I don't think i've ever had a hobby
I split my day into 3 logical (not chronological) groups:
1.
Work (job, school, family, chores)
2.
Passion (hobbies, personal projects, side gigs)
3.
Play (unstructured, guilt-free downtime for mental decompression)
I've done the couch potato thing (all play) & I've done the workaholic thing (all work). I've come to realize the importance of downtime to let my brain & body chill out a bit. However, I've also come to internalize the concept of "paying myself first"
before I goof off! As sort of a way to add satisfaction & motivation & goodness to my life. This allows me to split up my day so that I take care of business, get stuff done for personal growth, and then relax the rest of the time, until bedtime.
I have ADHD, so I "hobby-cycle", meaning I go through phases. Two that have stuck with me are crafting & cooking, because I can try out a lot of different things within those realms. I'm the type of personal who likes ultra-short-term motivation (i.e. can I do it NOW & get an immediate or automated result?), as my energy tends to fizzle out on long-term projects, so things like pushbutton cooking with my Instapot or doing 3D printing (sometimes takes a whole day or more to print a single file!) are things that I can fiddle with & then let them work in an automated fashion.
I'm also extremely
mood-based in everything I do, so I try to ride the dopamine wave whenever it hits lol. Like, I got mad that a mini skillet cookie at Chili's cost $8.99 & wasn't even that good, so I bought a whole punch of knockoff-brand mini cast-iron skillets from Amazon & made my own bulk-prep to freeze at home & then bake them straight from frozen lol:
They hit the spot after a long day at work & I don't have to do any prep or cleanup! Just drop a frozen cookie dough puck into a skillet & bake or airfry directly from the freezer!
There are a zillion hobbies out there; it's fun to find one that:
1. Tickles you
2. Is something you can fiddle & tinker with whenever you're in the mood, that way it doesn't build up & feel like a chore
3. Allows you room to grow forever
Like with food, recipes are 100% open-source & Pinterest has 10 million free recipes available, so I can basically make something new anytime I want for the rest of my life merely by committing to doing it! Not everyone is recipe-driven like me, but I love it when I can find a personally-vetted recipe from somebody who has made it 3 dozen times & perfected it, haha! So when the mood strikes, I can get in gear & whip up something amazing!
Some people start collections, some people do things in groups (car shows & group cruise rides), some people just do things that they enjoy themselves, some people do things where they can make beautiful or useful things for other people (food gifts, woodworking, etc.). A good starter question is: what void are you trying to fill? Do you have some free time & are feeling bored? Do you want to make a contribution? Do you want to try something new? Here's some reading to help prompt some ideas:
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Getting into crafting &
further explanation of crafting machines
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Jar gifts &
sourdough jars
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Guitar &
singing
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Creating digital art on an iPad
*
Bear-to-bar chocolateering
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Amazing homemade pizza
*
Baking at home &
no-knead bread
The Internet is an amazing place because it removes the typical gatekeeping of learning, which is
access to information, because now
everyone is spilling ALL of their secrets on TikTok, Youtube, Pinterest, special-interest Facebook groups, sub-reddits, and Google Search! You can define what you want to get into, how deeply you want to get into it, and how quickly you want to learn & grow at a particular hobby! You can download Visual Studio & start programming in any language you want, you can download Unity Hub & start making 2D, 3D, and AR/VR video games, you can download a
Windows 98 VM to play old DOS games, the list is endless!
The great thing with hobbies is that there's no set schedule or deadlines or pressure or budget or complexity level requirement. Maybe you just like going to free cars shows & maybe you want to try your hand at restoring one at home! The ultimate purpose is simply personal growth & personal satisfaction, as you can just kind of noodle around with whatever you want, whenever you feel like it! So the question really begins with "what are you looking for?" Do you wish you had something fun to look forward to all the time in your life?
For me, food definitely gives me the dopamine! One of the weird little food niche hobbies I like is making bento snack trays. I have a set of Uncrustable molds (like the PB&J sandwiches) off Amazon & I like to find things like really good sliced deli meats, cheeses, chips, etc. & then put together fun little snack trays to make my day a little bit brighter. Doesn't require much effort, but it's fun to have something to look forward to, which is also pretty easy to do! So if you have some free time & some interest, picking up a hobby or two can be a fun & worthwhile endeavor!