With the current pandemic leaving many people out of work or on furlough, you may have more time to pick up new hobbies. However, the stress of being on a tighter income is preventing many people from doing just that. Here’s why you should make time to find a new hobby and how to find one that fits your personality.
Why are hobbies beneficial?
- Hobbies provide a creative outlet that you might not get elsewhere in your life. I’m sure you love your family, but everybody needs alone time to focus on their health and wellbeing.
- There is strong evidence linking mental health to hobbies. People who participate in regular leisure activities generally enjoy lower stress levels, more sleep, and better physical health, according to the Pittsburgh study (conducted by universities from Pittsburgh, Kansas, and Texas). It’s important that you make time to pursue hobbies in order to be happier in your home life and more productive in your work life.
Finding a new hobby can be difficult when there are so many to choose from. The key is finding something that suits your personality.
Make something you love into a hobby
- People often make the mistake of picking a hobby they think will improve them or sound good to other people, not necessarily one they enjoy. Hobbies take time and effort. If you don’t pick something you love, there’s no way you’ll stick at it.
- Look at the things that you naturally gravitate towards and think about how you can turn them into a hobby. Perhaps you love listening to new artists and spend hours trawling through Soundcloud. You could start making your own music using computer software or learn a new instrument. Maybe you love fashion and read all the fashion magazines religiously. You could learn to sew and start altering clothes.
Use something you were interested in as a child
- Think about what you used to enjoy doing as a kid before work, chores, and general ‘adulting’ got in the way. People tend to be either naturally creative or logically. Chances are you either loved imaginative games as a kid, like painting or making up stories, or puzzles and logical hobbies. Whatever your childhood interests were, you can easily transform them into a more adult appropriate hobby.
- If you can’t remember what you were interested in as a child, ask your parents or other older family members. It’s likely that they’ll remember things which you’ve completely forgotten about!
Start trying a few things and see which one sticks
- The truth is, some hobbies stick and some you quit. No matter how much work you put into finding out which hobbies are best suited to you, it’s difficult to tell how much you’ll enjoy it until you actually try it.
- The best thing to do if you’re unsure which hobby to go for is to dip your toes in the water. It’s entirely possible that something you think you’ll love may, in practice, just feel like work. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, not an extra job. Try a few different hobbies and see which one you’re the most willing to put time and effort into. That’s the one you should stick with.
Hobbies don’t have to be expensive
- Most people think that hobbies cost a lot of money. Don’t get me wrong – they can be expensive. Sailing requires you to take lessons and either buy or hire a boat. But it’s a common misconception that you need to spend loads to play now and enjoy a hobby.
- DJing is a hobby that most people think is very expensive, requiring complicated software. But the good news is that most of this software can be either free or for a fraction of the price that the professionals pay – just Google ‘free VST plugins’ and you’ll see what I mean! All it takes is that little bit of research to find cheap alternatives for whichever hobby you choose. If you’ve chosen a hobby that you truly love, researching ‘free VST plugins’ won’t even feel like work.
Whatever your interests are, just follow these key steps and you’ll be able to find a hobby that suits your personality and doesn’t cost the earth.
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