Number 1 leisure activity

...reading!
Fully 35 percent of us cite reading as our favorite leisure-time activity, according to a new nationwide Harris Poll of 1,017 adults who were asked to name two or three favorite ways to spend their free time. That's a big increase from the 24 percent of those who listed reading as their favorite pastime last year.
Coming in second place at 21 percent was watching television, followed closely by the 20 percent who most enjoy spending time with their family and children. While the numbers have varied from year to year, these three activities have topped the list virtually every year since The Harris Poll began asking this question in 1995.
Here are our favorite activities ranked in order of preference:
Reading: 35 percent
TV watching: 21 percent
Spending time with family and kids: 20 percent
Going to the movies: 10 percent
Fishing: 8 percent
Computer activities: 7 percent
6 percent: Gardening, renting movies, walking, exercise (aerobics and weights), and listening to music.
5 percent: Entertaining, hunting, playing team sports, and shopping.
4 percent: Traveling, sleeping, socializing with friends/neighbors, sewing/crocheting, golf, going to church, and church-related activities.
3 percent: Playing music, housework, crafts (unspecified), watching sporting events, and bicycling.
2 percent: Playing cards, hiking, cooking, eating out/dining out, woodworking, swimming, camping, skiing, working on cars, writing, and boating.
1 percent: Motorcycling, animals/pets/dogs, bowling, painting, running, dancing, horseback riding, tennis, and theater.
Notable trends between the two polls taken in 1995 and 2004:
Spending time with family and children, reading, socializing with friends and neighbors, and exercising had the biggest rise in popularity since 1995.
Spending time on computer-related activities jumped 5 points from 2 percent to 7 percent in this nine-year period.
The biggest declines in popularity were in swimming, watching television, playing team sports, gardening, sewing/crocheting, and bowling.