Deduction #3--Activities

Today's deduction is about how to tell what kinds of activities somebody does in their free time.  This is kind of in the same vein as "interests," and most of those deductions apply to this too.  That post was more about interests regarding things that they like to look at, read, watch, etc., like the color red, triangles, dogs, or the show "Steven Universe."  As always, these will go from easiest to hardest.

What to Look For

• As I've said before, listen to people when they talk!  With activity interests, these may come into conversation casually, so listen closely.  For example, somebody may mention that they have lacrosse practice that afternoon, or that they've been getting ready to perform in a band concert.
• Look at outfits/appearance.  This can work on multiple levels.  
• More obviously, somebody may be wearing a jacket from their sports team, a t-shirt from a camp, club, or organization, or a uniform of some sort.  
• If they play outdoor field sports a lot, they may have mud on their clothes if they play on a natural field.  Mud would also be common from mountain biking, hiking, and other sports in natural surroundings.  
• If they have recently come from swimming, kayaking, canoeing, or another water sport, they and/or their clothes may be somewhat wet.
• Chalk on clothing or skin suggests rock climbing, gymnastics, or other sports that involve gripping onto things, often indoor.
• Paint, marker, pencil, pen, and other artistic supplies on skin or clothing suggest an artist.  Drawings on the skin are common in students and are generally a sign of a creative personality.  Notes on the skin show that a person can be forgetful, or more generally, feels a need to have something written on them, which could actually be a number of things.  Since people write with their dominant hands, these will be on the opposite arm, wrist, or hand of their dominant one, another way to deduce that.  If it is written on the non-dominant appendage, it has most likely been written or drawn by somebody else, perhaps an artistic friend.
• This could also apply to a student or office worker who needs to write things manually.  In this case, it will generally be smudges of pencil, pen, or marker.  Additionally, writing manually for long periods will cause a large callous to be formed on the middle or ring finger of the dominant hand, as well as some other marks on the thumb and index finger.  This is yet another way to deduce dominant hand.
• Musicians can have a variety of different hand callouses based on their instrument.  I do not know all of these, and I would suggest that you look this up if you are curious or try to use common sense.
• Look at materials that they have.
• Artists may have sketchbooks; notebooks; a variety of pens, pencils or markers; things that they have made or specific supplies if they have come from a studio or a class; and/or books about art.
• Athletes may have sports equipment; water bottles; duffle bags; string backpacks (easy to carry athletic shoes in); an extra pair of shoes; and/or small, healthy snacks.
• Musicians may have instruments or sheet music.
• People involved in performance arts (theatre, dance, chorus/choir, perhaps rhythmic gymnastics) may have costumes, makeup, special shoes, scripts, hair supplies, sheet music, and other things specific to their art.
• Video gamers may carry handheld consoles or play a lot of games on their touchscreen devices.  Of course, most gaming supplies will be left at home.

Other Related Advice

• People will generally only have their personal interest materials with them during work/school if the activity is part of their job or they are using it in a class.  However, students also participate in extra-curricular activities directly after school lets out, and would need to bring their things to school because they do not have time to stop at home between school and the activity.  Some of the activities take place at school.  But, some people (artists and writers especially) will carry their things (sketchbooks, notebooks) with them if they have chances to work on these projects during their free time between tasks.
• With that in mind--a lot of these things are things that people do at home, outside of work/school.  As I mentioned in Deduction #2, people will often wear things that represent their interests, such as a necklace with a pendant in the shape of a treble clef if they like music.
• If you have access to a person's online profiles (Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), this may give some insight.

This should be enough information to get you started on deducing what activities people enjoy!  This topic will probably be touched on again later with more specific information, so stay tuned.

Signing off,

SM