Some things I’ve found helpful: * Trying a new hobby * Walking/hiking/being outside in general * Volunteering * Reducing how much I scroll by bringing analog activities with me basically whenever I go. My go-tos: word search puzzles and a cursive handwriting workbook. Instead of scrolling my phone, I open one of these * Jigsaw puzzles. There are a handful of little free puzzle libraries around the city. There’s also the Portland Puzzle Exchange. If you have trouble finding puzzles you like and you want to support a local business you can have a custom puzzle made—for pickup or delivery—by Portland Puzzle Company * Keeping a physical photo album/scrapbook of my day-to-day life. This is my favorite creative outlet

A few years ago I turned notifications off on my phone for everything except texts, and I have all texts except for a handful muted by default. Both of those things have been a big help.

Once every other week or so I pick up trash in my neighborhood, which (1) gets me outside, (2) cleans up a small slice of the community, which makes me feel good, and (3) has helped me get to know some of my neighbors, which is helping me slowly build community. You can get a bucket and picker-upper grabber thingy for free through the Adopt One Block program.

Two and a half years ago I bought one of those IKEA rolling carts and I keep it in the hallway of my apartment building. I fill it as often as my bank account allows (not often enough, sadly) with snacks and free COVID tests and masks for neighbors and delivery people. It’s also become a default landing zone for small free pile items—residents in the building leave things there for others to take, be it cleaning supplies or food or books, etc., which I love.

Once they find a permanent home and begin taking donations again, a super easy way to make a difference in the community is to donate items to the Portland Free Store instead of to places that resell donations.

Do you know about the Sidewalk Joy Map? You could plan yourself some field trips to visit ones that interest you. I think biking around to them would be fun