Hobbies and Work

In a discussion with my friends we were talking about job satisfaction. We found out friends who very happy at work were those who were not working on their hobbies but rather something they formally skilled up to. Like a tinkerer friend does strategic design, a potter writes copy, and a poet who makes research plans.

So, with a cup of chai under the monsoon sky of Mumbai, we sat down. Trying to speculate why that even happens. Everyone on twitter (pun intended) says one should always do what they love (and retire early).

Make.. Make.. Make..

If you would check Tech Twitter, Front-end seems to be the new road to nirvana (financial or otherwise) and React is probably one of the holy books. The gurus are selling their CSS courses not to help you make better websites but so you attain this nirvana. Get rich and do what you want. The connections being made regarding labour and self-fulfillment are very interesting.

In our discussion, We realized that hobbies are things which we do when we are not working. They help us relax, unwind, reflect, and flow. There is usually no performance evaluation or survival bonus linked to it. They are exploratory and their is a routine (sort-of).

Culture industry’s new hobby — “Netflix and Chill” is not one that I refer here.

Talking about socio-emotional effects of hobbies. It is a thing that many close people know you do. It is something that makes you content and them happy as they see you do it. There is a undefined creative spirit behind it.. A craftsperson thing too. Be it painting, pottery, repair, knitting, jogging, or even stamp collection. We just do it for our own personal reasons. There is fun involved and we sometimes get nerdy about it.

Like repairing and building this is a hobby for me. It is something I just love to do and can spend hours in it. Totally lost.

But it gets complicated when your livelihood depends on your hobbies. As Marian Bull says in her beautiful article titled The complicated reality of doing what you love

“After industrialization bifurcated life into the realms of work and leisure, hobbies appeared as something “productive” for workers to do with their newly minted chunks of free time.”

But when you do such an activity as a job (as in working under someone in a structured scheme, mostly likely organized work environment) things change a lot. For example : There are errands, you do not often get to do what you really love as the company does not always have that kind of work, plus you have to be ‘useful’ and ‘productive’.

Hence, a point occurs where you feel sucked up, not because things are going bad but because your leisure sources are invaded and the hobby has become work. The hobby that brings you leisure was self-commodified and you do not want it any more.

Before we jump to conclusion that making a living from hobbies is bad, I would say, that is not the case at all. The idea is to understand that hobbies are for leisure and work is not. Both are essentially ways to structure time, with quite different goals. I know, but sadly this is the case. I took this dilemma to friends who do creative work in Spain. It was an interesting conversation over cañas. They recommended me the following ways :

  1. Establish strict boundaries between work and hobby. This prevents you being exploited for your hobbies. (often by yourself). If you are in creative fields, it is even harder to do this. The idea is to keep trying and say no! to your self.

  2. When doing something at work (or freelance), realise that it is WORK and not your hobby. So, there is are clear deadlines and rules. That does not mean you cannot get pleasure from it. It is just that you just need it done.

  3. If your work is too structured, try exploring alternate modes to practice hobbies through grants and fellowships. Many artists do that. They bring the rigour of hard-work to their hobby and translate their hobby into something that defines them. This, however, is a bit difficult outside the creative fields and requires a certain degree of privilege.

Eventually, it is said by the elders, you will get better at making this distinction.

Hopefully this text impacts your work positively.

Cheers !