I bet you are busy.
I bet you are so busy, you read this title and said, “I don’t have time for a hobby,” or “I don’t need a hobby,” or “Even if I had time what would I do?”
I am here to tell you that you should stop thinking that you are too busy. Get a hobby.
There are so many reasons why hobbies are good for your health. You can’t work all the time. You are more than what you do; if it’s a business or a position at a business, you are more than your work.
You know this though. I’m just going to help you help yourself find a hobby.
Go Back To Being a Kid
What did you like to do when you were younger? Tap back into those things that made your heart sing, whether that was collecting rocks, crocheting, growing flowers…head back to your youth and see what made you tick once upon a time!
Try Many Things!
Got a list of potential hobbies? Take a moment to try them out – yes, all of them. Some of them might not be the best for who you are now, and others might be exactly what you need.
A personal example: I started to read again a few years ago. It’s not that I ever stopped, I just stopped making time for it. So I did what any business owner would do, I tried to combine my professional development with my hobby, and started reading self-help and business books. I ordered ten off Amazon and started to read through them, one painful page at a time.
That lasted for about a month.
It was too much like work! After that, I started crocheting again…that lasted for about four weeks. Then baking – that made it a few months. Candy making, a long weekend. I missed reading. After a while, I realized that I wanted to read, I just didn’t want to read books I associated with work. Bring on the thrillers!
Had I not tried other things – and a lot of them – I don’t think I would have ended up back at reading.
Guilty Pleasures
If you’re struggling with your childhood list, head to the guilty pleasure portion of your life. What do you do when you have nothing work-related to do? Take some time to check on what you consider a guilty pleasure. Is it buying plants? Running? Shopping for your collection of colorful cups? Whatever you might do, tap in and see if it’s potentially a hobby. It doesn’t have to be! This is just a nice place to go if you’ve exhausted your childhood passions.
Don’t Make It Work
I have a lot of plants. Like a lot a lot. I love them dearly. I also make cheesecakes for the holiday season. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
I can no longer count on all my fingers and toes how many times people have told me to sell plants, teach a class, talk about plants, sell cheesecake…and how many times I’ve said “absolutely not” because of the plants and cheesecakes. Those are for ME and only ME.
Do not make your hobby your work. Your hobby is your hobby, and your work is your work.
Unless you want to make your hobby work, and fully understand that it won’t ever be your hobby anymore. When it becomes your work, you have responsibilities, bills, and tasks that need to be done: ask any home baker turned bakery owner – once you start tying a hobby to your income and living expenses, it rapidly moves from hobby to work.
The best thing to remember when you’re looking for a hobby? It’s for fun. Remember fun?
