Wednesday, February 10, 2016

I Have No Self-Control [or, I chose too many things to do and now I'm stuck]

I have a bit of a problem. 
Okay, well, I have more than a few problems, but only one for today.

Recently, I had been trying to declutter. Which is awesome. I got rid of two regular-sized garbage bags of stuff, and have a few more things added to a pile to get rid of. Great!
Except there are plenty of things I didn't touch. Because, uh, I have way too many hobbies.
Oh yes, too many. 

You see, I have no idea what a reasonable number of hobbies is. I feel like maybe 5 is decent - lots of options, but not so many that they over take your house, or you have the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) with them or any of that. Maybe 7 would be a good number. Maybe 10.
Because you need to have all the accessories to said hobbies, you need the time to put into them, and you need the space for all of it, the funds to keep them going (because hobbies tend to need more things as time goes on) and...well, there just ought to be a reasonable set number somewhere.

I'm not aware of such a number. I have never been put under any kind of containment as far as that goes, no rules or suggestions as to what is reasonable (which means I had lovely parents that pretty much always allowed me to try things I wanted to try, and as an adult I've never really thought that I should limit myself in it, either).
And now, things are a tad out of hand. Okay "tad" is the wrong word. "Ridiculously" is a better word.

I made a list the other day.
I've got Twenty One hobbies. Some are similar, and some are things I haven't done in a while. But also, Twenty One different things that I could or should spend time on, Twenty One different things that I have the stuff for. Twenty One things I have to decide, on a regular basis, if I am to be putting time into them or not.

Can I say that's stressful? I think it's stressful. Pretty sure, actually.
Because there literally are not enough hours in the day for that - even if I only spent one hour on each, that would leave three hours for sleeping. I can tell you that I cannot get by on only three hours of sleep. And nor can I spend my time, one hour at a time, flitting from one thing to the next. That also stresses me out.

The reality is that I have more than a few hobbies that I don't even really do anything with. 
I have the stuff for them, but I am not an active participator. However, it is all very costly, and in the chance that I change my mind and want to go back to them...well, I can't get rid of the stuff because the start-up costs are not slight.
I have things for hobbies that I never actually even got into, because they require other people, and I never had the friends or the know-how to find people to, well, do the things with.
I have things for hobbies that I don't even really enjoy that much because they suck up all of your time, but the end results are nice (yes, this a crafting thing, and yes there are crafts that are just time-sucks).
And, of course, I have hobbies that I always wish I was spending more time on, but I tend to just do whatever is handy and also allows me to still "watch" YouTube videos while doing them.

Then there are hobbies in which one of the main characteristics is collecting. Which means, well, a ton of stuff to just have. All the time. And to always want to add to, even if you don't much look at or "play" with the parts of it that you already have.
I have a problem with collecting. Because I'm rather good at it. Which means I have a lot of stuff for a lot of different things. Because you can never have too much to go along with your hobbies, right?

Oh man.

So, now, after this list and after having the thoughts about it for a while now, I'm still at a loss. Because how do I cut these things out? Or should I?
The problem, you see, is that I've cut out some before in my life. And then a while later, I picked them back up. So I had to buy a bunch of stuff again, which seems awfully wasteful.
That's probably a problem with my resolve and my impulsiveness (because I really am a rather impulsive and obsessive person -  if I get an idea for something or other, it keeps nagging at me until I make a decision about it, and that decision is normally "yes" because the general rule is that if you can't get it out of your head, it's okay to progress with).
But fun things! How are you supposed to say no to fun things! How are you supposed to limit yourself in regards to the things you want to do? Except, you know, that's probably a smarter thing than what I do naturally.

So, my question for you is this. How many hobbies do you have? And what do you feel to be a reasonable number (or, you know, the limit of what is reasonable)? And how in the world would you suggest paring them down in a reasonable manner?

~Havok

4 comments:

  1. Okay, you have a lot of hobbies. Like, a lot! I think it must be fun and you must be busy. I can't say that I have a ton of hobbies. I do love thrifting and crafting, I also love hiking and walking. Being in the Northeast we don't do a ton of hiking this time of year but we are going to try cross country skiing soon. I guess you say my "hobbies" are cleaning and mothering and blogging too but the again, that's really just life. So maybe I have 4 hobbies total and life is busy with those things! Have a good day!

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    1. You see, that's part of the problem - it's not fun and I'm hardly ever busy xD I end up having too much to choose from, and therefore will pick whatever is close at hand, or will spend hours on Reddit or something instead of actually doing something I really enjoy xD
      I would rather have four hobbies that I'm super busy with than whatever mess I'm in now, ha ;)
      Thank you so much for stopping by - and you have a good day as well! :D

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  2. Don't feel guilty, it just shows that you're interested in lots of things (and that in turn makes you interesting). At least you'll never be bored! Hobbies come and go I find, so don't get rid of stuff 'cos you're bound to need it again sometime! I totted up my hobbies, at the moment just 4 or 5, but the things I like to dabble in occasionally - well let's just say they're a few (lots) more! Enjoy your hobbies, they help make you unique.

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    1. Oh I wish it made me interesting! ;) Or, if it has, I haven't found the right people to be interesting with, yet!
      And this is always my problem - don't get rid of it, because you'll need it again...and that's so true! All the conventional decluttering advice says it's not, but I have proof that it is!
      Dabbling is the worst. A few things that didn't make it on this list were things I dabble in from time to time. It's brutal xD
      But hobbies are enjoyable and I'm glad to have so many options as to how to spend my time, I just wish it was easier to decide which one got time when!
      Thank you so much for stopping by! :D

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