People With Simple Minds Love These 11 Hobbies That Bore Highly Analytical Thinkers
Yuna Bereza / Shutterstock The hobbies that people with simple minds and highly analytical thinkers enjoy usually differ quite a bit. These differences in hobbies are the result of the contrasting ways these individuals prefer to engage their minds.
Simple-minded people tend to enjoy doing things that allow their minds to rest and release overwhelming feelings, like stress. Analytical thinkers, on the other hand, prefer doing activities that are mentally challenging and constantly leave their brains feeling stimulated and activated.
People with simple minds love these 11 hobbies that bore highly analytical thinkers
1. Mindless coloring
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People with simple minds do not mind spending time doing hobbies, like mindless coloring, that allow their brains to enter a meditative state. Analytical thinkers typically get bored with activities like this because they respond better to more challenging hobbies.
Analytical thinkers like it when they engage in something that requires them to problem-solve in some way. A Drexel University Creative Research Lab study found that analytical thinkers solve problems in an organized and logical way, and they tend to experience high levels of activity in the parts of their brain that play a key role in organizing thoughts. Considering this, it makes sense that they methodically approach issues.
2. Sunbathing
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Sunbathing allows an individual to relax, and it allows a person’s mind to rest and wander. While this may be a sufficient hobby for individuals with simpler minds, analytical thinkers may feel bored when engaging in this activity.
Analytical thinkers feel an urgency to do hobbies that stimulate and boost the health of their brains. A Johns Hopkins University study found that much like the body, the brain can also be worked out. Through brain exercises, individuals are able to see improvements in their memory as well as the overall functioning of their brains. Activities like this that improve the brain are more likely to grasp and hold the attention of analytical thinkers.
3. Watching reality television
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Reality television rarely involves the intellectual depth or problem-solving opportunities that analytical thinkers find amusing. While this more emotional and predictable hobby is perfect for individuals with simple minds, analytical thinkers usually enjoy television that is more complex, if they decide to watch television at all.
A study by the MIT Sloan School of Management found that the kind of media a person consumes is highly dictated by their way of thinking. Analytical thinkers are much more likely to engage in high-quality news-based content from credible sources, and they enjoy dissecting the information they take in through discussion on social media platforms like X. These analytical conversations are usually in regard to politics rather than reality television.
4. Knitting something simple
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Analytical thinkers are not against hobbies that allow them to enter a flow state. However, their version of a flow state usually differs quite a bit from what people with simple minds would prefer. They enjoy flow states that still feel challenging and productive, while people with simple minds love hobbies, like knitting something simple, that allow them to enter a flow state without feeling too complex.
Analytical thinkers want to indulge in hobbies that require them to think critically and offer them the opportunity to grow and thrive. A 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine highlights how a flow state is reached when a person engages in tasks that are challenging and require skill. In order for analytical thinkers to remain in a flow state, the complexity of the hobbies they engage in has to gradually continue to increase.
5. Basic gardening
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Basic gardening is enjoyable for someone with a simple mind because it helps them release stress and break away from the daily pressures that they constantly feel. While these individuals experience a boost in their well-being from basic hobbies like this, analytical thinkers struggle to not feel bored when their hobbies lack complexity and challenge.
Research shows that there is a definite correlation between the content people think about and the levels of stress they experience. If an individual feels as though they have to constantly be involved in hobbies that make it hard for their brains to ever truly relax, they may begin feeling an overload of stress.
6. Going for a stroll
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People with simple minds do not mind doing things that require no complexity and just involve mindfulness and restoring mental energy. Doing something like going for a low-intensity stroll out in nature would be something that is right up their alley.
Analytical thinkers would likely grow bored of a hobby like this. While they may enjoy it at first due to its ability to give their minds a break from being overstimulated, which is conducive to analytical thinking, the fact that it is not a very challenging activity may leave them wanting a new hobby. They would rather spend their time doing hobbies that require their mind to be focused and all of their attention to be on the task at hand.
7. Journaling
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Simple-minded people love activities that allow them to relieve stress and process overwhelming emotions. For these individuals, journaling is a perfect hobby for decluttering their minds, but it is a hobby that most analytical thinkers would grow bored of after a while.
While journaling has proven to be a hobby that improves an individual’s critical thinking, many analytical thinkers would still rather spend their time doing something else. They may choose to devote their time to writing more intellectual papers that require them to use logic and write in a formal manner, according to a 2023 study.
8. Listening to ambient music
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Ambient music has a calming effect on the mind. It reduces stress and allows individuals to relax and gain mental clarity. Due to these effects, many people with simple minds develop a love of listening to ambient music.
Analytical thinkers, however, prefer it when they do not have to give themselves a mental break. Activating their brain is one of their favorite things to do, so they are very intentional about the hobbies they choose to do. Some analytical thinkers may feel that their brain will improve if they consistently find ways to stimulate it, but studies have actually shown that allowing the mind and body time to recover after so much energy has been used is essential for replenishing this energy.
9. Paint by number kits
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A repetitive and not too complex hobby like doing paint-by-number kits is an activity that people with simple minds love. They enjoy doing things like this that do not require too much thought, but can still feel rewarding once the task is completed.
For analytical thinkers, paint-by-number kits may not engage their creativity enough to feel stimulated by this hobby. A 2025 study found that there is a complementary relationship between critical thinking and creative thinking. When analytical thinkers are able to activate their more creative side through certain hobbies, they also experience improvements in their problem-solving abilities.
10. Collecting simple items
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Collecting even simple items has a beneficial effect on an individual’s mental health. Developing a hobby like this is enjoyed by people with simple minds because they like the stress-reducing and emotional processing benefits that it offers.
People who think more analytically may not find as much enjoyment in simply collecting items because it does not offer them any cognitive challenges. They would rather spend their time trying to understand how certain items work than collecting them.
11. Birdwatching
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Birdwatching alone is a hobby that people with simple minds may love, but analytical thinkers may feel bored doing. Analytical thinkers who enjoy cognitive stimulation would rather learn more about bird species and their calls than watch them in their natural habitat.
These individuals usually experience a deep curiosity about things and enjoy learning about new and random things in order to keep their curiosity alive and thriving. While hobbies that promote relaxation and help calm the brain tend to attract individuals with simple minds, they usually do not have the same effect on analytical thinking people who prefer mental stimulation.
Kamryn Idol is a writer with a bachelor's degree in media and journalism who covers lifestyle, relationship, family, and wellness topics.
