How do you find a hobby and keep it going?

Why do you need a hobby?

How do you find a hobby and keep it going? Most of us have about five free hours a day. And more than half of that goes to the TV. What if part of it went to something you love? Today you’ll see what science says, and you’ll leave with a plan to start yours this week.

By the way, this is my house in MindHaOS, and look: today it’s traveling by train, like a journey through everything you could try. In this room I keep my hobbies.

In 2023, Karen Mak and her team gathered data from more than ninety-three thousand people over sixty-five in sixteen countries. Those who had a hobby had fewer symptoms of depression, and felt healthier, happier and more satisfied with their lives.

And there’s usually time. In 2023, in the United States, people had about five free hours a day on average, and almost three went to watching TV. Look what happens if you swap just twenty minutes.

In my Hobbies room I keep mine: piano and astrophotography, each with its week and its streak.

How do you find yours?

You’ve probably been told: find your passion. In 2018, Paul O'Keefe, Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton found that people who believe passion comes ready-made show less interest in new things, and when something gets hard, they drop it faster.

The idea that works is a different one: passion isn’t found, it’s developed. Try a few things, stick with the one that makes you curious, and give it time to grow.

To start, ask yourself how you like to spend your time: with your hands, with your head, moving your body, with others, or outdoors. Look how many ideas come up.

When I want to try a new one, I add it here: its name, an emoji, a color and, if I want, a weekly goal of practice days.

Why doesn’t it have to be useful?

There’s a very common trap: feeling that free time is wasted time. In 2021, Gabriela Tonietto and her team found that people who think this way enjoy their free time less, and have more stress, anxiety and sadness.

A hobby doesn’t have to become a business, or go on social media, or make you an expert. Its job is something else: that you enjoy doing it.

And you don’t need talent to start. Almost nobody is good at it in the first week: the enjoyment comes with practice, not before.

My piano isn’t about becoming a concert pianist: here I just log how long I played and a note, like “today I nailed the hard part”.

Where do you find the time?

You don’t need hours. Twenty minutes, four days a week, add up to almost seventy hours a year. See how it changes with your numbers.

The trick is to give it a fixed spot in your week: after dinner, Saturday morning. And keep everything within reach: the guitar out of its case, the book on the table.

And be careful about buying all the gear before you start. The basics first; the rest, once you know you like it.

And twenty minutes is enough: I log the session with one tap, and my week fills in.

Why does what you make yourself hook you more?

In 2012, Michael Norton and his team asked people to assemble an IKEA box. Afterwards, they offered more money for the box they had built themselves than other people offered for an identical one, already assembled. What you make with your own hands is worth more to you.

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That’s why a hobby hooks you more with a project: learning a whole song, finishing a scarf, photographing the full moon. Something you can finish and show.

Here each hobby can have its own projects: my first piece, played from start to finish, or twelve full moons in one year, with their photos.

How do you keep from giving it up?

In 2023, Jackie Silverman and Alixandra Barasch found that an unbroken streak motivates, but when it breaks, many people stop, even if they’ve done just as much as before.

That’s why a weekly goal beats a daily one: four days out of seven. If you can’t make it one day, the week still stands.

And if you drop it for a while, come back without guilt: a hobby isn’t an exam. Pick it up where you left off.

That’s why my piano has a weekly goal of four days, not seven: this week I’ve already done five, so the goal is met, and if I miss a day, no big deal.

Why do it with others?

In 2015, Eiluned Pearce, Jacques Launay and Robin Dunbar followed new classes for adults over seven months. In the singing classes, the group bonded much faster; in the crafts and writing classes too, but it took longer.

A group gives you a fixed date, company and a reason to come back: a club, a class, or a friend who signs up with you.

And sharing what you make counts too: playing a song for your family, giving away something you made, teaching someone what you’ve learned.

How do you keep going? Your plan to continue

In the first week, write down three hobbies that make you curious and try one, for twenty minutes, without buying anything.

In the first month, stick with the one you like most, give it a goal of days per week and a small project you can finish.

And once you like it, find someone to share it with: a class, a club or a friend.

And at the end of the year, look at your calendar of little squares: every day you practiced is there, with its pauses and its comebacks.

In short: a hobby is good for you, and there is time; passion isn’t found, it’s developed; it doesn’t have to be useful; and to stick with it, a weekly goal, a project and someone to share it with.

In the MindHaOS Hobbies room you can keep track of your hobbies, with their weekly goal of days, your sessions and your projects, and see your year day by day. Build your mental house for free today: the link is in the description. And in the next guide: how can you entertain yourself better?