Work From Home Like a Boss / Lesson 31
Get a Hobby
By Ron Stauffer
A healthy hobby outside your industry can make you better at your work and more balanced in your life.
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Transcript
This has proven to be one of the hardest things for me to do since I've been working from home: finding a hobby or a pastime that does not require sitting in front of a computer screen. If you spend five, six, eight, ten, twelve hours a day sitting in front of a computer screen, and then when you're done, you say, "Great, I'm done working. Now I'm going to do something relaxing," but you're still sitting in front of a computer screen--that's terrible! Most of the hobbies that I've had over the years involve typing or creating video or watching video or learning online. I've had to dedicate time to focusing on things that don't require a screen, whether that's an iPhone screen or an iPad screen or a MacBook screen, whatever it is. If it's a TV screen--I'm trying to develop in myself a new habit. That is something that's tactile, not typing. Something that involves using my hands in something that's analog, where I don't have to plug something in.
For me, the thing I've done recently that is offline and doesn't involve a screen is play the guitar. I've spent a couple hours a week now sitting down listening -- it's okay for me to use my iPhone, to start a song on my Bluetooth speaker and then play along. But the point is, I should be able to do something with my hands and my mind that doesn't involve typing on a keyboard or looking at a screen. It's hard to do that in the 21st century, because it feels like almost everything that we do can involve a screen at some point.
But please, I recommend you try to find some sort of hobby or pastime or some diversion that has no electricity and no screens involved. It's a very cleansing, energizing activity. And then it also helps you to draw that boundary because if you're working all day on your computer and then you're spending two hours doing your hobby on your computer, it's so easy to just check your email. Or to see that, what was that video I was watching earlier? And then you find yourself going back to video of your business, or watching YouTube channels that are related to your profession. Try to find some sort of a hobby that has nothing to do with what you do for a living, and especially doesn't involve a screen or anything electronic.