How many hobbies do you have?

[Jon Tweddle]

Hi all

I was wondering how many hobbies other people can manage.

The reason for this is I have so much I want to do, but am worried that I'm taking on too much, for example this year I want to;

*Start triathlon training
*Start a life coaching course
*Continue to learn to play the sax (at least 3 times per week)
*Go fishing (at least 1 day per week)
*Go hiking and/or camping (once a fortnight)
*Read 1 book every week (this is a big one for me, as I've only ever read about 10 books in my life!)
*Continue with my PD (its hard to put a time on this one!)
*Continue working 40 hrs pr week (my job)


Obviously these are not all hobbies, but it gives you an idea of my situation.
Oh I almost forgot, I have a wife and 2 kids (one a 4 month old girl.)


It would be great if there was a "organise your time for idiots" guide or something like that, but I've came accross nothing yet.

Any suggestions? Or is anyone else in the same boat as me?



Cheers
Jon

[Tim Brownson]

Jon something I started doing a few years ago to get me to the gym was books on audio. It wasn't just to get me to the gym I was also fed up with being stuck in traffic on my way to sales meetings and feeling like teh time was redundant. When I got into personal development it kind of killed two birds with one stone. I loved listening to the books so it increased my desire to go to the gym when I got a new one. So now maybe some of your triathalon training could be used for listening to books and also life coaching material.

I probably only read one book a month but I listen to about 1 a week on my ipod. One thing I would say though, whenever possible don't get abridged versions.

[Jon Tweddle]

Originally Posted by Tim Brownson

Jon something I started doing a few years ago to get me to the gym was books on audio. It wasn't just to get me to the gym I was also fed up with being stuck in traffic on my way to sales meetings and feeling like teh time was redundant. When I got into personal development it kind of killed two birds with one stone. I loved listening to the books so it increased my desire to go to the gym when I got a new one. So now maybe some of your triathalon training could be used for listening to books and also life coaching material.

I probably only read one book a month but I listen to about 1 a week on my ipod. One thing I would say though, whenever possible don't get abridged versions.

Hi Tim

I do use audio books for when I'm in the car, but I hadn't thought about it for when I'm out jogging/cycling.

I will give it a go when I can figure out how to load it on to my Ipod!


Cheers for the reply
Jon

[ScottJMurray]

Let's see.

- I spin fire poi / fire breathe. Only do the breathes on special occasions because it's really dangerous.
- I maintain my website, TMS RECOVERY » Welcome! , answer e-mails, frequent message boards like this one, surf the blogosphere.
- I like running a lot, I run most days of the week.
- I dance. I've been learning the Melbourne shuffle lately, and I do a lot of liquid pop-n-lock type stuff.
- Go to clubs / raves. This is where I like to dance the most. Kind of a spendy hobby, though.
- Be with my friends. This is my favorite hobby. Good conversation is the best thing in the world.

That's 'bout it.

I'm pretty content with the hobbies I have now, especially dancing. I'm really passionate about that. Nothing better than groovin'. I would like to meet more people who are as interested in it as I am, though. Although my circle of friends enjoys dancing, they aren't really as into it as I am.

I've had a lot of free time lately, because I'm a student on break. But that's all about to change, which I'm not too happy about to tell you the truth. Most of my hobbies I can do whenever and wherever I want to, so they're easy to squeeze into my life. I really like the concept of fun-for-free.

[Meg]

I paint. I play the piano and drums. I kickbox. I work out. I make jewelry. I blog. I play video games.

Plus, I attend college and work full-time.

[Nee609]

Hi there,

The things i want to do this year are:

1. Consistent GYM.
2. Getting very good knowedge of programming/database.

and i guess thats pretty much it...

Best
NM

[Ezza]

Originally Posted by Jon Tweddle

I was wondering how many hobbies other people can manage.

One of the best things I ever did is sit down and have a long hard think about all the hobbies/commitments I was involved in and whether I was really enjoying them and/or getting anything out of them.

This resulted in me actually dropping/ending several hobbies & interests, and feeling significantly more free and less stressed as a result. I also ended up with less "stuff", more time and more money, because some hobbies I decided I really didn't enjoy any more were quite expensive and/or time consuming and/or required a lot of "things" (eg. sporting equipment).

I also resolved to resist getting involved in "new, cool things", because I realised a tendency to do that (which would result in me joining groups or clubs or buying stuff for a new hobby, and then never doing much with it).

A good rule of thumb I live by is:

If you are going to start a new hobby/interest, drop an old one first.

This at least keeps you at equilibrium with your commitments and allows you to enjoy what you are doing without being overwhelmed.

[Jim11]

Jon,

Your goal of reading more books may be more easily quantified by something like:
I will read at least an hour a day. 1 book a week won't work for you if it's a book that requires thought and is very long.

Considering you have 2 kids and a wife it seems that you might be trying to do too much, but only you can know that.

Your hobbies sound like reasonable expectations.
But maybe you need to figure out what you want to most out of: triathlon, life coaching, PD.
Then you can focus the appropriate amount of time on doing it properly and not feeling like you don't have enough time.

[jwz]

I play the guitar. I have 1 acoustic and 1 electric
(the electric broke, a new Ibanez is on its way)

I spend time with friends/family

I have a 2nd job, i take the night-shifts at the local police-department

I spin pens (only when sitting in front of my pc for a longer period of time)

I read PD stuff (mostly blogs and forums)

I have a 8-5 job

I visit my son as often as I can.

Still, I need to make time to workout. Maybe running

[cheech]

I used to be very lazy, but in the past 8 months have been trying to be more active and get in shape, which has involved taking up a variety of physical hobbies, to date:

capoiera, juggling, squash, climbing, table tennis, tap dancing and yoga

I havn't been very consistent with all of them, but between them I now exercise most days, which is a huge jump for me (a year ago, I didn't even exercise most weeks). I guess it depends what you're doing them for. For me, the individual hobbies were important not so much in themselves but as ways to get out of the house (I work from home), meet new people, get regular exercise and have fun things to do not related to alcohol (I'm a social drinker, but a it used to be that all my social activities involved drinking, so I was drinking far too much. I still drink too much, but it's less drastic now)

To Jon, that does sound like an awful lot to juggle with a wife and kids. I'd advise thinking about prioritising decide which of those are most important and focusing on consistently putting effort into them. The rest, you can do if you feel like it and can fit it around your other commitments, but don't worry to much about them, and accept that you might let them slide during busy periods. Obviously your call, though, and if you want to try to keep all those balls in the air, I wish you the best of luck. There's massive variation in the amounts different people can successfully take on. That would be way too much for me, but could be just right for you. Whatever you decide, please let us know how you get on

[ilovetoday]

hi i am teaching myself effective time management habits at the moment. I decided to do this because my flat mate while we were at university was a professional at organizing her time.

She got an amazing amount of work and play done. For instance: She was studying full time at uni, with top marks as she really did study every day and more often 13 hours a day minimum during exam week. She went to gym consistently, worked a part time job, went on long exercise jogs, went out drinking with friends, had boyfriend time, cooked and shopped for all healthy food and prepared and cooked decent meals for herself. She still went out to markets and took up a second part time job, and everything was always spotless as she(we did too) did a weekly clean up of the house and managed to keep in close touch with all her friends from home and family too. Whenever our friends decided to organize a night where we all got together She would often do all the organizing of that too, she also volunteered regulary for charities and she was in the dragon boat club and never missed a training day or get together.

While I was living with her I could not beleive how she managed it all so effortlessly, while I was struggling to get to Uni, work and exercise. I asked her how and she told me there is 24 hours a day that is a lot of time to do a lot of things. She wrote up a daily to do and then a weekly and monthly planner. With each day divided into hour and half hour lots, she would just take things off her list of things tho do and allocate them to a time. She ran off this planner like her life depended on it.

I am amazed with her being able to handle so much and pretty well top everything she did. Now I write out a to do list daily and i have a weekly plan also. Although I havent managed to take on quite as much as her (yet) I am managing my time a lot better and my output is far greater then it use to be. Not only that but I enjoy life a bit better and feel more confident knowing how much I have done and how much I can do the next day every night before I go to sleep now.

I agree with the audio books also. I spend hours driving to visit family and friends fairly frequently and I actually look forward to the drive now that I have some self development audio CDs which are enjoyable to listen to. Not only that but if you're driving at night and get tired easy these keep me awake and alert because it is so interesting and the time flies so much easier(make sure you get decent material otherwise it might work opposite effect and put you to sleep).

I also thought that for you Jon if you can try to multi-task where you can for instance using the audio book on the way to work or on the way to one of your other activities, and perhaps activities such as camping you might be able to take your older child which will help your partner and help your relationship with your child too.

I know you will be able to fit it all in. Good Luck

[Hyperchiller]

I'm studying at uni so I got exams coming up and not really going out much except going for steep incline bush walks every two days.

So my hobbies include:
-public speaking at Toastmasters
-going out "sarging" and dancing
-reading a tonne of books/ebooks and listening to a tonne of audio programs (at 2x speed of course) while taking notes using The Journal. Now that I have GOM player I can watch PD videos at 2x+ speed
-studying for uni
-tutor high school mathematics - I have like 9 students

[Yennifer]

Jon, first of all I think that with a wife and 2 kids the first your hobby should be making your famaly the happiest in the world So do not forget to do little pleasant surprises for your wife - she is doing a great work of growing children up! And your hobbies can easily help you in your family life. For example, you can devote your sax playing to your wife and read books about growing children up

I also would agree that audio books are great, because they can be combined with other hobby as it was said. I think you need to draw a table, something like this

and try to put all the things you need and whant to do in it. But do not forget anything So you will see what you can handle and what can be done later

Hope this helps. And do not forget to tell us what you have decided!

Best regards,
Yennifer

[MSC2471]

Considering I work a third shift job, take care of two daughters with moderate psychiatric/ emotional trauma and have been happily married for 7 years, I make it a point to pursue my hobbies to keep me focused.

Bowling would be my main hobby (have been involved with that for 32+ years, leagues and tournaments), but I also enjoy reviewing music online with interviews and reviews, reading at least 2-3 hours a day a variety of finance, personal development, psychology and biography books and attending live music shows when I can.

Multi-tasking can be a great way to get more accomplished. Listening to audio books while running, walking, driving to and from work, running errands, etc. can be an awesome way to get two goals accomplished at the same time.

Good luck with your time management.

Matt

[veranadine]

Hi All.

For me I see a need to make a distinction in my own life between "hobbies" and "lifestyle" or "lifestyle changes."

Most of what I want to do, is stuff that I would like to incorporate seamlessly into my everyday life. Hence it is a "lifestyle change."

Then there are things that just seem to be what I am drawn to doing for fun and a bit of a thrill, when I have down time. Those things are "hobbies."

New lifestyle changes over the past 18-months have included cooking at home, daily yoga sessions, walking every day and eating vegetarian. (I am trying to make learning and speaking French a new lifestyle change.)

My regular (as in at least once-a-month) hobbies include: visiting museums, doing cross-country hikes, knitting and singing. (I would also like to learn the fiddle within the next few years.)

I don't know if helps anyone else to make the distinction between hobbies and lifestyle. But I know that for me, it helped to keep me from feeling overwhelmed and under-motivated.

Blessings,

[Trezker]

Well there's Frodo, Sam and Bilbo. Then.... err. Oh that's an e there...

My hobbies are mostly computer games,and other stuff you can do with a computer.
I read books sometimes...

[hollowman]

Originally Posted by Jon Tweddle

Hi all



Any suggestions? Or is anyone else in the same boat as me?

i do! i do!

I do have almost the same long list of things i want to do.

But reflecting on the my list and after reading your post, i realise those are not actually hobbies! My opinion is those are things that i want to do because i think i SHOULD be doing those to prove my self worth, more like inreasing up my self-esteem...

For instance, i go hiking, gym and swimming for health purpose and keeping my body in shape. So i am not sure if i can call it hobby.

Nevertheless, i enjoy these activities and they really do me good. My time is well spent and i enjoy the good company of many friends in the activites.

So now whether it hobby or not, don't really matter anymore!

Thanks for reading... Just sharing...