You haven’t ever felt the need to find a hobby? You’re right, sweetie! It can sound so funny about the fact you’re even bothering to search for ways on how to find a hobby!
Don’t worry, a lot are just not admitting that they need some helpful tips to find a thing or two that they will enjoy. But trust me, you are on the right start and you will thank me later!
Before I go through the details of finding what you would love to do, let us address first some common issues related to it – How To Find A Hobby To Beat Your Boredom
So why is it important to find a hobby?
We hear it from a lot of people and it is becoming a common question from people that you just met whether at gatherings or on your fave dating app. So, is the purpose of having a hobby to be able to answer these newfound peers? Or to be able to have a daily Instagram post of your new lululemon leggings while at the gym?
Well, the best reasons to find a hobby can vary depending on the person. One might find a hobby to relieve the daily stress he/she gets from somewhere else. It can also be one just wanting to kill some time and beat the boredom. Some other people view their hobbies as a channel for improving their skills and gaining more knowledge. Nonetheless, staying healthy and keeping focused are good reasons to start a hobby for many people as well.
Why a lot of people stopped doing what they started, or jump from one thing to another until they surrendered in seeking a hobby to love? It is because they just jumped on the bandwagon of millennials doing a hobby just for the sake of having a hobby.
I feel you! I personally struggled in fighting my boredom. I was at a point when I was so bored but I didn’t know what to do! Then, I was depressed because I felt that I was wasting a lot of time by aimlessly scrolling and tabbing on my phone instead of doing something more fun that could also benefit me. Finding a long-term hobby as a grown-up can be difficult due to many factors. And these factors are the ones that we will be addressing on my secret on how I found the thing that I love doing right now, which is guess what — blogging! I love writing and my blog is a perfect place where I can enjoy writing the things popping out of my head! Besides that, it earns me some sort of money online
The Crucial Factors To Consider To Find a Hobby
1. Make A List – Write Down What You Like First!
Write down at least 5-10 of the things that you are interested in doing. Try to brainstorm the things that you really liked or something you watched or heard that made you want to try. You could also consider the skills and things you are good at and make a list of them. Now from this list, we will narrow it down by considering the factors on the next items.
2. Sufficient Time – Find a Hobby That You Can Keep On
Yup, you need to make sure that you have sufficient time for this new “distraction.” I heard from so many friends that they stopped after just a few weeks of starting their new hobby because their time couldn’t allow them to keep going with it.
So it can be a good idea to try to get your time more organized. For example, make a timeline of your daily routine and see the length of vacant time you have, then compare it with the amount of time this new interest you are eyeing will consume you.
Of course, if it’s just reading a book, you could do it in the comfort of your home for a few minutes to a few hours without bothering about your time schedule. But if it’s something like joining a spin class in town, you have to estimate the time for driving, getting you sorted and ready, and the actual class hours it will take.
More than certainly, all these of your effort in making things organized and planning ahead will help you figure out if the new hobby you are thinking of is a realistic one to start and keep on. If it turns out not favorable for your time routine, then, don’t look back, just move on to what next you might like!
3. Money – Make Sense With Your Budget
Yes bud, unless you only want to play mobile games or read free e-books from your phone, you would need money from a few dollars to $$$$ depending on what your new obsession is.
Do not get a gym membership if you could barely pay rent and have to use your credit card above the line, That isn’t a sustainable hobby to keep up. Not that I mean expensive interest is bad but you wouldn’t have to skip a meal or borrow money just to do it.
Research this hobby to see how much it would possibly cost you. Most of the time, it is more than what you think. So if you want to go to the gym, it is not just the gym membership, it is also a workout outfit, shoes, accessories, gas, etc. A lot of people had to leave the things they love to do because they just can’t keep up with the expenses anymore.
4. Physical Capability – Is Your Hobby Affecting Your Health?
I was a long distance runner before and would often run 10-15 miles. Sadly, I had to stop due to a lower back injury. And I couldn’t keep on it bearing the pain from the deep inside of my backbones every step I ran.
So, your health conditions or other physical capability is one thing you would need to consider. Not to mention, it would not be worth continuing if you feel something goes wrong and you have a health condition that could possibly get worse by doing a certain thing.
What next? Then just move on to the next interest on your list. The bottom line just boils down to doing what eases you up, not stressing you out.
5. Check for availability or feasibility
Erase quickly from your list if the thing you want is not possible or available from where you live. Don’t choose hiking if you live on huge flat land like Southeast Texas or blogging if you are in the middle of nowhere that barely has an internet signal.
The closer it is to you and the easier to access it, the more chances that you will maintain it. There was a point in 2019-2020 when I hiked mountains even though I lived in a big city. That said, I could only do it on the weekends. But, having to travel so far just to reach the jumpstart area is already energy and time-consuming so I always ended up worn out, plus the fact that it costed me a lot of money for transportation.
6. Is It Healthy For You – Mentally or Physically?
A lot of pastimes are fun yet unhealthy like playing video games for hours every day. Many would even forget their meals and would even hold their pee until their kidneys are almost exploding. On any hobby you do, take it moderately and on a healthy level so it would end up positively.
After ticking the boxes from the above items, I hope you still have a couple that is left! If not, add more items to your list and evaluate it again. Once you are satisfied with the remaining hobbies on your checklist, try to evaluate the last item below:
7. Happiness – Our Final Destination Having A Good Hobby!
Will it make you happy and even feel achieved by the end of the day, or will it just make you physically/mentally exhausted and stressed? I would play mobile games here and there was a game I quit playing (I can’t even remember the name because it was almost 10 years ago, haha).
I noticed that I was always mad and stressed while playing it because it made me frustrated when I lost my life in the game. So not because you like doing something means it makes you happy (such as staying with your boyfriend/girlfriend that you love who keeps cheating on you! Joke). If a hobby makes you feel challenged yet frustrated and stressed, stop doing it! You might even bring these negative emotions after doing what could negatively affect your life.
Now here is a bonus! – How would you maintain it after you have found your hobby,?
As a matter of fact, maintaining a hobby can be more tricky than just starting a hobby. Just like spoken above, a hobby kept on and perfectly accustomed into a piece of your routine isn’t a breeze. Maybe, the hardest part is to keep you as motivated as when you just started it out. And boredom can come anytime when you realize your interest is outdated and no longer valid on it.
That being said, you might want to look at many ways to keep you interested and motivated about your hobby. If you truly like it and want to keep going with it on a regular basis, there ‘are’ actually many ways to help with it. These things might be what you want to try for getting a hobby in a long term:
- Find connections or peer groups to keep the hobby together.
- Join classes, communities, and organizations whether online or in the flesh.
- Ask friends to join up the hobby you are enjoying.
Consequently, what boils down to is you might need ones that you can enjoy the hobby or activity together. It works when it comes to keeping motivation because a rule of thumb is that it’s more fun having people around than you are alone keeping on your lonely hobby.