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I have a gak load of hobbies that I had absolutely zero issue maintaining when I was younger, but I'm 32 now and it's honestly just seems like a futile effort to engage in all of them. Between work and other life commitments, there just isn't time to keep up with painting my miniatures, playing guitar, reading, writing (been working on a fantasy novel for 6 and a half years), and playing videogames. I don't know how people with kids maintain their sanity. I don't even have a pet and it still feels like there isn't enough time in the day.

So, to my fellow multi-hobbyists on Dakka... how do you guys manage your time between multiple interests? I imagine the answers will be quite varied.

You just end up doing less of some of them, or dropping them. I used to hunt and fish, haven't done either in so long I doubt they can be considered hobbies any more. Just be grateful for the hobbies you get to keep I suppose - leisure time is pretty precious!

They're hobbies. You do whichever one you feel up to doing today, and just accept that you're not going to make as much progress on six hobbies as you would if you only had one or two.

Hobbies are supposed to be for fun. They're something you enjoy doing with your spare time. Worrying about lack of progress in one or more of them really sucks the fun out of them. And when a hobby stops being fun, THAT is probably the time to drop it, or at least put it up for a couple months or years.

...

I don't

*cries*

Simple.
I just forsake sleep and constantly call in to work......

But the biggest thing i learned is to make use of time when i cant do a full on hobby stuff but can do smaller lesser hobbies.
For example i love RPGs and making an rpg. At my work i have alot of in between time or down time. Time im not working but i have to be at the office or just dont want to leave the office because my next assignment could come up.
So i write my RPG in that.
IT also help to be a lonely sadsack with no one that loves you, then you have all the free time!!!!!

I go to the gym during works time. I read in bed, and I do jive dance at vintage events. (I used to go to a weekly club but there is none at my current location) I guess it depends what your hobbies are as to whether they're easier to maintain or not.

I read whenever I get a chance (like when out walking unless the pavement is really crowded, on public transport, when having lunch/dinner & late into the night when I should be asleep)

my scale model building tends to alternate with my wargaming stuff

and I've learned to paint & build minis while watching tv with a cat asleep on my lap (it helps being single and not having to worry too much about making a mess

and both alternate with video gaming as I can't find enough time to do that as well, it's the hobby that's probably dropping out at the moment as I prefer solo gaming and the industry prefers online multiplayer where they can upsell lootboxes, subscriptions etc

I know your pain... I'm a year into making a new gaming table, a task that would take approximately two-three weeks just five years ago, when I could work less or take a two weeks leave easily. I'm six years into making a concertina, but it's "just" about 160hrs of time spent on building it. Just my wargaming "to do" list will take me a decade to finish, and there are other projects on that list and it is by no means a closed list.

My method is, and always was, focusing on a long term scope of thngs. I sometimes can/have to put particular hobby on hold for a year or two easily and then return and continue where I left. If I lose interest in something in the meantime, I won't regret it, because, well, I lost interest, this is a natural process. Only when I must put everything on hold and don't have time for any hobby I get frustrated. I try to mantain a constant activity only in hobbies that are based on a skill that one can lost - like concertina playing - I squeze those into 15 minutes a day "upkeep" habit. It is also a good idea to optimize time - I have been traveling by train a lot recently, so I write my ruleset onboard, where I cannot play/build/paint, and I don't even touch my ruleset at home. That sort of optimalisation. Just a month ago I finally got to play Bioshock: Infinite for the first time, despite purchasing it years ago, simply because proper circumstances arose and I have a place and time where it has no other conflicting hobbies competing.

Simply - be patient and think about how awesome your hobby history will be when you look back, not how "impossible to squeze in" your to do list is when looking forward.

there is only 24 hrs in a day, so you'll have to reorganize your priorities! First I suggest cutting down games, I use to play lots, but now I play 1 game/yr for 2 weeks straight, watch gameplays while painting minis; you can also commission others to paint your minis.

The struggle is real, I can tell you. I have a full-time job and I can't cut out as much sleep as I used to be able to. I try to find time to paint models but many days I just don't feel up to it so I end up playing video games instead. I'm also going to see about squeezing in some gym time as I really need to lose weight so I don't die of a heart attack at age 40 or something. Basically as far as hobby activities go, I just do what I feel like doing on that particular day. That's about all you can do, really. Don't force yourself to do something you don't feel like doing, or it'll suck your soul out instead of making you feel good.

My wife is also artsy, so we do art based hobbies together. I might build models and she does homemade picture frames or other wood crafts from Michaels. I do my video game hobby (mostly borderlands) while she’s asleep in the morning because I can’t sleep past 7 and she can. The hardest thing to find time for is actually PLAYING Warhammer. Being a 3hr commitment, it’s hard to just dedicate time to it as much as I used to.

Damn, video games was the one I had to drop. When my daughter came along and we moved into a house as a family it just wasn't feasible anymore. It was the least productive of my hobbies, so I traded in my Ps4. Been craving fallout recently though. Such a good game. Been trying to get a fix by finding cool merchandise. Might buy some of the miniatures instead.

Yeah time constraint is real.
I really like my hobby time and Video games have certainly fallen by the wayside in order to keep my relationship.

How do I manage my what?

I still play video games, but mostly because I don't watch any "shows". I don't have netflix and I don't follow any television shows or anything like that. It is just too much time. I read on my commute and sometimes in the evenings after work, do models a couple of evenings a week, Dungeons and Dragons one evening a week and videogame in bursts when I have some free time, maybe once a fortnight or sometimes once a month for a bit, the way other people binge shows. I think people rarely manage more than that when working full time.

With some hobbies you simply look at how much time actually needs invested.

I collect Transformers, so other than opening the box and putting in in the right shelf, barely any work.

Guitar takes time, but it is also about the easiest to fit in.

Modeling and painting Warhammer stuff is the worst as I have to attempt to do this while juggling the wife and kids, and almost never a nice hour long segment of peace to do it in. I might be able to paint at work sometime, but my breaks are a touch short for that.

Video gaming is fairly quick to fit in, especially games that have "save on the spot" going for it. Other games I honestly have to factor time in for.

Best bet for your hobbies? Look at which ones are the most time consuming, see where you can trim the fat, and try to enjoy what you can manage.

That is a good point about video games. Any game that I cannot put down immediately and come back to with no penalty is really of no interest to me. I am enjoying No Mans Sky, but the save mechanics really annoy me. Luckily it is not difficult to summon your ship to hop in and out to save, but I think it should not be required.

I love Transformers: Devastation, but having to hit checkpoints is a real downer to my game time. I lost 45 minutes of looting because of it.

 Just Tony wrote:
With some hobbies you simply look at how much time actually needs invested.

I collect Transformers, so other than opening the box and putting in in the right shelf, barely any work.

As an unrelated side note, I suspect a thread in the OT/Geek Media showing off your Transformers collection would probably be popular. There seem to be a lot of Transformers fans here, myself included.

Plan your work, and work your plan.....

First of all, man I feel your pain! I often ponder about the good old times, when I had time to paint, play videogames and meet my friends in the evening.

I think abandoning a hobby in favor of others should be the last resort unless it comes easy to you. I have a fulltime job, work out 6 times a week (sadly sleep is super important for this as well, so not much cutting sleep either), play video games and read in addition to the whole wargaming stuff.

The way I try to tackle it, is to reduce my standards (or the number of models I paint). So I go for quick schemes, using simple techniques with powerfull impact (contrast paints, oilcolours, etc) or go for small projects like Mortheim/Killteam gangs etc.

I read before I go to bed and concerning gaming I handle it like da Boss and focus on games where half an hour of playing can feel rewarding.

 Da Boss wrote:
That is a good point about video games. Any game that I cannot put down immediately and come back to with no penalty is really of no interest to me. I am enjoying No Mans Sky, but the save mechanics really annoy me. Luckily it is not difficult to summon your ship to hop in and out to save, but I think it should not be required.

 creeping-deth87 wrote:
I have a gak load of hobbies that I had absolutely zero issue maintaining when I was younger, but I'm 32 now and it's honestly just seems like a futile effort to engage in all of them. Between work and other life commitments, there just isn't time to keep up with painting my miniatures, playing guitar, reading, writing (been working on a fantasy novel for 6 and a half years), and playing videogames. I don't know how people with kids maintain their sanity. I don't even have a pet and it still feels like there isn't enough time in the day.

So, to my fellow multi-hobbyists on Dakka... how do you guys manage your time between multiple interests? I imagine the answers will be quite varied.

I'm basically at the same point in life...and my answer is that I handle it poorly

As some others have noted, I engage in stuff as and when I feel like it. Sometimes that means I burn through and finish a project in a couple of days, sometimes stuff sits for years. Mostly I dont worry about it, its all stuff I do for fun, and if its not fun, I dont force it.

That said, sometimes you just have to dedicate an afternoon or evening to something ahead of time and preplan hobby activities to get stuff done, set aside sunday afternoon or something with a specific thing to do, and look forward to it during the week.

You have to prioritise and allocate time effectively.

I find it fairly easy to keep up my writing because the equipment needed is minimal. I can even think of plots and dialogue while driving.

It's a lot harder to set up for a good session of terrain building.

Thanks everyone, glad I'm not alone in this particular struggle. The responses have been interesting, sounds like I just need to prioritize more carefully.

I just do what I feel like doing in the moment. Hobbies are supposed to be enjoyable so if I feel like I am forcing myself to do it or I am rushing it due to lack of time, it kind of ruins the whole point. Some hobbies I end up dropping for months at a time if I am into something else and have limited time during the day. Usually I pick them back up later though.

I used to worry about making sure I spent equal time on all my hobbies and it ultimately dulled my enjoyment, so I just go with what I feel now.

I tried prioritizing hobbies and making plans but I felt like I was forcing myself into doing something I wasn't really in the mood for. Now I just go with the flow, some days I'll build or paint some models, other days I will work on my coin collection.

It may not be as efficient as planning everything out (heck, it took me over a year to build a micro-scale 40K city) but I enjoy every moment I spend doing my hobbies which I think is the main point.