If there’s one thing that the record-breaking Disney movie, “High School Musical” taught us was to challenge the ‘status-quo’.
For a long time, the notion that you can’t be a successful doctor and still play the guitar like a rockstar was widely believed.
The idea that an engineer can be a novelist seemed ridiculous. Well, gone are the days when people advised students to focus on school and put their hobbies in the backseat.
In this ever-changing world, it is vital that you pick up a hobby/interest that’s totally unrelated to your schoolwork.
Here are a few reasons why🙌
To Diversify Your Skill Set
Without a doubt, hobbies give you the opportunity to add a variety of skills to your belt. Diversifying your skillset increases your value as a student and as an individual in general. The more skills you have in your toolbox, the easier it is for you to creatively solve problems and open doors to more opportunities.
To Supercharge Your Ability To Learn
In addition to diversifying your skillset, hobbies challenge your brain to learn.
Kevin Eschleman in his study on “Benefiting from Creative Activity” mentions that spending time on hobbies will provide valuable resources that will help one to gain new thought processes that can even be applied in your schoolwork.
To Wind-Off & De-Stress
I can’t count how many times I’ve come home after a test or a stressful day and picked up my guitar to soothe myself. Having a hobby that allows you to mentally disengage from your schoolwork helps you relax and provides a form of cathartic relief.
For example, I love watching superhero TV shows and reading comic books. This little hobby of mine has broadened my experience in writing better essays and reports in school.
So how do you add these hobbies to your routine and stay committed to them?
1. Choose Something You Love
If it piques your interest, go for it. Be careful though, not to drown in a lot of hobbies. Start with one first and work on that till it becomes a part of you before committing to another.
2. Get Connected To People Who Will Inspire & Motivate You
Hanging out with people who share common interests with you will in no doubt motivate you to do better and stick with your hobby. You’ll have people to share ideas with, learn from and even laugh over your hobby-related jokes.
3. Do It Every Day!
This is a no-brainer. The key to staying committed is to add your hobby to your daily routine. There are lots of habit-building apps you can use to keep track of your habits. Some apps which I’m familiar with are Habitica, Loop, & Coach.me. Spending 15 – 30 mins on a hobby each day can go a long way.
4. The 20-Second Rule
To complement the point above, I’d like to introduce the 20-second rule. This is simply putting any physical object related to your hobby so close that it would take you 20-seconds to reach for it. The idea is that seeing that object all the time might prompt you to act and picking it up won’t be a difficult task for you.
For example, I used to keep my guitar in its case and stow it away. Sometimes, I would forget I actually have one. I eventually got a guitar stand and now my guitar is positioned next to my bed where I can always see it and pick it up easily.
5. Get tools that will help you enjoy your hobby
If cooking is your hobby, get sharp knives. Get a good RAM if coding is your thing. Into graphic design, why not get the Adobe Design Package or subscribe to Canva Pro? Love reading comic books or watching movies, why not delve deeper and listen to podcasts that analyze them? It will all be worth it when you see the results of your investments.
Wrap-Up✌✌
Hobbies provide a way for the all-round development of an individual. They don’t have to be related to your schoolwork. They can be anything.
From blogging to photography. From making music to reading novels. Don’t limit what you can do based on career goals. You deserve to enjoy other walks of life. I hope this post encouraged you to find a hobby that you love or pick up that hobby you dropped a long time ago ….. and stick with it! 😉😉