3 Hobbies to a Better You! - Welcome to: Life with Jen!

Finding the time to pursue hobbies outside of work, chores, and life can be difficult. When you try to schedule time for your after-work activities, hobbies are not the priority.

I’ve been there too. I still have to remind myself to this day that my health and happiness shouldn’t be at the bottom of my to-do list. I would go to work, come home, be exhausted and have to convince myself to clean, cook, and shower myself and even that was hard! Until I found hobbies I enjoy and actually often like to do to de-stress from a long day. I’m here to share these hobbies with you in the hopes that you can find a hobby to look forward to after a long day at work!

So without further ado, here are the 3 hobbies you should consider to pursue for a better you!

In this blog post, I will be going over 3 hobbies that led to a happier, healthy me. I will be discussing:

Why hobbies are important for overall health
3 hobbies to a better you!
Other hobbies to consider

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Why hobbies are important for overall health

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve dealt with mental/emotional health issues which led to some physical health issues. Many people throughout my life, including doctors, psychiatrists, and therapists have recommended taking up a hobby. This gives your mind something to do other than worry or be depressed or whatever else is going on. Giving your brain a task, requires some level of focus and actually gives your brain a break from it all! Giving your brain a task, and one that you enjoy, is a double win. Some hobbies can be productive as well which can boost your mood further.

3 hobbies that boosted my mood

When I went about picking out hobbies for me to try out, I wanted it to be super easy for me to say yes to doing that hobby at the end of the day. So I chose hobbies based off of videos and pictures and Pinterest ideas I liked. Instagram and Pinterest kind of tailor your account to what you view and like and interact with so I chose from things that popped up on my feed or that I had saved or just knew I loved and wanted to try. The hobbies I chose were baking, calligraphy/hand lettering, and crocheting.

1. Baking

Baking various breakfast or dessert items is so fun! And who doesn’t love eating yummy desserts?

I love the endless possibilities of creativity in baking and decorating. I’m not a professional but I try it for fun and give my baked goods to family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. Baking and cake decorating can be expensive so I try to limit my time participating in that hobby and will cycle through my hobbies to give my wallet a break. My favorite things to bake are cakes and muffins but I bake cookies, apple strudel, apple rose pastries, pies, Boston cream pie cupcakes, you name it, I’ve tried it!

2. Hand Lettering and Calligraphy

Calligraphy and hand lettering initially can be costly to invest in paper, pens and brushes, but I have found quality, inexpensive items to add to my arsenal from this Amazon search page. I have to practice on a somewhat regular basis to keep up with it but it is so worth it! I actually did some wedding signs and baby shower signs for friends and family and it was so rewarding seeing my time spent doodling and practicing to de-stress from a day look so good. It gives you a whole new motivation for continuing your hobby when people have asked for your help with it and have complimented your work. I am not a professional, I just do it for fun but cool, right?

While these other two hobbies have been successful and people ask me to bake their cakes or make their baby shower welcome signs, my other hobby is still trying to take flight. For the longest time, I did NOT understand how you made chains, so I had just an endless long single chain that I was crocheting, and now I’m able to do more but I haven’t been as impressive as people who can make cute little animals or hats and scarves.

This does not mean I don’t enjoy it because I do! The methodical weaving in and around string using your fingers and crochet needle is so relaxing. I love how it can range from being easy and mindless to being difficult and needing all your focus to make something. This is my go-to hobby when I need to just sit in a dark room, binge tv, and recover from a hard day

3. Crocheting

Now this is my mindless hobby in front of the tv, baking is my happy, dancing and singing in the kitchen for hours hobby, and calligraphy and hand lettering is my focused mindset hobby. I work on my hobbies based off of my mood, what kind of day I’m having, and if I have a deadline (like for my wedding signs). I recommend taking up a few hobbies with different moods in mind like I did.

Other hobbies to consider

When finding hobbies to take up, keep an open mind. Some other hobbies I picked up:

Card Making
Sewing (to repair clothes)
DIY Home Decor

These were just a little too time consuming and ended up with me being frustrated about the progress I made. However, everyone is different and have different schedules and mindsets and if sewing your clothes is something you can and love to do, do it! You may even make profit from it after some practice!

Integrating my hobbies into my week, even if it was just once a week, significantly improved the way I dealt with the ups and downs of my day and mental health status. It took some work to remind myself that I can do these hobbies, especially when I was tired and over it all. Once I started doing it, I felt the difference and I became happier.

I want you all to have this too! I want you to feel satisfied with your life and like it is more than just going to work to pay the bills. If you’re ready to leave that mind numbing life of work, sleep, and no play, then I urge you to to try out a hobby like candle making, calligraphy, or check out your local Michaels store for ideas!

Successfully turning your life around, making better decisions for a better lifestyle starts with some effort to find what works for you, but it makes a huge difference! You will be able to better handle your emotional/mental health which will help you take control of your physical health! It’s a win-win cycle of goodness coming your way!

If you need to see some of these changes I’ve made on a more daily/weekly basis for some ideas and motivation, take a look at my Instagram! And if you want more ideas, I post on my Pinterest account

I hope you all have a good week!

xoxo Jen