Your downtime is some of the most singularly important time that is available to you. This is when you get to do anything and everything you want to do, which is what makes it so frustrating when you don’t know what to do with yourself in your downtime. One of the best ways to make sure this doesn’t happen to you nearly so often is to take up a hobby that you are truly excited by. By doing this, you make sure that there is pretty much always an activity that you could be doing during your downtime. It helps to choose a hobby that you are truly passionate about, but if you’re having trouble thinking of anything, then this article aims to help by suggesting a handful of potential options for you to consider.
Creating Video Games
A brilliant pastime and a great creative outlet is the creation of stories and art, and what better way to truly express the depth and consideration of your stories and art, than to make them into video games? This is a brilliant way to practice and develop a wide range of skills and it’s an activity that many people dream of doing. Here are a few points to consider:
Which Software to Use
The first decision you need to make when you start creating games is which software that you want to make use of. This can affect a lot of what you need to do to make games and it’s fine to play around with other software once you’re feeling comfortable; but it’s probably a good idea to start with a simple and effective option such as Unity.
Learning the Basics
Once you have a piece of software to work with, you can start working on the basics of game creation. It might take you a while to learn, but the more you understand and begin to implement in your games, the better your end result will be. In the end, as with any hobby, practice will take you further than any kind of instruction, but it is helpful to be taught where to begin.
Car Restoration
Another fantastic way to spend your time is to get involved in learning the basics of car restoration so that you can fix up and play around with older cars. Not only can this be a lot of fun, but the more you learn about mechanics and the intricacies of cars, the more you can apply this to any dealings you have with your mechanic, and possibly even to dealing with issues with your car yourself.
Know Where to Get Your Parts
One of the most important resources you are going to need, other than a car, is a place that you can get your car parts from. If you find yourself in need of used OEM spare parts, then knowing where you can source them from is going to be majorly helpful in keeping your hobby going. The more able you are to find these parts that you need cheaply, the more able you are to practice with them and play around.
Practice Often
Speaking of practice, it is probably the single most important factor in your quest to learn the art of car restoration. A lot of the processes that you have to engage with are, conceptually, very simple and straightforward once you get down to it. However, the difficulty with this comes in the actual execution of these processes. For these, the only path to improvement is practice.
Making Music
If you love the sound of music and have always wanted to be able to create your own, then that is absolutely what you should be doing in your downtime. With the software and technology available today, you don’t need a full sound studio to create your own music: all you need is dedication and a passion for incredible music.
Learning the Process
With all the software and tools available to you, there are a wide range of techniques that you can learn in order to create your own music, which means that the first job you need to do when starting this hobby is to figure out which software you want to use.
Playing Instruments
One activity you might want to take up when learning to make your own music is the art of playing many instruments. You can, obviously, simply sample whatever instrument you want to use for your music. However, if you learn how to play that same instrument and do it yourself, you can make the process that much more personal.
Researching Your Interests
The pursuit of knowledge and interesting facts doesn’t have to be terribly boring. In fact, taking the time to look into and understand subjects that interest you is a brilliant way to spend your time. Not only will you generate an enormous pool of knowledge and keep your mind active, you’ll also enjoy yourself, which is the most important point in the end.
Resources for Research
The main skill you are going to want to nail down quickly if you end up researching your interests for fun, is the art of locating reliable and well-referenced sources for you to read up on. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet, which means you can’t trust everything you find. Corroboration and substantiation are going to be your friends, so learn how to make sure the information you’re reading is legitimate before you spend too much time on it.
Taking Notes & Studying
You might find that you want to take notes and look back on your research later on. This can be fun to do, especially if you have issues remembering everything you’ve learned. To make this easier, you may want to learn how to take high-quality notes and take the time to sort them away neatly, for ease of use later down the line.
Gardening
Finally, if you love beautiful plants, glorious sunlight, and keeping busy, then you’ll probably find that gardening is a brilliant option for you. While this hobby is by no means easy, it is the kind of work that soothes and relaxes your mind, allowing your body to work through familiar routines. Plus, the more you work at it, the better your garden will look, which can be a wonderful and tangible reward for your work.