How to find a hobby (and stick with it)

Wanting to get into a hobby but don’t know where to start? Read on to learn how to find one and stick with it.

Having a hobby to get good at over a period of time, in my opinion, is one of the most rewarding ways to direct time. From creative, physical, intellectual, hands on, and beyond, there are so many possibilities as to what we can do to channel time in a meaningful way. Yet most people find themselves stumped when it comes to how to find a hobby, how to get started, and how to stick with it overtime.

Whether you are someone who is looking to get into a hobby or figure out what you can do to be more consistent with your existing hobby, I have provided my top five pointers in the post that follows. These I have learned (and have continued to practice) in my many years of “hobbying”, and warning: you will need to put in the effort to get anywhere with this. But I can assure you that if you choose to follow these steps that you will become a more consistent hobbyist and an even more interesting person.

Step 1: Tune Out the Noise

First, you must cut back on your screen time. It’s no surprise that the amount of time people look at screens each day is alarming and that there are many negative impacts from it. I challenge you to consider what all you could do if you redirected much of the time you spent looking at your phone into a hobby.

I could write a whole post specifically on how to cut back on your screen time, but there are some important nuggets of information I will share now. If you are someone who chronically uses their phone but wants to quit doom scrolling, I would highly suggest finding an “entry-level” activity that you already know how to do without your phone and consistently pulls you away from it for an extended period of time to give yourself a “digital detox.” My top recommendation to this end would be to start taking long walks or hikes, as you experience physical separation from your phone (do consider carrying personal protection for your own safety, though).

If you need extra motivation to start leaving your phone behind and taking these walks/hike, consider finding an accountability partner to go with or report to (if they’re unable to go). And once you get acclimated with this time away from your phone, start walking or hiking independently. Be alone in your thoughts. Experience the discomfort that comes with that. Every moment you tune out the noise moves you closer to cultivating the attention, concentration, and mindfulness that supports a more advanced hobby.

Step 2: Find What Really Inspires You

Once you start to build more focus and redirect your time, you have freed up more bandwidth to consider what you would do with that time. That’s when you can start considering what makes you go “Wow… that is absolutely amazing… I wish I could do that!”

Many people don’t go as far as to wish they had that skill because subconsciously (and automatically) dismiss it as unrealistic within their own circumstances and/or abilities. Many more couldn’t even say what wows them. Dare to be different and discover what your sources of inspiration are.

There are many hobbies that involve a surplus of time and money, but there are also many that are very accessible. That could include anything from physical pursuits such as kayaking or visiting new parks, creative pursuits such as drawing or needlework, intellectual pursuits such as learning a new language or topic, among many others. All you need to do is consider what you are personally fascinated by and use that as your starting point. The possibilities are endless.

Step 3: Plan Your First Steps

From here, you will encounter what many people consider to be the most daunting aspect of anything ever: getting started. It’s one thing to know what hobby you’d like to pursue; it’s another to take that from an idea to an action you put in motion.

Most people never get started because they simply don’t know where to start. When that is the case, the hobby may seem like an insurmountable obstacle that gets shelved for months, if not indefinitely. It is human nature to gravitate toward what is known and predictable; it often seems counterintuitive and uncomfortable to address what to unknown and unpredictable. The only way to achieve anything meaningful, however, is to step outside of your comfort zone and gradually expand it.

In context to hobbies, this means that you must make it seem more attainable in the present to get yourself to get started. A simple way to do this is to outline your first steps. You don’t need to create an elaborate plan; start by writing down the first 1-3 things you will do or look into (depending on the hobby). Get those things done and then write down the next 1-3 things. You will find that you start building a track record with yourself of accomplishing what you commit to doing on paper and that doing the hobby seems less overwhelming since you’re going off what you wrote down, making it both known and predicable. Celebrate these victories and have fun with it!

Step 4: Set Aside Some Time

Now that you will have overcome the barrier of getting started, you will have built some momentum that you can use to stay consistent. What you view as “consistent” may differ from what another person views as “consistent”, and that is okay. It is important to be realistic about what you are able to sustainably get around to in any given day to avoid burning out. Hobbies are to enrich your life, not burden and add stress to it.

In order to get around to your hobby, though, you need to observe how you’re directing your time to determine where you can continue redirecting it from low-grade time drains to your hobby instead. Consistency could look like getting around to your hobby a couple or few times weekly; the key here is to focus on establishing some patterns you can follow over a period of time to make incremental progress over the next month or year.

Step 5: Make Ongoing Optimizations

Continuing to set time aside for your hobby plays an important part of sticking with it, but there is another part that is equally or more important: continuing to make optimizations along the way. By optimizations, I mean optimizing your workflows, life load, and mindset.

Seek to systemize and make your process for getting stuff done more efficient and effective. Lighten your life load by off-boarding tasks and projects that need to be brought to a close, even if it requires extra work in the short-term. Strengthen your will to do what brings enrichment to your life by understanding what that is and why it matters to you.

Ready to Get Started Now (or Again)?

There is so much I could write about in regard to how to find a hobby and how to stick with it. I hope this post gave you the spark you needed to get re-excited about your hobby or excited about the hobby you want to start. Be sure to keep an eye out for the next posts; there is a lot coming soon.

Happy hobbying!