Finding a hobby that isn’t work

Tyler Hackbart
2 min readDec 17, 2022

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Items for hobbies

As many of you know, I grew up on a farm, which is one of the reasons why I am now a workaholic. That and having parents who had their own business running the farm at the same time working full-time jobs. Now reflecting inwards being a new dad I can honestly say that the working mentality was ingrained in me at a very young age and it has made me realize something. As much as work has now defined me, do I want my child to be prudent to the same effect?

Now don’t get me wrong, I love to work. Even with everything going on in the house, at a full-time job, I still very much enjoy opening my computer come 9 and working till all hours of the night. But it is making me realize I don’t have much else other than work.

Before the pandemic hit, I was travelling on public transit from Elmira to downtown Kitchener, if you aren’t from around here that's about an hour and a half one-way trip versus 20 min by direct car. Some people thought it was crazy but 6 bucks a day is a lot cheaper than paying for parking, car payments, car insurance and then gas to make it run. That time was my decompressing time, for reading, listening to music, to mindlessly scrolling through social media. It was my time.

The conundrum is trying to find a hobby that I enjoy over time and that is both are enjoyable and as far away from work as possible. Programming was a hobby that turned into a career, but now there is no hobby.

Over the next year, I will be exploring a list of items, a new one each month and maybe I will find a hobby that I enjoy and doesn’t involve a keyboard.

Some ideas I would like to explore are:

  • Writing — which I am technically doing right here
  • Reading Digital Magazines instead of newspapers — No comment sections to be overwhelmed by negative opinions of people
  • Playing Chess, Sudoku or other mind-brain games
  • Researching Investments — I am far from an active investor but I always have random bursts of research and trades, maybe I try it more frequently, excluding crypto for obvious reasons
  • Drawing — picking up a sketchbook and a pencil for the first time in 10 years)
  • Short Stories — a temporary distraction with a resolution, outside a commitment of a full novel
  • Watching Scientific Documentaries — like Explained

🤞 I find something I enjoy

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Tyler Hackbart
Tyler Hackbart

Written by Tyler Hackbart

Founder of Juice Box Monkey Designs

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