Hobby or Side Hustle – Finding Ways to Switch Off Your Entrepreneurial Brain

Ask any young successful entrepreneur what their side hustle is and they will regale you with an animated discussion of their various money earners, passion projects and passive income systems.

But ask them if they have any hobbies and you might get a blank look and a response such as ‘who has time for hobbies?’

Why no hobbies and only side hustles?

The pressure that millennial entrepreneurs are under to grow their business and scale up leaves many of them feeling like there’s no time in their lives for the little activities that bring enjoyment outside of their side hustles.

Every pursuit has a purpose. Perhaps they attend a dancing class or have a personal trainer but this is making sure they are meeting their health goals. Maybe they have a podcast or YouTube channel but it’s a way to drive traffic to their site and build their reputation in their field. Maybe they like photography and regularly get out to snap amazing pictures but they are also building a portfolio and using it grow their online presence.

We have to stop and ask ourselves, have we lost the ability to just enjoy a hobby? Something we do purely for fun, not for followers, or to grow our reputation or put on our resumes?

If you think through all your activities, can you name one that doesn’t have an end goal or build your business or career? Millennials seem to speed through their 20s and 30s treating life like a bingo sheet of balance – fitting in yoga so we can hit our wellness goals and scheduling drinks at the pub to check the socialise box for the month. But when was the last time we truly switched off and enjoyed some past times?

Making time in your life for a hobby has benefits for your mental health. Helping you both to switch off from the daily pressures of your job and can also provide you with a sense of mastery and skill that can help to elevate your self-confidence. Providing an outlet for accomplishment that isn’t measured by monetary success or demoralising numbers game of clicks and likes.

We’ve rounded up five hobbies to help you reclaim your free time and find a sense of calm in endless side hustle and bustle of entrepreneur life.

Hobbies to Help Reclaim Your Free Time

Puzzling

Puzzling might be something your grandparents did when you were little, but this hobby isn’t just for the boomers. Puzzling will help you switch off. This visual, problem-solving hobby is popular because you can let your mind wander while completing the task with just enough continuous stimulation and hand movement to keep you absorbed in the process.

Harmonising

It may sound strange – harmonising by yourself – but there’s an app for that. Sing Harmonies is an app you can add to your phone that lets you mute or decrease the volume on other singers in a song to harmonise with them. This hobby will leave you feeling lighter because singing releases endorphins and oxytocin which helps reduce anxiety and stress.

Gardening

Maybe you’re already a plant mum or dad, with lots of easy-to-handle beautiful vines growing in your house. Or maybe you haven’t even been able to keep a peace lily alive but either way gardening can be a great hobby.

If you don’t have a green thumb, start with something small like a few succulents and learn everything you can about how to take care of them. If you’re already a seasoned grower branch out and do a themed garden, a herb garden or start cultivating and trimming bonsai trees.

Gardening is a relaxing hobby that gets your hands dirty and teaches you valuable skills. There’s nothing more satisfying than picking tomatoes off your own vines and cooking with them.

Fall back in love with books

Many of us have gone through phases with our reading lists. Perhaps you used to read all the time and now you find you only read books and articles relevant to your industry. Fall back in love with reading and indulge a passion for the page with something fun and frivolous – historical dramas, true crimes or thrilling fantasies. Let reading become a hobby again instead of another professional development avenue.

Get creative

Did you used to enjoy crafting or knitting or painting? I bet now you’ve put it to the side because you’re always busy with your job or your side hustle and think you just don’t have the time.

Getting creative and making art of any kind is good for the soul.

Pick up some jewellery making kits or buy a sketch pad and get back into creating for the joy of it. It doesn’t have to be something you sell on Esty, it doesn’t even have to be good. It just has to be fun.

Find the fun and compartmentalise your urge to monetise your hobbies. Allow them to just be what they are; a fun way to pass the time.

Looking for something a little bit different to fill your weekend? Why not check out a Firearms Safety course or becoming a Justice of the Peace!