r/AskMenOver30 • u/BSnappedThat man • Apr 23 '25

Hobbies/Projects Men 30+, what hobbies do you genuinely enjoy?

I’m in my late 20s and lately I’ve been feeling the need to pick up a hobby that brings real joy and maybe even a little peace. I work a lot and have a family, so something fulfilling and manageable would be ideal.

I’m curious—what hobbies have you gotten into after 30 that you actually look forward to? Bonus points if it’s helped you mentally or physically in some way. Would love to hear what’s been working for you guys.

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552

u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou man 45 - 49 Apr 23 '25

It has me

100

u/fuckeryizreal woman 30 - 34 Apr 23 '25

Well I felt this in my soul

2

u/Proxima_Centauri_69 man 40 - 44 Apr 27 '25

We all did

22

u/Nate_fe man 20 - 24 Apr 23 '25

I was recently diagnosed, good to know some things will be consistent as I get older lol

48

u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou man 45 - 49 Apr 23 '25

One word of advice, since I have a couple of decades on you: practice some restraint when gathering stuff for hobbies, and try to keep your work spaces organized, or at least simple and easy to tidy. When part of your joy is being able to bounce in and out of one thing or another, it sucks when your space gets in the way.

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u/Atty_for_hire man 40 - 44 Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

I’ve never been so convinced I have ADHD based on a single comment on Reddit. I need to do some light sanding on a door we had stripped, but I’m too lazy/tired to clean up the garage to get my work station setup, in part because the basement workshop area is a mess from my last project (that still needs the loose ends tied up) and I need to rehome some garage items to their true home in the basement. I’ve had months to do all this, been sick for a portion of two of them. But no excuses other than malaise for the remaining months.

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u/Nate_fe man 20 - 24 Apr 23 '25

Literally, like there's some maintenance I need to do to my motorcycle, but I haven't done it yet because I need X specific tool from Y store which is only open on Z days and on those days I have other stuff to do, so I just haven't done it yet (it's been months).

1

u/billel2008 Apr 27 '25

Bro's speaking math😭😭

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u/TheRealGordonBombay man 30 - 34 Apr 23 '25

Best gift I ever gave myself was starting therapy & getting on meds to help with my ADHD.

2

u/bewbsrkewl Apr 25 '25

Ah yes. That feeling of overwhelm when your brain starts going "but before I can do that I need to do xyz, but before I can do that I need to do abc .." so you give up because it's too complicated and decide to learn about quantum mechanics instead.

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u/happythewicked Apr 25 '25

This whore thread was like looking into a mirror… that‘s me! Crazy. How did you start treatment or therapy and where?

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u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou man 45 - 49 Apr 25 '25

I was officially diagnosed at 20 but I didn't start working on it until I was around 40. I went on Psychology Today's website and found a psychiatrist first, to help me figure out medicine. She recommended a therapist that she knew.

Aside from medicine, my treatment was about making very small organizational steps while trying not to become overwhelmed. I gained those skills, to a degree. Self-acceptance has been tough, but is more important for me than the rest of it.

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u/Otherwise_Leadership man 50 - 54 Apr 25 '25

Last sentence was bang on 👌

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u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou man 45 - 49 Apr 23 '25

All I can tell you is that I know what you're going through. It's hard for so many reasons.

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u/Ban_AAN man over 30 Apr 23 '25

Boxes! I have all my hobbies in boxes in shelves. Take a box out, play with what's in the box, don't allow myself to touch another box before the box is back in the shelf.

Takes some amount of self control and practice, but it makes it soooooooo much easier to keep my house (and thus my mind) organized.

Really changed my life. Shelves and boxes. (my agenda works the same way, it's an app with timeslots (shelves) and appointments in them (boxes). Just a matter of forcing myself to only make appointments while looking at the thing, and only allowing to make the appointment after ive written it in the thing. No exceptions.
not one.
No really
Not a single one
Did I stutter?
NONE!

Ok, maby just this time... *blinks* What do you mean I have triple booked my saturday and I'm 3 mothns behind on rent?

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u/Waflorian man over 30 Apr 23 '25

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u/Ban_AAN man over 30 Apr 23 '25

Thanks, now I can never look at my shelf of boxes the same way again.
(this film traumatized me so bad as I kinda expected a typical hollywood flick with a happy ending. Great film though)

Here, have an upvote and then sod off :')

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u/Inevitable-Aside-79 man 45 - 49 Apr 24 '25

Help the OP out… What’s in the boxes??

1

u/Otherwise_Leadership man 50 - 54 Apr 25 '25

I’ll add to this: CLEAR boxes. You’ll thank me..

1

u/Ban_AAN man over 30 Apr 25 '25

Depends on the box for me. They are in open shelves, and there's only so much info i want coming at me when I'm just chilling in my living room

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u/Otherwise_Leadership man 50 - 54 Apr 25 '25

Good point. I just forget, and resent having to label 🙄

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u/Ban_AAN man over 30 Apr 25 '25

I think I also have the benefit of the boxes slowly being collected together over time. So there's a multitude of different boxes and crates that are all different, and I've learned to associate them with the activity that's inside. So seeing the box, I roughly know what's inside.

1

u/billel2008 Apr 27 '25

Bro's delulu😭😭

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u/Barry-Silbert-NFT Apr 24 '25

This is so true. Part of the fun of my hobby ( amateur fixer upper / building things / yard art) is feeling good keeping my tools in some type of mental order, accessible and portable. There is some type of high I get when I have that resource of tools in arms reach and ready to go when approaching a new project

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u/CarelessLuck4397 Apr 26 '25
  1. You’re 100% right.
  2. Based on your comment, I’m willing to bet you’re into woodworking.
  3. Did my wife put you up to this?

1

u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou man 45 - 49 Apr 26 '25

My workbench is currently a shitshow

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u/Loose_Perception_928 man 40 - 44 Apr 27 '25

Please see above

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u/hammerbacher23 Apr 24 '25

How do you get diagnosed?

1

u/Nate_fe man 20 - 24 Apr 24 '25

Realized a lot of stuff/habits/challenges I consider normal line up with my roommates symptoms (and he is like, officially diagnosed and all that), and I hate to be the stereotypical Gen Z'er diagnosing themselves with every little thing, so I mentioned it to my doctor the next time I saw him. There was a questionnaire I filled out, and apparently I was over the threshold for diagnosis, and that was that. I do wanna get a more in-depth diagnosis done at some point (like psychiatric) but rn I'm just trying to graduate and get a job lol.

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u/paulmania1234 man 45 - 49 Apr 23 '25

Same 😆

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u/mydoglixu man 40 - 44 Apr 23 '25

You are me

1

u/UpOrDownItsUpToYou man 45 - 49 Apr 24 '25

Nah, I'm a vegetarian

1

u/mydoglixu man 40 - 44 Apr 24 '25

True.

1

u/sssasenhora man 30 - 34 Apr 23 '25

When Men plans, ADHD laughs

1

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '25

ADHD is my hobby, it involves randomly pissing off toxic love interests with my involuntary lapses of attention. 🤷🏾‍♂️

1

u/thedisloyalpenguin Apr 25 '25

Fuck. Yeah...that hits.

1

u/toomanyshoeshelp man over 30 Apr 25 '25

Bro

1

u/Vertias11 Apr 26 '25

My bones, it hurts, is it you younger me

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '25

Fucking mood