This is how I try to approach films now as well, especially watching for how they were written and produced. However, this is not really mindless entertainment. I can only do this when I have energy. The problem I have not entirely solved yet is what to do with my "too tired to do anything useful" moments. I don't want to default to screens here for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but I'm not sure what a good replacement is.
evenings, we like to play (digital) music while we cook and eat and drink a little wine and talk about our day or plans or whatever.
i used to have a vinyl and collection. so heavy! needs real estate! so i love digital music because i'm a savage.
there is decent tv that is not too taxing on the mind. e.g., i can't watch handmaid's tale "to relax." that show is serious business. but 10 minutes of "golan the insatiable" between chores is a nice goofy break/distraction/recharge/laughs.
This is how I try to approach films now as well, especially watching for how they were written and produced. However, this is not really mindless entertainment. I can only do this when I have energy. The problem I have not entirely solved yet is what to do with my "too tired to do anything useful" moments. I don't want to default to screens here for all the reasons mentioned in this thread, but I'm not sure what a good replacement is.
Well I think there are a few ways to attack this. How much of your day are you "too tired to do anything useful"? If we're only talking about the last hour or so before bed, then the thing I've found to be very relaxing is reading fiction (whatever kind you enjoy). Reading non-fiction turns on a different part of the brain and also requires more focus. For nearly all of human history, the "too tired to do anything useful" time was likely spent around a fire telling and listening to stories before going to sleep. Listening to music could also fit into this category if it suits you, but some will find it too boring unless they are also doing something else. You also have the option of various analog hobbies that require relatively monotonous tasks by hand (sewing, knitting, whittling, carving, knot tying, etc). Again this is likely how most humans spent such time throughout history.
Too tired to meditate = danger zone = get nourishment / physical touch / go “off-duty” (ie make sure someone else is responsible for putting out the fires for a while)
The problem I have not entirely solved yet is what to do with my "too tired to do anything useful" moments.
Have you read Newport's book Deep Work? He touches on this, arguing one can spend the entire day doing useful things, once you cut the aspects draining your energy.
I'm not there. I still spend too much time checking the internet. I'm unsure about how constructive my video game time is as well. I aspire to spend that time with restorative activities and investing in relationships, like others described.
As an update to my own digital minimalism attempts: I recently moved my gaming PC to my parents house to avoid the temptation to use it. I had planned on engaging more in outdoor hobbies and socialising. I would see friends, work more on my weight lifting, improve my bike fitness, get back into bouldering... then the plan was squashed on two fronts: a new lockdown dooming us to a week of confinement, and a fractured foot, dooming me to 4 weeks of hobbling in a cam boot. BLAST!
It's taking all my willpower not to fetch my computer back, but so far I'm allowing myself an unlimited book budget as an alternative. Let's see how long I can go without caving .
then the plan was squashed on two fronts: a new lockdown dooming us to a week of confinement, and a fractured foot, dooming me to 4 weeks of hobbling in a cam boot. BLAST!
i'm sorry, not laughing at your sorrows, just at... the way life works.
this reminds me of a julio cortázar flash fiction in which a man drops his glasses and they survive intact. so then he buys a case for his glasses to avoid breaking them...
anyway i originally was going to say if you want a book that is a little bit like a game, cortázars "hopscotch" is like that. i don't know how his latin american hipster notions from the 60s might have aged (probably not great) but when i read it a long time ago (i was a teenager) i couldn't put it down.
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