Hobbies, Collections, and Time-Wasters (Oh My)

Just got back from watching Wicked For Good (I liked it!), so the “oh my” is subliminally playing around in my head. Anyway…

As I try to figure out my next path and direction in life, it makes me think about the “extras” we have in our lives (mainly—what is it that I really do with my time?). Of course, we have the work responsibility, social and family connections, and all our other day-to-day to-dos. But when it comes time to being with ourselves and doing what we love, how is it that we spend our free time?

Are we using it to enjoy the things we love to do? Are we admiring or adding to a collection we are passionate about? Are we indulging in reflective self-care rituals? Or are we whittling away time on things that really don’t mean that much to us?

I’ve recently discovered—thanks to a self-audit check—that I spend more hours in the day on responsibility and time-wasting than I do anything else.

That’s not how I want to spend my days.

I’ve had a lifelong habit of binging on nonsense. Procrastinating with game obsessions. As early as the Atari era of Donkey Kong and Commodore 64 “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” to Playstation’s PacWorld and Casper, Tetris and Cookie Jam days, and most recently, Royal Match—my, have I lost so much sleep and relaxation time trying to beat levels or try “just one more time.” Add to this the modern-day social media scrolling, and it’s a wonder I have any time at all for a social life. Let’s just not discuss the latest TV watching behaviors...

Thanks to the audit, I discovered I spend countless hours on this crap in the name of “I’m just going to wind down for a bit with this.” Bull. There are so many others ways I could wind down—reading, bubble baths, meditation, and more snuggling, for example.

Or I could use some of that time doing things that I love, like writing or working on my next project. I could get crafty with crocheting or finally create those digital photo albums I’ve wanted since 2012. There are classes and podcasts I’ve been curious about. Oh yeah—and I could resume morning walks, yoga, Pilates, or even basic PT stretches instead of wondering why I’m feeling my age.

I also would benefit from less screen time, more sound sleep, and energized activity.

But, to be fair and gentle with myself, high levels of stress and anxiety are the gateway to poor decision making—and I’ve been experiencing an enormously high level over the past year and a half trying to survive a major career adjustment in this economy.

However, I can’t go on blaming external factors for what I choose to do to relieve said stress. That’s on me.

So, as I focus on becoming more self-aware and how I spend my time, I decided it is time to enforce some new boundaries with myself. Re-establish a sleep and wake routine that does not involve late night gaming and snoozing the alarm 5 times. Ignore my phone until after I’ve properly woken up with care and nourishment. And above all else—delete the damn games off my phone.

While I do need to cut back on time-wasters, I also do not want to go in the opposite direction and over-extend into hobbies, events, and projects. Overwhelm would not do any good, either. But if I go back to my learnings from The Artist Way (Julia Cameron), making space for creativity is a great way to both relieve stress and enjoy life.

Anyone got a new book to recommend?  Time to put my digital rewards to good use.

As for my collection? I’m happy to say that improvement is well under way, as I collect local, memorable souvenirs from everywhere I travel—and my cabinet is filling up. Whew, at least I have that! 😉

Think about where in your life you have pockets of time that slip away—what would you rather do in those moments?