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A few hours every week. Usually not more than 2-3. Most of my free time is wasted because I keep getting distracted on the internet or playing videogames

My spouse doesn't mind if I paint while watching Netflix on the sofa next to her, but other hobby activities (involving sharp objects, glue, etc.) are met with disapproval. I sneak in modelling time in the early morning, or when I'm lucky enough to have the house to myself.

Combining TV watching with removing mould lines works well, since that's a mindless time-consuming task that doesn't require full attention.

I wake up at 730 am, go to work, get home around 4-5, take care of my son for a couple of hours while my wife takes a nap. She gets up, we eat dinner, and I put the little one down for bed 9-930. My wife and I spend a little time together, she goes to bed around 10.

I now have two hours to do whatever I want to do. Realistically, I get to paint/model/whatever maybe once or twice a week, because if I don't already have my project pulled out, it's not gonna happen. My desk is in our bedroom, and I'm not risking waking my son or wife up while fumbling around in the dark trying to pick out the correct paints, or find whatever bits I need, and so on.

I still manage to get some work done, but a lot less than I'd be doing if I still had a dedicated work space (and no child). Some days I think about bringing my stuff with me to work, and either just hanging out there and painting after I'm done, or heading to the GW and working on it there, but then the guilt kicks in. I like painting/modeling/playing/hobby-ing, but I love my family.

In other words, OP, we're living the same life. I feel for the challenges you face.

One to four hours a week at least.

 Bi'ios wrote:
I wake up at 730 am, go to work, get home around 4-5, take care of my son for a couple of hours while my wife takes a nap. She gets up, we eat dinner, and I put the little one down for bed 9-930. My wife and I spend a little time together, she goes to bed around 10.

I now have two hours to do whatever I want to do. Realistically, I get to paint/model/whatever maybe once or twice a week, because if I don't already have my project pulled out, it's not gonna happen. My desk is in our bedroom, and I'm not risking waking my son or wife up while fumbling around in the dark trying to pick out the correct paints, or find whatever bits I need, and so on.

I still manage to get some work done, but a lot less than I'd be doing if I still had a dedicated work space (and no child). Some days I think about bringing my stuff with me to work, and either just hanging out there and painting after I'm done, or heading to the GW and working on it there, but then the guilt kicks in. I like painting/modeling/playing/hobby-ing, but I love my family.

In other words, OP, we're living the same life. I feel for the challenges you face.

That does indeed sound very familiar. The big difference is that our guest room is also my hobby room, which is convenient to say the least...

-

@Bottle - the solution for me is to spend time with my wife AND hobby at the same time

When we sit on the patio, for example, I'm always cleaning off bits, even if they're for models that I don't necessarily want to paint right away. When I'm in front of the TV, I'll often sort parts, or clip things off of sprues. When we go away on vacation, I pack a go-bag full of modelling stuff that I can sneak in, but rather than try to do complete models, I will often paint many similar bits, to reduce the amount of stuff I have to take -- for example, I might take 100 heads or shoulder pads with me. that have all been primed, and just do 'em all one after the other.

I paint for about two hours a day, sometimes more if I'm lucky enough to have the time to do so. Building gets pushed aside so I can paint my models. I've decided to not build or buy anything else for my army until I've painted everything, or about 90% of the entire army.

Depends, during the summer I generally don't paint as much as the weather is too nice to stay indoors. I'll maybe dedicate and hour or two in the week to put together/base minis to be primed. If I do paint It's usually on the weekends and generally in the evening so I'll dedicate one 4 hour session to get a mini or two done.

In the winter I'll usually get a project going and I'll spend 3 hours a night on it at least, usually about 4 nights a week.

With kids and a job that can on occasion take me away from home in the week, it feels like I have less time that ever, not to mention a raft of other hobbies and interests that take up my time. It feels like I am accumulating stuff quicker than I am painting it and that is even after quite a concerted effort to slow down buying things!

 Mymearan wrote:

 Bi'ios wrote:
I wake up at 730 am, go to work, get home around 4-5, take care of my son for a couple of hours while my wife takes a nap. She gets up, we eat dinner, and I put the little one down for bed 9-930. My wife and I spend a little time together, she goes to bed around 10.

I now have two hours to do whatever I want to do. Realistically, I get to paint/model/whatever maybe once or twice a week, because if I don't already have my project pulled out, it's not gonna happen. My desk is in our bedroom, and I'm not risking waking my son or wife up while fumbling around in the dark trying to pick out the correct paints, or find whatever bits I need, and so on.

I still manage to get some work done, but a lot less than I'd be doing if I still had a dedicated work space (and no child). Some days I think about bringing my stuff with me to work, and either just hanging out there and painting after I'm done, or heading to the GW and working on it there, but then the guilt kicks in. I like painting/modeling/playing/hobby-ing, but I love my family.

In other words, OP, we're living the same life. I feel for the challenges you face.

That does indeed sound very familiar. The big difference is that our guest room is also my hobby room, which is convenient to say the least...

I'm in a similar position to Bi'ios - young daughter (who hates sleep), 11hr commute/work day, small flat.

Having a hobby room would make a huge difference.

At the moment, my hobbying takes place on a small table between my open plan kitchen and living room. Not somewhere where I can leave my stuff lying around in a mess (a couple of models and a few paint pots is generally OK for a few days, but piles bits, piles of resin dust and plastic shavings is a no-no obviously).

My hobby time can only really consist of spare hours grabbed here and there and so taking account of the time taken to clear any existing crap off the table, getting my hobby stuff out of the cupboard, then the clean up afterwards, it's often hardly worth bothering at all.

Every now and again, occasions when my partner and daughter are out on their own for a few hours and I have nothing more pressing to do will allign and I'll get a little bit of hobby done. These times are few and far between though.

During the summer I get less done with outdoor pursuits often taking over, and Dark Souls 3 kinda wrote off April, May and June. This year I reckon I've maybe averaged around 6-8 hours hobby a Month. A side problem with that is that when you do finally find a bit of time, you can feel under pressure to cram as much in as possible and quality/enjoyment suffers.

It's fine though, like you guys, I love my family and I'm enjoying life, but every now and then (or fairly regularly) I'll get the strong notion for some hobby time and it can be frustrating when the opportunity just isn't there. That's just the stage of life we're at right now. Embrace it.

We hope to move out of the flat and into a bigger house in the next 12 months, a hobby space for myself will be a priority. The ability to leave that dedicated space set up, in a mess, ready to go at any time will make a huge difference to me. Actually being able to fill 30 minutes spare time productively (hobby-wise) will be fantastic. I'm looking forward to it and am content to wait this dry period out for a while.

Stay strong

 scarletsquig wrote:
Combining TV watching with removing mould lines works well, since that's a mindless time-consuming task that doesn't require full attention.

Removing mold lines or watching TV?

Having set times for painting doesn't work for me. What does work is that I will set myself tasks such as paint squad x before y. I have also joined a painting challenge thread (link)here which really helps with setting and sticking to goals.
I work full time, I have a young family and I am studying for a 2 year MSc yet since the new year I have painted this:



Even busy people can get a lot done.

I'm lucky to get in 2 hours a week.

With my new project, my current travel schedule is insane. It should clear up by 1Q2017. However, when I am home, I spend my time doing chores that pile up or spending quality time with the wife. Painting is a distant priority right now.

I take some stuff with me, as my trips allow.

I can usually get an hour or so a day on days that I'm working. But I'm lacking the motivation at the moment.

Hopefully when I finish tomorrow I'll be able to get started on my stuff.