in the dark, nobody would notice you when they walk into the room. Humor aside, there are several reasons why knitting is an excellent hobby. First, it trains your focus. When you’re knitting, your attention is directed at the work you’re doing with your two hands, temporarily freeing you from your worries. Second, you’re creating something new and practical with your own hands and that’s satisfying and confidence-boosting. Things you can make by knitting include scarves, sweaters, and even hat with cat ears–something cat lovers won’t be able to resist. Knitting is also a hobby that can save you money. It can even help you make some side money when you become good at it. When it comes to the holiday seasons, knitted items make some of the best gifts because nothing makes you feel more loved than receiving a handmade knitted gift from someone.
3. PHOTOGRAPHY
Take beautiful photos for your own enjoyment or post it on Instagram. Undeniably, there are many interesting subjects outside, but there are just as many subjects that are intriguing at home. Some examples are pets, children, and people. You can also take photos of common everyday objects, doing so will also help you to see things from different angles–like a mindfulness practice. Another idea is to combine photography with your other talents. For instance, if you’re into collecting dolls, you can take photos of them in various settings. To start with this hobby, all you need is a phone (that has a camera, duh). A standalone camera can do many great things, but your phone will do plenty to get you started. Also there are many free photo editing apps available with many more filters and effects you can apply to your photos. Should you decide to upload your photos to Instagram, you can also do so directly with your phone.
4. PAINTING
Painting is one of those hobbies that free your mind from the daily stress as you transfer paint from the palette to the canvas. Granted that you’re willing to let yourself go and see mistakes as “happy little accidents“. Painting is a quiet hobby as long as you don’t play loud music to set the mood when you paint. The skills and knowledge you learn from painting can often be applied to many other creative areas. To get started, you will need one or more brushes, some paint, and paper. Acrylic paints are hugely popular, they are water-based (you can dilute and wash off with water) and quick-drying which allows you to lay many layers in a relatively short period of time. Oil paints are not as popular, especially not within the amateur painters’ circle. But older paintings, say paintings from the Medieval era, are mostly done with oil paint. Watercolor is a choice of paint that is often overlooked, but its relatively cheap price and distinct art style make it an attractive choice.
5. VIDEO GAMES – QUIET FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME
Video games are sometimes biasedly viewed as a waste of time. However, the truth is playing video games isn’t really that different from playing bingo, watching TV, and reading fiction. It’s a form of entertainment and a fun way to pass time. There are many types of games to choose from: idle, puzzle, strategy, role-playing, party game, simulation, and so much more. And within each genre, there are hundreds and thousands of games with different gameplay, artistic direction, and music. You’re bound to find a game that will keep you entertained. To enjoy the full experience of gaming and still stay quiet, you’ll want to get yourself a good headset or earbuds. For gaming consoles, the controllers are usually quiet. But you’re on PC, you might need to get a silent mouse and a quiet keyboard. You won’t run into these problems if you’re playing mobile games.
6. PIANO
No, we haven’t made a mistake. Learning and practicing piano can be done quietly without disturbing your neighbors. The big caveat, the asterisk you might already be expecting, is that you need a digital piano with a headphone jack (which should be a common feature for most, if not all, digital pianos). Once its audio output is redirected from the speakers to your headphones, a digital piano can be surprisingly quiet. Although, for some models, like my Yamaha P-125, you can still hear your fingers pressing down on the keys and some minor creaking sounds. That means you can still play at 3 o’clock in the morning and not get a complaint from your next-door neighbors. However, if you have someone sleeping in the same room, it would probably wake her up.
7. CODING
If you’re already familiar with programming, starting a new hobby coding project is a productive way to kill some time. The project might turn into something bigger, if it doesn’t, it will at least make your resume look more interesting. On the other hand, if you don’t know how to code, there are a lot of free tutorials and programming classes online to help you get started in the world of programming.
8. YOGA
The yoga that we’re all familiar with helps promote physical flexibility and mindfulness. For actual beginners, it is recommended that you take at least a few instructor-led yoga classes before you start practicing on your own at home. This is to prevent injuries from overstretching yourself or incorrect poses–both of which could happen without the feedback of an instructor. Here are some yoga YouTube channels to follow along once you’re comfortable with doing it without an instructor.
9. DRAWING
Do you remember doodling as a kid and enjoying it? Perhaps you were becoming good at drawing but somehow the growth stagnated. In any case, if you’re looking to satisfy your creative thirst, drawing can be a good hobby that will do that. Like many other hobbies on this list, you only need some basic items you can find around the house to start. In this instance, you will need a pencil, some paper, and an eraser. Here are some free drawing tutorials for beginners to get you started.
10. WRITING
This is a personal favorite. Writing is a fun hobby enjoyed by many, also it is very quiet. When you write, all that you’ll hear is the friction of a pen against paper, or keystrokes if you’re using writing on your laptop. The process of writing involves translating your abstract thoughts into words. Words form sentences and sentences soon become paragraphs. To begin writing as a hobby, as the Nike motto goes, you “just do it”. Write about anything and everything that is on your mind (a.k.a. a mind dump) on a piece of paper, napkins, a dedicated journal, …, or start a new document on your computer and write away. Another way to write I have found minor successes in is using a mobile app. For a device that is full of distractions like Facebook and YouTube, its small screen and tiny keyboard actually help you to focus on the writing itself. When I’m working on my phone, JotterPad is my go-to app. Let us backtrack a little bit here, mind dump is fun but you might also enjoy writing stories and opinion pieces, so be sure to explore your interests by writing about different topics and genres.
Writing is naturally a great activity for introverts because it allows them to spend time introspecting their thoughts in detail–something people with introverted personalities enjoy doing.
11. CALLIGRAPHY
Calligraphy is the art of writing. As opposed to “writing” which generally focuses more on the ideas and in some cases the forms, calligraphy is all about the beauty of the alphabet and the individual letters (or ideograms). For this hobby, you’ll need a calligraphy brush, some ink, and paper. Alternatively, get yourself a calligraphy pen which saves a lot of prep and cleaning work. Here is a pretty good introductory guide to calligraphy that will kick start your journey.
12. SUDOKU / PUZZLES
Keep your mind engaged by solving puzzles. Some common puzzles to consider are jigsaw, crossword, sudoku, Rubik’s cube. Each has its own pros and cons. Specialize in one type of puzzles and become an expert or try different puzzles for a more diverse experience.
13. ORIGAMI
Practice the art of folding paper. Create animals, plants, and all that you can think of with just paper. Another advantage of origami is that it is a consistently low-cost hobby. What does that mean? It means unlike hobbies like photography, the hobby doesn’t become exponentially more expensive as your need to furthering yourself in the hobby grows. The cost stays consistently low. All you need is some paper to get started. And as you become more interested in origami and you want to buy better quality origami paper, you’ll find that the cost is still cheap. For instructions on how to get started on origami, you can find free tutorials online and borrow a book from the public library.
14. LEARNING
Learning as a hobby is underrated. When you’re studying in school or learning to advance yourself professionally, there are certain expectations that you have set for you explicitly or implicitly. That connotes stress but learning is more effective and fun without it. Hence learning as a hobby. The world is your oyster and you can have it any way you want. Become a glutton for knowledge, devour any information that comes your way. Or become a master of a thin slice of the universe, and focus your attention on one niche area, for example, dress types, fashion history, perfumery, etc.
15. READING – QUIETEST
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” ~ George R. R. Martin
Reading is both relaxing and fun. It is also an extremely quiet way to spend an evening. When you read, you’re channeling the character, the voice of the book. By reading fiction, you live the life of the characters inside the stories. As you read, it’s as if you’re diving into the world inside the book–seeing, hearing, and interacting with a world that doesn’t otherwise exist. Become an adventurer in a fantasy world, an observer of a post-apocalyptic world, … the choice is yours. Another really cool aspect of reading is, unlike movies or video games, the world that you’re imagining is vastly different from another person who is reading the same book because of your differences in cultural background and interpretation of the book. So when you’re reading a story, you’re really creating an entire world from your imagination, using a book as the guide.
On the other hand, when you’re reading non-fiction–perhaps a business memoir or a self-help book–you acquire and internalize part of the knowledge and wisdom of the author. If you need some motivation or inspiration to keep going, you may also find what you’re looking for in some of these books.
And that wraps up our selection of some of the quietest hobbies that you can do both during daytime and nighttime without waking anyone who’s sleeping. We hope you’ll love your new hobby!