According to Jeff Goldblum, life finds a way, but a more accurate take is that life gets in the way.I have so many hobbies that I struggle to find time for, as so much of my day is taken up with work, parenting, and general life admin.While tech is often seen as the villain, there are some ways that tech has finally helped me to do more of the hobbies I love.
A tiny eReader that fits in my pocket helps me read much more Now reading is easier than doomscrolling Close I love reading.Since the day I started reading on the long drive to visit my grandparents, I've never looked back.My home is bursting with books, including a lot of books that I'm yet to read.
I always read before I go to sleep, but I'm usually so tired that I can only manage half an hour or so, which is far less reading than I'd like to do.What's even more annoying is that I often waste hours every week mindlessly doomscrolling on my phone.A tiny eReader has changed all that.
My Xteink X3 is a 3.7-inch E-Ink device powered by an ESP32.It's small enough to fit in a pocket, meaning instead of doomscrolling, I can pull out my X3 and read instead.The number of books I'm reading has rocketed since I got it.
Related My Phone Feels Less Addictive, But I Use It More Than Ever Allow me to explain this oxymoron.Posts 1 By Bertel King A cheap VR headset means I can watch shows and movies in style I don't need to fight for my share of the TV I never really understood the appeal of VR.Playing games with a massive lump of tech strapped to my face just didn't seem like fun.
However, when I saw someone selling a Meta Quest 2 on Facebook Marketplace for less than $30, I decided to buy it on a whim.It's been a total game changer.The device came without controllers, but I can navigate using hand gestures.
Using apps such as SKYBOX VR, I can watch content on a giant virtual cinema screen.With kids, the TV is almost always in constant use, whether for watching shows or gaming, so I rarely get to sit back and enjoy a movie.I watch movies and shows with my wife in the evenings, but we don't always want to watch the same things.
With the VR headset, I can throw it on and watch shows and movies in my own personal cinema, without fighting to use the TV.I'll even snatch ten minutes here and there to watch part of a TV show while my kids are watching yet another episode of .Since I've got it, I've watched more shows and movies than I've managed in years.
Remote Play lets me play games without giving the kids nightmares It's quick and easy to get a few minutes of gaming in My kids love gaming, and while they have their own Switch, and we all use the Switch 2, my PS5 is strictly for Daddy only.The problem was that I rarely got to play it; even if the TV was free, I couldn't play a lot of the games with my kids around because they weren't appropriate for kids their age to see.Remote play solved all that.
Using the PS Remote Play app on my MacBook Air, I can stream games from my PS5 to my laptop and play games in my home office while the kids are hogging the TV downstairs.I don't have to worry about them watching my character get hacked to pieces by a chainsaw-wielding maniac.I even tried setting up remote play in my Meta Quest 2, but motion sickness quickly put an end to that.
I'm finally making inroads on my backlog of games that have been languishing on my PS5 for far too long.It's easy to just play for ten or fifteen minutes here and there, and before I know it, I've completed another game.A small speaker and an iOS shortcut help me listen to more content I play audiobooks and podcasts while I'm in the shower This trick is simple but very effective.
I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks, but it's always hard to find the time to do so.I work from home, so there's no long commute where I can sit back and enjoy them.I used to listen to music in the shower, but I realized that this was the ideal time to listen to podcasts or audiobooks.
I have a Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom, and I set up an iOS shortcut that plays my current audiobook or podcast episode whenever the speaker connects to my iPhone.All I need to do is turn on the Bluetooth speaker, and the audio starts to play.I never spend hours in the shower, but by listening to a little each day, I'm slowly managing to get through my long backlog of books and episodes.
Little and often really does seem to work.A music discovery setup lets me find great music much faster I don't have to waste time listening to music I don't like Another thing that really frustrated me was that despite having music playing almost all day long while I'm working, I was still struggling to find really good new music.Spotify and Apple Music's recommendations would throw up some good things now and again, but a lot of the suggestions left me cold.
I ended up building a music recommendation system that runs on my mini PC.It uses music discovery services to generate a new playlist of emerging artists each week, and I use my Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) to add the tracks I like to a shortlist playlist.I then play through this shortlist, and tapping the CYD will automatically add the artist's latest album to my music library.
I've discovered a ton of new music that I really love, and now I waste far less time listening to songs that I just don't really like.Tech steals a lot of my time, but it's helping to win some of it back Technology can be an incredible thief of time, but some tech can actually let you spend more time on the things you really love.I'm doing more of my favorite hobbies now than I have in years, and I couldn't be happier about it.
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