Freelance: Finding a hobby
I’ve recently come to a little bump in the freelance road. I managed to turn both of my hobbies into jobs, but forgot one important step…finding new hobbies. I love all that comes with my career and will happily spend my days and nights designing, organizing spreadsheets & calendars, or rehearsing for upcoming circus shows, but I find that if I do this too many nights in a row I start to feel a hint of burn out.
When I find myself with a few hours of freedom I lean toward activities that are entertaining and benefit my business at the same time. Reading an inspiring/motivating book, stretching, or pinning makeup/costume ideas. These things take less brain power and energy than designing or rehearsing, but though I’ve tried to deny it, they’re still part of WORK.
So now I’m searching for an actual hobby – something I will not be tempted to turn into a business. I’ve done the knitting thing, I’m not skilled at any sort of offline artsy activity and it’s currently winter, so outdoor activities are out of the question. Also, being in the circus is already expensive, so cheaper hobbies would be better :)
I’ve been working on my house lately, painting the bathroom and organizing all my junk – yes, I’m putting this in the hobbies category for now – but I’d love to hear what sort of hobbies you have and if any freelancers out there have dealt with the same issue.
01.11.13 in freelance
My hobbies are doll collecting, photography, teaching myself foreign words and phrases, and making handmade greeting cards. You just have to find something that pique your interest and tailored to your desires.
As a dancer and nutritionist, my new non-profit hobby is improv comedy. Absolutely no plans to make money with that at all. Just pure fun.
Cheaper than gardening and can tie into may other fun hobbies: Plant identification. Urban or wild foraging is something I adore, makes grocery shopping cheaper and makes you a more creative cook. It can lead to other fun things like ethonobotany and medicinal uses and gets you outside and appreciating nature no matter your location! Library books, blogs and meetup groups are great resources, and there are plenty of workshops around the U.S.
Thanks for the suggestion Jenny. I’m not sure where I could forage around here – looks like I’ll have to do some research :)
De-cluttering and reorganizing my apartment has become one of my hobbies recently, so I think you can consider it to be one of your own too. It’s not as long lasting as others because once you get through the house, it’s done… or not. You could always start over! You could use it as a reason to try new DIY, like making pillows for your couch, or paintings to hang on walls.
My most recent hobby was learning to skateboard! But now that it’s winter, I’ve taken up learning to cook vegan foods!
I’ve always wanted to learn to skateboard. Might have to add that to my list as soon as all this snow goes away.
There are so many hobbies in the world!! I agree with those who said give crocheting a try; there’s also always rubberband-weaving. That was huge a decade ago, and is very cheap (although I’m not sure what there is to make other than potholders).
Also, music! Guitars are relatively cheap, or maybe try harmonica, or recorder, or join a choir!
How about trying some hula hooping? Just recently, I also felt a need for a hobby and something to make me feel happy and accomplished.
One night in the beautiful San Diego area I was late night parting with some friends at the beach. Lucky i have a friend who is very talented and had her very own Light up Hula Hoop! She taught me some great tricks, and other cool ideas to have fun with it and the lights.
This definitely was a great pick for me to continue trying. I got my own glow in the dark hoop and now spend a good half hour each day twirling around and coming up with new tricks of my own! It keeps me feeling free and I love that about it! Let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading
Stephanie
P.S. It can get really fun when you have a couple people to practice with. Also sometimes when it gets to cold to go out side i can usually clear a space in my living room to do a few things. Any thing is possible if you just believe.
Hooping would definitely fall under work for me haha. I actually have a hoop and know a couple tricks, but it never really held my attention and I always end up with lots of bruises >_<
What about gardening?
I want to be a gardener, I really do, but if you saw my backyard you’d be appalled haha I have planted and killed so many things over the years I’ve lived here. My mom has a green thumb and mine is apparently black!
You could learn a new language or build on your knowledge of one you already sort of know.
I do have a Spanish app on my phone that I’ve been meaning to get back to!
Ohhhh… I like this topic! Sort of like a six degrees of separation between work and hobby. You could probably find a way to link most hobbies with your work in some fashion. For the longest time, I wondered if I had any hobbies at all. For some reason, I associated having a hobby with having to be exceptional at that which I called said hobby. It wasn’t until your aerial class that I realized I had a hobby, even though I wasn’t very good at it. It was fun! I enjoy baking (not cooking!) and giving the baked goods away when I don’t eat them myself:) I’m not crafty, but love to decorate children’s character cakes. Going to the movies is an all time favorite, as is concert going. Those last two can get quite pricey.
Here are some hobbies that you may or may not entertain: baking, learn a foreign language, volunteer, learn to play chess/poker/euchre/harmonica, and/or start/organize a once a week/month club:)
Good luck and have fun exploring your options. Best Wishes!
You can always send some of those baked goods my way :) I’ve been meaning to volunteer & I’m thinking organizing the Ladies Social Club (that’s what I’m calling it now) could be considered a hobby.
Argentine tango.
I already know how to tango! Although it’s been years since I’ve danced and a new studio opened up a few miles away so maybe I should dig out my ballroom shoes again.
Beer is not exactly a hobby, but I consider it one. I like to learn about beer and try new beers, and when the opportunity arises, I LOVE brewery tours. I suppose home brewing would be the next logical step.
I also love to cook, especially cooking for groups of people. I often invite friends over for dinner and they know they don’t have to bring or cook anything… unless, of course, they want to introduce me to a new beer.
If beer can be your hobby then maybe I’ll take up wine :)
i did the same thing, and turned to outside hobbies (until my dog got sick and the extra income had to all go to her, and now i have a baby so it all goes to the baby, no more extracurriculars for a while). i’m not the crafty type, so i went the other direction. i took up a welding class on the weekends, which turned into 2 more different welding classes after that. i also looked into glass blowing but they didn’t have any in my area. then i tried out flight training because i wanted to learn how to fly a cessna. not on the cheaper end but if you only do 1-2 classes a month that’s not so bad. and you don’t forget everything you learned. i loved it. i also took a pole dancing class and a tumbling class since going to the gym wasn’t quite as exciting as either of those. they were fun but didn’t stick because they were a pain in the butt drive from my house. a lot of people i work with go to those wine and design classes. i don’t know if they have those up your way but they are a blast. just some ideas! :) good luck and don’t get too burnt out.
I like this idea of trying a more badass crafty class. I could definitely get into welding and then I could make my own aerial apparatuses!
I knit, so that’s a huge thing for me, but if you don’t love it, you don’t (I do NOT like crochet, ha). The thing is though, I use it a lot as a tool for my business… I’m a copywriter, and when I need that Thinking Zone to work out the perfect angle, I knit. It’s like magic for me. So I totally get you on the hobbies that aren’t quite anymore. Especially since I’m also planning on starting to dye yarn on the side and sell in a few local shops, to augment/complement the writing.
Recently, I’ve started turning to cooking more and more. I’ve always loved to cook, but lately, I’m turning to it as a creative, focused, no-strings-attached hobby. I try new recipes and things, but I also just enjoy the chopping, the sauteeing, the mundane parts that go into a meal. It’s been fun, and a great release.
Even if it’s not cooking, if there’s something you already do (even here and there) that you like but perhaps kind of ignored before in favor of the more exciting hobbies, it might be a good place to look for an easy, enjoyable hobby :-)
My thinking zone is cardio – if I get up and workout for a while I come back to my computer with a million ideas flying out of my brain!
You know, if you want to find a hobby…just turn to your camera. Document things you want to remember in life, things that look interesting, etc.
..not to mention, it would help build up on your photography skills. ;]
This is a really good idea – I bought a fancy camera last year and while I can take decent photos I don’t really know how to use all the settings.
I agree with Kate, crocheting would still be worth a try even if you felt uninspired by your knitting experience! If you’re feeling like you have a lot of extra time that always ends up filled with the same old stuff, maybe try volunteering with animals, children, or anyone else in need. Maybe you’ll discover a passion you never knew you had!
You seem to conquer every challenge that you take on, so I’m sure you’ll find something that moves you :)
I get you, girl. I hope you find a hobby…mine is usually just writing. And movie-going, haha. A lot of my friends have recently got into home crafts & cooking. I am not as motivated, haha.
I used to knit, but I didn’t love it. I learned how to crochet though and I am hooked! It goes about one million times faster than knitting and if you mess up, you just pull it out, whereas with knitting you have to knit backwards to fix a mistake (I could barely knite forward!!!). I would definitely 100% suggest it!
Good luck!
Kate
Like you and Erin, I have done the same- turned them into work. Most every interest I have I’ve turned into work. In fact, I’ve been feeling a little burnout lately as well.
I do have some things leftover that give me solace and make me feel free. Reading is one of them. I now leisure read every day. Still I set a goal for a number of books I’d read this year and also blog about those books at the end of each month. So far, even though I’ve set work-like goals for it, reading still makes me feel free.
I have this issue with EVERYTHING. I have literally turned all of my hobbies into work. Everything from crafting, to drawing, to blogging, to designing, is all work now! I even turned Pinterest into work, so you know it’s bad! I enjoy everything I do, but yeah, when it’s all part of work it’s easy to get burned out.
I’m trying to read more fiction books, but other than that, I really don’t have much in the way of hobbies that don’t somehow become work. Even my knitting becomes blog content so it somehow falls under work! I really have no idea how to actually separate things or not feel like I have to turn everything I do into some sort of business venture. I think that’s the entrepreneurial curse!
Yes! I don’t know how Pinterest is work, but it is! I’ve been reading a lot lately too and making sure I choose a fiction book every once in a while is helpful and gives me a little relief from working.
I love how this sheds some new light on the I-turned-my-hobby-into-my-job story; makes me appreciate the fact that I combine a day job (a nice one, luckily) with some hobbies :) I love learning new things (in a VERY relaxed manner, though), so my hobbies usually go in that direction; you’re a pro already at circus and design, and don’t want to go down the sewing/knitting/crochet/whatever path, so how about learning a new language maybe? Doesn’t have to be in an organized class, with some internet resources/a good instruction book and maybe someone in your area who speaks to language to take out for coffee, you could already get started to see if you actually like it.