Keep One Hobby Useless

There is a strange thing that happens when you get older: you stop doing things for no reason.

Kids do this naturally. They build LEGO sets, ride bikes, draw, play games, and move on with their day. Adults tend to ask what the activity is for. Is it useful? Could it make money? Should I get better at it? Could it become a side business?

I have caught myself doing this more times than I would like to admit. Something starts out being fun, then slowly becomes another project. The project gets a goal, the goal gets a system, and before long the thing I originally did to get away from work somehow has expectations attached to it.

That is probably a sign we have taken productivity too far.

Not Everything Needs a Return

A hobby is one of the few places left where the return can simply be that you enjoyed the hour.

You can play American Truck Simulator without turning it into a Twitch stream. You can buy a Fender guitar and never become particularly good. You can grow tomatoes that cost more than tomatoes at Kroger. You can spend a Saturday making barbecue without starting a YouTube channel about it.

Nothing has to come from it.

I think this is especially difficult for people who naturally like building things. Once you are used to turning ideas into projects, it becomes hard to leave anything alone. The hobby could become a business. The business could become a brand. Suddenly your peaceful Saturday has quarterly objectives.

I know this because I have done it. Streaming is an obvious example for me. Gaming can be something I do because I enjoy it, but once cameras, overlays, schedules, analytics, YouTube, Twitch, and audience growth enter the picture, it becomes something else.

That does not mean it stops being enjoyable. It just means it now carries weight.

Waste a Little Time

I think we need to become more comfortable with wasting a little time.

Not in a destructive way. I mean the harmless kind: fishing when the fish are not biting, working on an old motorcycle that did not really need attention, or spending hours making something that would have been cheaper to buy.

Sometimes the value is simply that your mind was somewhere else for a while.

Most adults spend enough time thinking about problems. Work follows us home. News follows us through our phones. There is always something that needs fixing, planning, or worrying about.

A hobby interrupts that.

When you are trying to land a plane in Microsoft Flight Simulator, learn a song, fix a carburetor, or figure out why the brisket is cooking too fast, the rest of life gets quieter for a while.

That is not wasted time. That is maintenance.

Be Bad at Something Again

A hobby also gives adults permission to be beginners.

That is healthy.

The first time you try golf, the ball may go somewhere you did not know was physically possible. The first time you cook something complicated, dinner may end with Domino’s. The first time you try woodworking, Home Depot may get another visit because you measured something wrong.

Being bad at something reminds you that competence is built.

It also makes life more interesting.

You do not need to be professional at everything you enjoy, and you definitely do not need the professional version of every piece of equipment. I know how easy that trap is. A casual interest can turn into hours of researching the best gear instead of actually doing the hobby.

Good equipment is fine. Just do not let buying the setup replace enjoying the thing.

Keep Something for Yourself

Social media changed hobbies too. Now we feel pressure to document everything.

If you cook something good, Instagram should see it. If you restore something old, Facebook gets a before-and-after picture. If you go somewhere interesting, somebody needs proof.

There is nothing wrong with sharing. But I think there is value in having parts of your life that do not need an audience.

Make something and leave it on your desk. Take a drive and do not take a picture. Learn something without announcing that you are learning it.

The experience feels different when nobody else is involved.

You become the audience again.

That may sound small, but the older I get, the more I think it matters. A good life cannot be built entirely out of productive hours. There has to be some room for curiosity, for being bad at something, and for doing something simply because it makes the day better.

Keep one hobby useless.

Let it stay fun.

—

Scott Tilley
TilleyWorks Intelligence
Everything is connected.