Strenuous Leisure- practical thoughts
Distraction as a Default
What did you do last Tuesday night after work? Feel free to take a moment to remember.
If you're anything like the average American, you spent that time on an algorithmic feed, consuming media, distracting yourself (okay- I promise I'll tone down the moralizing going forward).
I absolutely understand.
It's hard to "fill the void" that exists in our lives, between the Things we do. Between the work, between the outings, between the big moments we live for. When we don’t have action keeping our thoughts at bay, Distraction is a nice place to be; it's low friction, culturally acceptable, and sedates the darkest aspects of our psyche. And algorithmic feeds are purpose-built for this use case- they make it remarkably easy to effortlessly pass time.
But I’ve come to think that building a meaningful life is much more straightforward when you reject this approach to leisure wholesale.
I'll do my best to articulate why and how in the rest of this piece.
What is a Life?
Let me take a step back and articulate my broader world view.
I have come to view life as a sequence of 16 hours blocks delimited by 8 hour chunks of sleep, recurring ad infinitum (or until death).
That is to say, those 16 hours that are so easily appropriated, are what make up a life. Those 16-hour repeated blocks aren't (just) stepping stones towards some future vision of a life you'd like to live, they in fact are your life.1
In my mind, it makes a great deal of sense to spend time optimizing the shape of those 16 hours. In fact, you might consider articulating what the perfect 16 hour block looks like for you and architecting a life around the pursuit of that ideal (see Lifestyle-centric Planning from Cal Newport).
I think that this articulation of life is one of the clearest with which to tackle the issue of "filling the void". That is to say, if life is just 16 hour blocks repeated— do you really want to spend a decent part of your day Distracting yourself?2
My Experience with Leisure
I have much to say on why exactly we feel the need to distract ourselves in our leisure time, but I’ll suffice it in this piece to say the following. I too feel the pull, the incessant need for Distraction. I think life is confusing, sometimes downright scary, when we, as a humans with all our intrinsic flaws, engage with it nakedly.
In my experience, when Distraction becomes a learned default, we forfeit the ability to meaningfully engage with life.
Okay then, what to do?
I promised you that I would stop with the moralizing, so I’ll wrap this piece up with some practical thoughts on pursuing a more strenuous, engaging leisure.
Let’s clarify what is meant by "strenuous leisure." It isn't about what's "better"—it's about recognizing we have options beyond our defaults. Josef Pieper described authentic leisure as "an attitude of non-activity, of inward calm, of silence." I'm drawn to this approach because those void spaces between our obligations aren't just gaps to fill—they're actually where life happens, those 16-hour blocks that make up our existence.
Here is an approach to crafting a more strenuous leisure.
Audit your current leisure - Track how you’re actually spending your downtime for a week. Consider which forms of leisure are ones that deserve a place in your existence, and which ones don’t.
Schedule "low quality" leisure intentionally - I'm not suggesting you eliminate scrolling or Netflix entirely. Instead, contain them. Consider setting a specific time block (say, 30 minutes after dinner) for guilt-free distraction (and importantly, regularly assessing your satisfaction with your leisure and adjusting from there).
Set yourself up to succeed - Our environment shapes our choices more than willpower ever could. Create friction for distraction (delete social apps from your phone but keep them on your computer) while reducing friction for engagement (leave that book on your coffee table, keep your guitar in its stand rather than its case). Consider creating a "leisure menu” or at least articulate the forms of leisure you enjoy.
Consider reducing social barriers - Some of the most fulfilling leisure involves other people. However, the relatively low barriers of immediate Distraction result in a collective action problem, where everyone defaults to the path of least resistance rather than coordinating something more engaging. Put in the upfront effort to establish regular events—whether it's a weekly game night, a monthly book club, or a standing Sunday morning coffee meetup.
I'm not suggesting a life of constant striving— rather, I'm advocating for the kind of leisure that builds a life.
The void doesn't need to be filled with noise. Sometimes it needs creativity, sometimes connection, sometimes challenge, sometimes rest—but rarely does it really need endless distraction.
Consider this: your 16-hour block deserves better, and so do you.
This may sound like a mundane statement of fact to most, but this specific framing has been helpful to me and my efforts to live more in the present.
I feel the need to explicitly state that there is a level of “low-quality” leisure that is required to function as a human being, but its use as a capital “d” Distraction is almost always net negative. I’m still learning to express these concepts, so bear with me if I’m a bit too ham-fisted with my articulation here.