6 Common Pitfalls when Taking up a Hobby
So you’ve decided you want to start a new hobby, good for you!
Here are a few tips to help you ensure that deciding will turn to planning and planning into action.
1 Time and timing
Ah yes, enemy number one of all things fun. There’s so much that can stand in the way of private pursuits: jobs, friends and family to take care of, cleaning, cooking, studying, renovating, whathaveyou. Subtract that from your daily 24 and there isn't all that much time left.
I've adapted various techniques over the years to handle studying alongside my day job, and I've put them in an extra post for you. Once you've identified some time in your schedule you can devote to your hobby you should also consider when you'll be testing this out.
While it's important not to fall into the "it's not the right time just now"-trap of creative death, there is no point in starting when you hardly have enough time to do your laundry.
The best way to know if you should start now or wait a bit is this: if you’ve got, say, 15-30 minutes of uninterupted free time a day (or more on weekends) that you can devote to a new hobby without feeling guilty or rushed, then start now.
If you’d just sit there thinking about all the chores you ought to be doing instead, then wait. Wait until your exams are over, your move is complete and so on. But do set yourself a date when you'll be revisiting, so you don't wake up in two years’ time realising it has never happened.
2 Money
Depending on your activity of choice things can become quite pricey. There are materials to be bought, clothes, books, courses, travel costs, you name it.
And you might be tempted to buy the good stuff, as incentive. If only you had an expensive bow, or that set of professional paints, you'd be sure to stick with your new hobby, because what a waste would it be otherwise.
Don’t.
You don’t need to splurge on new guitar, just get a used one from eBay. If you want to start knitting, find projects that require the same needle strength, don’t buy ten different sizes for various projects far in the future. If you want to draw, start with pencils and get the fancy ink and pastels later.
Don’t be tempted to buy fancy materials as ‘incentive’. It doesn’t work.
Often you can also borrow materials from clubs or in forums. People get doubles as gifts or upgrade to new ones but keep the old.
You'll find that hobbyists can get quite excited about helping out others to discover an activity they already love and will shower you with their unused materials, free of charge.
Spend your money on how to do your new hobby. A couple of good books or a well-made course are always the best investment. The best drawing pencil can’t make you an artist if you don’t know how to use it.
Having a bit of professional guidance can make all the difference and you’re much more likely to stick with your new hobby if you’re learning it correctly straight from the start.
3 Goal-setting
Your reason for picking up a hobby will ultimately determine the way you practice it and how much energy you'll put in.
Do you want something that relaxes you after a hard day's work? Do you want a creative outlet? Broaden your horizon? Do you want to meet like-minded people? Or do you want to make it a career?
If you want to play chess with your Dad, you'll probably have to spend less time going through books and taking courses than if you wanted to compete. Which will ultimately decide what priority the activity plays in your life.
Does it trump resting after a hard day at work or going out with your friends? When times are really stressful, or when you're just not in the mood, will you take a break, or will you push through?
Your reason for picking up a hobby will ultimately determine the way you practise it.
In six months’ time, a year, two years, where do you want to be? Answer that question honestly, because it will determine the first steps you take, how fast you go, how hard you push yourself.
Of course you can adapt your path as you go. If next year you find you've improved so much that a career is a possibility, by all means, re-evaluate. But until then, follow Plan A, so you don't find yourself either so bored or so overworked that you give up before you properly started.
4 Jealousy
Globalisation has many advantages, but this is one of the major downfalls. Because now we can compare our talent (or lack thereof) with the entire world. Not only are there sure to be some that are better at your hobby, there are sure to be many. Much better, at that. And many of them younger.
No matter how talented your friends think you are, watching a 12-year-old on YouTube mastering Paganini while you're just learning ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ is sure to make you wonder if it's even worth it. If there is a point, even if you don't plan to go professional.
Some people thrive on competition, others get demotivated by it. Consider which one you are and plan accordingly.
If you don't want to be around the masters, join a beginner’s course. If you prefer no competition at all, shut yourself off until you're ready. Anything you feel is valid. This is about you. Your new hobby, your free time.
5 Aimlessness
Once you've decided on your ‘what’, ‘when’ and ‘why’ it's about time to think about the ‘how’. Without some form of structure it's easy to be overwhelmed by the entirety of the enterprise.
Consider where you want to be in six months’ time, what you'd like to be able to do. Then divide it into bite-sized steps. For example, if you want to learn photography, read about lenses, focus, white balance. Then study composition.
If you want to learn drawing, start with simple exercises, or still life sketches. My Sketching Project was designed to lead beginners through all the basics, step by step.
Go as fast or as slow as works best for you. Baby steps are fine. Often the pace will pick up naturally at a later point.
This is about you. Your new hobby, your free time.
Plan for what you'll do when things get busy. A new job, exams, moving house, there's all sorts that can suddenly turn your well-scheduled routine into a hectic nightmare.
Could you still fit in some basics or would you take a break? And would you lose skill if you did or could you pick up right where you left off when things slow down?
For drawing I’ve created the 15-Minutes-a-Day Drawing Exercise Routine, which you can use if you’re just too busy for more but you still want to ‘stay in shape’.
If you have a plan, even a rough idea it'll help you make the most of the precious time you have allocated to this new activity. And give you items to cross off a to-do list.
6 Obsession
This one may or may not apply to you. Some of us are more likely to go overboard with things. Or your choice of hobby may be naturally addicting (gaming for example).
If you've allocated a certain amount of time per week for your new hobby, will you be able to stop when playtime is over? Or are you likely to continue “just a little longer” and suddenly realise it's midnight and you have to be up at six?
The point of your hobby is to entertain you. And because of that there's always a risk that you won’t want to stop being entertained.
If you notice that this is happening to you, or you already know it will, find ways to deal with it.
Set a timer, if you just need a little reminder. You can follow your hobby before going to work, so you know you'll have to stop at a certain time. Take one weekend a month instead of a little every day, if that works better for you.
Make sure you enjoy your hobby thoroughly, that's the whole point of it, but don't let it grey out everything else and get you into trouble.
There, I hope this little list will help you out if you've got some of these hurdles to cross yourself. Let me end with a quote posted by author Carrie Kei Heim: “You have a million excuses. Write anyway.”
If you find yourself struggling to stay with a hobby for long periods of time my post 8 Ways to stay Motivated during Long-Term Projects will also help you out.
Did you enjoy this article or feel like you have anything else to add? Feel free to leave me a comment below!
If you like this post, please share it, so others may like it too!
