If you’ve read The List of hobbies here, you may have become overwhelmed with the possibilities. I too, had trouble trying to decide which hobbies to take up, which is why I started this blog. But, I don’t want you to have to start a blog, too. So, this post is meant to help you narrow it down.

Hobbying is all about two things: resources and interest. A hobby can to drain your time, your bank account, or your mental capabilities. But if you’re interested in the task, you’ll get a lot out of it, too. You get the excitement of learning something new. You’ll get the fascination of falling in to a world so much larger than you could have ever imagined (I would bet money that 80% of the hobbies on The List have their own reddit subforums). And, depending on the hobby, you’ll get the satisfaction of making some bitchin’ art.

In The About page, I explain that I will include my opinion on several categories for each hobby. These categories are important for choosing a hobby, so I wanted to go into detail about each one.

The Financial Cost

Start Up Costs/Costs per Project or Event

The start up cost for any given hobby can have a huge range, and of course can spiral out of control. For each hobby, I will share what my totally unprofessional opinion about what is the bare minimum needed to start a hobby. As I mentioned in my Origami post, sometimes you won’t be able to enjoy a hobby with the lowest quality materials.

Also, consider how much you are willing to put in to a new hobby today, and how much you could afford to trickle in over the long run. Wildlife photography, for example, has a massive start up cost, but once you get going, relatively little cost-per-project. Geneology, on the hand, could be started for free with just a questions to family members. However, contacting and/or visiting historical societies and paying for paperwork can start to get expensive quickly.

Focus Needed

This is one people may not consider when starting a hobby, but if you don’t choose a hobby with the right level of focus, you may get frustrated very quickly. If you were hoping to do something while wa

The Time Cost

All hobbies will take time, of course. This isn’t so much about how much free time you have, because over enough 5-minute intervals you could papier-mâché a life-size version of Eiffel Tower. Rather, it’s about when you have time to engage in your hobby. Are you looking for something you could do on the subway to work, on couch watching TV at night, or something you could lost in for a weekend?

In my experience, the time a hobby requires has four parts.

Set Up/Tear Down

If you are hoping for a hobby to fiddle with while you wait for your pizza to cook, quilting or model trains are probably not for you. How much time it takes to get rolling on your project is a huge factor in your hobby choice. However, this can be mitigated if you have enough space to leave hobbies out at all times (lucky bastard).

In-the-Shit

Some hobbies, like origami, can be put down and picked at any point of the project. Others, like painting, might mean that once you’re set up, you’d better go at it for awhile, or you risk spending more time moving craft supplies around than actual crafting. Offsite hobbies, like war reenacting, may require time off work and missing your child’s birthdays. Choose wisely.

Delay of Gratification

As a knitter, I’ve watched crocheters hook through a scarf in a few hours with hateful, envious eyes. How long can you wait until you actually have something worth anything in your hands? Do you need to have a high turnover of completed projects to feel useful? Are you okay waiting weeks, months, or even years (I’m looking at you, bonsais), to see an end product?

Value

Remember that a hobby shouldn’t feel like a chore, but a little time-gift to yourself. If you find yourself feeling guilty or frustrated by the time spent doing a hobby, you’re probably doing the wrong one.

Giftability

Most people love hand-made gifts. But there are limits to what people actually want in their home. If you want a hobby you can share, you need to consider carefully how others will receive your gifts, or multiples of them. For example, how would your family react to one dollhouse? What about three dollhouses? Things can quickly go from present to imposition.

Similarly, some things just don’t make terrifically spectacular gifts. Origami, for example, is cute and fun, and would be a nice ‘mini’ present for a friend. But I don’t know many people who would display a paper crane on their bookshelf for the rest of their life. On the other end, while a well done chain-saw carved stump might look amazing, it may clash with your recipient’s decor.

Space Required

Many hobbies have histories thousands of years old, meaning they were meant to be made in small homes or on your lap outdoors. If you have a studio apartment and hate cleaning, one of these would probably be your best bet. I would assume that furniture refinishing is the largest space-user, but many hobbies can quickly fill your home. However, I completely refinished two furniture projects in my one bedroom apartment years ago, so space really aligns with initiative and creativity.