For years, my default evening move was to open Netflix. Not because I wanted to watch anything specific — just because it was there, and the day felt done. I’d scroll through thumbnails for ten minutes, pick something mediocre, and fall asleep on the couch.
At some point I noticed I couldn’t tell you what I’d watched the week before. That was the signal I needed.
I still watch things occasionally. But Netflix is no longer my default, and my evenings are a lot more interesting because of it. Here’s what I actually do instead.
Reading
This is the highest-ROI thing I do with my evenings. I always have a few books on the go — typically one non-fiction, one novel, and one that’s more practical or reference-style. Reading doesn’t wreck your sleep the way screens do, and the compounding effect over years is significant. My favourite books page has the ones that have mattered most to me.
I use a Kindle for convenience and a physical book when I want to slow down. Both work. The medium matters less than the habit.
Podcasts
I listen to podcasts most evenings — usually while doing something else. Cooking, cleaning up after dinner, taking a walk. It’s a format I’ve been into for a long time, and the quality of conversation you get on a good podcast is hard to match anywhere else. I wrote about why I find podcasting such a valuable medium a while back, and that view hasn’t changed.
Long-form interview podcasts are what I come back to most. They give you a proper conversation rather than a 90-second take.
Building Things
I build Lego kits. I also code side projects. Both scratch the same itch — hands-on, tangible progress, and a genuine sense of finishing something. Lego in particular is something I find highly meditative. There are no notifications, no infinite scroll, and at the end of an hour you have something you can look at.
I wrote about one of my more technical Lego projects here: adding a hardware remote control to Lego PoweredUP sets. It sits at the intersection of building and coding, which is a good place to be.
Playing Chess
I play chess online, mostly short games. It’s absorbing in a way that’s different from passive consumption — you’re actually thinking, reading positions, making decisions. It’s also something you can pick up for 20 minutes and put back down, which suits evenings well.
Chess has seen a big resurgence in the last few years, partly because of platforms like Chess.com and Lichess. If you haven’t played since you were a kid, it’s worth giving it another go.
Documentaries
When I do want to watch something, I default to documentaries rather than series. The main reason is that a documentary is self-contained — you watch it, you get something from it, and you’re done. Series are engineered to keep you watching the next episode, which is the exact behaviour I’m trying to avoid.
YouTube has a surprising amount of free documentary content. CuriosityStream and Nebula are worth the price if you watch regularly. Nebula alone is worth subscribing to just to escape YouTube’s recommendation algorithm.
Online Courses
I do chunks of online courses in the evenings when I’m working through something specific. Wondrium (formerly The Great Courses) is excellent for history and science. Brilliant is good for math and logic. Udemy and Coursera fill in the gaps for anything more practical or technical.
The key is to be enrolled in something you actually want to learn, not just collecting courses. I’ve done the latter and it’s a waste of time.
Watching Padel
I play padel, so watching high-level padel is both enjoyable and useful. The World Padel Tour streams matches on YouTube for free, and there are good coaching channels worth following too. I’ve written a lot about padel on this site — if you’re new to the sport, this introduction is a good starting point, and there are padel courts in Barcelona if you’re local.
Watching matches has genuinely improved my game. I notice things when I play that I first spotted watching the pros. That makes it feel like productive leisure rather than pure consumption.
Journaling and Reflection
I journal most evenings, usually 10-15 minutes. Nothing elaborate — what happened, what I’m thinking about, what I want to do differently. The value isn’t in what you write down; it’s in the act of slowing down enough to think clearly before the day ends.
This is the habit that’s taken the longest to stick and probably has the highest return. If you’ve never journaled consistently, start with a simple prompt: what went well today, what didn’t, and what do I want tomorrow to look like.
Quality Conversation
This sounds obvious, but it’s easy to underestimate how much Netflix competes with it. If you have a partner, kids, or friends nearby, an evening with good conversation beats anything on a screen. I try to keep at least a couple of evenings a week genuinely social — dinner with no phones on the table, a walk with my wife, that kind of thing.
It doesn’t need to be a plan. It just needs to not have a screen in the way.
The Pattern Behind All of It
Looking at this list, the common thread is intentionality. I’m choosing what to do with the evening rather than letting a streaming algorithm choose for me. Some of these things are restful, some are productive, some are both. None of them leave me feeling like I wasted the time.
Netflix isn’t the problem. Defaulting to it without thinking is.
FAQ
Do you never watch TV or Netflix?
Occasionally. I’ll watch a film I’ve been meaning to see, or a documentary series that genuinely interests me. The difference is that I choose it in advance rather than opening the app and seeing what happens. That one change removes about 80% of the mindless watching.
How do you decide what to do with an evening?
I don’t usually make a firm plan, but I have a default. Right now the default is: read for the first hour after the kids are in bed, then pick something else if I still have energy. Having a default stops the decision fatigue that sends you straight to the remote.
What if I’m just tired and don’t want to do anything demanding?
Then do something genuinely restful. Lego, a podcast, light reading, a walk. The goal isn’t to be productive every evening — it’s to not spend the time in a way you’ll regret. There’s a big difference between real rest and passive consumption that leaves you feeling worse.
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