11 Reasons you Need a Productive Hobby

In a world of consumption, embracing a productive hobby is becoming rare. After a long day’s work, most Americans want to kick off their shoes, plop on the couch, and stream Netflix for hours until it is time to sleep and repeat. But I am going to give you 11 reasons why this is a terrible idea. I believe that embracing productive hobbies make you a better person in so many ways. Let’s begin!

1. It creates a burning desire for self-improvement

Let’s be honest, your annual performance reviews and small bonuses don’t always motivate us the way they are intended at work. After a couple of years of missing that promotion opportunity, it is easy to fall into a rut of “good enough.” The light in your eyes begins to fade, and you stop planning the work day ahead, and instead start counting down till retirement. This is a miserable place to be.

With a productive hobby, you become your own boss, and all of a sudden every minute counts. Instead of looking for ways to waste time when you go home, you are constantly looking at ways of being more efficient so you can do more of what you have fallen in love with.

2. It lays the foundation for freedom

Everyone dreams of sailing off into the sunset, or travelling the world, or laying on the beach, with no ties to a corporate job. With the right productive hobby, you are setting yourself up to springboard into that reality. As a wage slave, you are trading your time for dollars, and you are very limited in how to reach your goals faster.

But when you have full freedom over your own hobby, you can find creative ways of using leverage — leverage of technology, of connections, of financial leverage (beware here of risk), to achieve your freedom on your own watch.

3. You develop skills that are useful in your day job

Even if your dream isn’t to “stick it to the man,” and leave at the earliest possible chance, productive hobbies can be incredibly valuable in your other ventures. You can enhance your existing strengths, or work to round out your weaknesses to become the jack of all trades.

Take for example a corporate manager who was brought up through engineering (this IS hypothetical, right? ;P ). While great with spreadsheets and critical thinking, he can have a tough time communicating to others in a simple way, and can get impatient. So why not start a blog? You can dive into any area you are passionate about, while developing your ability to communicate with a broad group. You may also have those “Eureka,” moments that only come when you allow yourself to separate yourself from the problem.

4. You will have more energy than you can imagine

Whenever I start a new hobby, it becomes something of an obsession. It is the last thing in my mind as I go to sleep, and the first thought when I wake. The freedom to chart your own course in what you do is both exhilarating and scary. You will probably find yourself bringing up your hobby in discussion in the most inappropriate times, just because you can’t wait to share with your friends what you are working on.

When you find that next hobby, make sure you keep your life in balance. Never let your day job or family responsibilities suffer because of your hobby. Your spouse will likely be supportive of the new fire and energy you show when you come home and quickly retreat to the workshop to get to it, but remember your priorities and don’t neglect your duties!

5. You will (maybe) become a more interesting person

Everyone watched the game last night. Everyone saw the latest reality TV show. But who just crafted and sold a set of ceramic, painted unicorn figurines? That’s right — you could become the most interesting and eccentric person in the office!

It will probably feel awkward at first, and your coworkers will definitely not understand what it is that you are doing or why, and that’s OK. You should be proud to not be just another sheep in the fold, but someone who has chosen to maximize the skills you have to contribute the most value to this world we live in. Or just do it for the funny figurine jokes — whatever your motive, you will stick out in your coworkers’ minds as the guy who doesn’t just sit on his butt at night. They will wonder about it, ask you about it, and over time this small hobby could become the competitive advantage you need to stick out from the rest when the next opportunity comes up.

6. You will save money by not spending

I always spend the most money on useless things when I am bored. When I have nothing better to do, I am checking out the latest Apple Device, or eyeing new running shoes. But as soon as I start working on something, the laser focus comes in. I don’t buy anything unless it directly helps the hobby. And since it is a productive hobby, it is simply an investment into my future success. Once you start making some real money from your hobby, you have the opportunity to create your own LLC and benefit even further through favorable tax treatments of these related purchases!

We all hope that our side hustle takes off immediately and starts returning us real money in our spare time. But even if it just breaks even, it is important to keep in mind all the money that you would have spent if you never pursued it all.

7. You teach your kids to value creativity over consumption

For any non-parents, you can substitute friend/coworker/girlfriend in here. But I feel the real strength here is with our children. We are all products of our environment. And what tendencies are our kids showing today? Couch potatoes, early-onset diabetes, ADHD, and obese. What example are we setting if we are consuming hours of TV right next to them?

If you have a woodshop, bring your son with you and teach them how to use a hammer and nail. If you are into photography, teach your daughter the difference between exposure settings and shutter speed (and please no selfies!). Get them involved, and help inspire them to pick up productive hobbies on their own. They will learn so much more at your side than sitting 10 inches away from their playstation.

8. You’ll renew your perspective of the world (Why so Serious?)

Corporate America is a great way to systematically break down the creativity and self-worth of their employees. It is not an intentional choice, but the reports need to get run, the widgets need to get installed, and the emails need to get read. And when something goes wrong, bells need to get rung.

Without something else in your life that you are truly passionate about, this repetition can have some seriously damaging effects on a person’s psyche. But when you know you are working on something big at home, that one scathing email you get from work nemesis no longer gets your blood pressure up. You realize that he had nothing better to do than to try to break you down. You turn from anger to sympathy, because now your eyes have been opened that life is too short to take jabs at others. You are there to do a good job, and go home to the work that you truly live for.

9. It improves communication with your spouse

If you have a family and a routine, you’ll know how important good communication is. Without it, the wheels fall off the track immediately. But it’s not fun or good for your marriage only discussing schedules, work issues, and kid issues. Bringing a productive hobby into the mix opens a whole new dimension to your conversations.

You now get to dream together about new possibilities. How to turn the hobby into a full-time business? How would our lives be if this really takes off? You might actually be able to quit that job and spend more time at home with us!

You will get a fresh perspective on anything you are doing. The brainstorming sessions can be some of the most enjoyable and exciting talks you can share with each other. Seeing the electricity in each other’s eyes as you bat ideas back and forth can reignite playfulness that could have taken a back seat to the responsibility of child raising.

10. You grow in charity

We have already covered the fact that productive hobbies by their very nature will save you money just by not wasting it on frivolous things. But what do you do with these savings? And better yet, the profits of your labor?

Padding the 401k is a great idea. Adding to your safety net fund — another winner. Saving up for a much needed vacation? Sure. But what about charity? Consider splitting your profits with an organization that you connect with. I have chosen an aggressive path: 50% of my earnings go back into the business for future growth. The other 50% goes to charity.

The personal finance world is all about maximizing your savings rate and earnings power. Let’s add the giving rate to this total. It may slow us down in reaching our freedom number, but we will gain so much more in the process.

11. Your productive hobby will become an inspiration to others

If you take even half of these points to heart and dive head-first into something productive in your off time, others will take notice. You will create a sense of accountability about yourself. You will show others that it is possible to create something from nothing. You will prove that you are not just another number, just another rating on TV, not just another marketing target. You are a creator, an entrepreneur, a trend-setter.

So what’s your productive hobby? How are you pursuing your dream? If you haven’t taken the step and started, what’s holding you back? Let me know below.