In a world where we’ve tried to make everything as productive as possible, we’ve lost the art of leisure. The thing is that we all need a hobby and in this episode, I talk about the hobbies that everyone needs in their life. Listen to the episode, or read below for hobby ideas.
What is a hobby?
I think this hobby definition from Wikipedia sums it up well:
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time, not professionally and not for pay.
How do your hobbies stand up to that definition of a hobby? If you’re squirming a little, you might be encountering one of these common problems.
1. You’ve integrated all of your hobbies into your brand, and now they feel a little like work
It’s no secret that I love taking baths. Sunday night baths were my first intentional self-care ritual. However, I noticed that whenever I took a bath, I felt a need to document it as an “on brand” moment. This time that was supposed to be for me now had a layer of work in it.
2. We monetize them
We all know someone who started making jewelry or doing embroidery for fun. Before long, it was a business. It’s a phenomenon that is particularly common with millennials.
In Molly Conway’s quintessential article on the topic, she talks about how we’re living in “the era of the hustle” where we try to monetize and optimize every aspect of our lives.
In response to that false belief, Molly leaves us with a much needed reminder, “You don’t have to monetize your joy.”
3. We lose the joy
If you failed to follow Molly’s advice, you might find yourself in a place where there is no longer any joy in your extracurriculars. They’re no longer hobbies. They’re additional work that occurs outside of your work hours.
Does that sound fun to you? It sounds overwhelming to me, and it felt even more overwhelming when I lived it. Let’s do things differently this year.
The four types of hobbies you should have
I’m not saying that you need to have four hobbies. I’m encouraging you to find hobbies that support you in these four ways. You might find one hobby that checks all of the boxes for you.
The uninstagrammable hobby
This is a hobby that you don’t integrate into your brand. Some hobbies can’t really be Instagrammed. For others, you may choose not to share them.
I’ve taken up chess recently. Online chess isn’t as aesthetically pleasing as it is. I’ve also decided that I don’t want to share it on social media. I don’t want it to feel obligatory. I simply want to enjoy it.
The hobby that isn’t monetized
This is pretty self-explanatory. We all need a hobby that is purely for fun. It’s not a side hustle. It’s a pastime.
Once again, chess is currently filling that role in my life.
The screen-free hobby
At this point, most of us know that staring at a screen all day and night isn’t doing us any favors. Having a screen-free hobby is critical both physically and mentally.
I asked my Instagram community for screen-free hobby ideas, and they shared so many! Find your new hobby below:
Screen-Free Hobby Ideas
- Baking
- Bathing
- Being in nature
- Bike riding
- Breathing
- Calligraphy
- Cardmaking
- Coloring
- Cooking
- Crocheting
- Crafting
- Dancing
- Decluttering
- Doing workbooks
- Embroidery
- Fostering pets
- Hiking
- Gardening
- Journaling
- Knitting
- Mindful movement
- Music
- Painting
- Photography
- Playing board games
- Puzzles
- Playing an instrument
- Reading
- Playing with pets
- Rollerskating
- Running
- Sewing
- Skiing
- Skincare
- Soapmaking
- Tarot
- Upcycling
- Walking
- Watercolor
- Waterskiing
- Weaving
- Woodworking
- Writing
- Yoga
My favorite screen-free hobby of the moment is reading. I find myself reading a lot of nonfiction, which can get me into work territory, so I try to seek out fiction books as well. If you ever want to know what I’ve read recently, you can see my recent reads here.
The hobby that allows you to be a beginner
We live in a society that places a lot of emphasis on being an expert, but there is so much good that comes from being a beginner. You learn about yourself when you don’t know what you’re doing. Give yourself the opportunity to start from the beginning.
What’s the hobby that’s bringing me into the beginner’s mind? You probably guessed it...chess! I’m making a lot of mistakes, and I’m loving it.
Now you’ve got everything you need to find a hobby that will actually feel like leisure, and you have plenty of hobby ideas to give you a head start. Want to share one of your own? Leave your hobby ideas in the comments.
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