getting over hobby guilt
I used to feel conditioned by streak apps, habit trackers, self help things and productivity/hustle culture to think I need to do all of my hobbies daily, or at least weekly. This idea that you need practice for everything, the need to become good, the pressure to make progress and have something to show for it, the question if you should monetize it or if you can still call this a hobby if you haven’t touched it in months… nasty! We need to get it out of our heads and stop overthinking something we should enjoy and let loose in.
I’m not touching my sewing machine for a year? Well, what about it? Am I a professional sewer (hehe) seamstress? Am I looking to sell my creations? Do I need to be good at it to call it a hobby? No? Well then what does it matter! Hobbies rotate all the time and some are seasonal! My mother only knitted during winter, too. Why not do it when you want to? If you liked doing it you’d make time and wouldn’t have to remind yourself. I get having to push through awful parts in a hobby - like having to force yourself to practice a part you suck at on the guitar, or pushing yourself to do something you love after an exhausting day - but otherwise: this time is for you!
You’re already forcing yourself to work or to do the dishes or to the grocery store; why continue and make hobbies a chore to tick off?
To do list: My productive hobby at exactly 6pm, which I should optimize so I can get more hobby per minute out of it and think of a worthwhile piece to make/learn so I’m a certified hobby haver. Ooooh look at this guy! He’s burnt out from drawing but he does have a 75 day streak going. Not breaking the streak involved cutting other things short and staying up too late to make it or some sort of revenge bedtime procrastination, but at least he did it, man. It will give him the opportunity to write a LinkedIn post on how pushing himself to hate a hobby via a daily habit tracking streak taught him something valuable about himself and life, and you should try it, too.
It sounds insane because it is! Treat yourself kindly.
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Published 31 Jan, 2025