I’m working now (graduated for about one year) and I find myself lack the motivation to resume or start a new hobby project. Every night I get home I am just tired and want to have some me time. It’s probably due to the work culture here, but we leave the company quite late (however, we can go to work quite late as well). I can’t really be the one to change it, esp. being a new guy and all that.
One of my coworker friend recently told me that they were just like me once, until they decided to dedicate the whole morning to personal hobby projects since we’ll be working OT anyway. The idea is very enticing but it doesn’t really sit right with me.
So in conclusion, on one hand I really want to have fun making little side hobby projects again but on the other hand I find myself too tired to do them. This extends well into Saturday and Sunday as I usually go out with friends and family during sat/sun, and then I get tired from socializing. What should I do?
Don’t force it, your hobbies will feel like a chore. Guess how I know.
You have limited time and you choose to give it to friends and family. Make sure it’s your choice, not theirs. It’s okay to cancel social plans once in a while.
If you can afford to not sleep well, you could have a coffee at like 9pm once in a while and spend the night doing fun stuff. It worked for me when I was younger.
One more thing that I can’t really recommend, but which I still do sometimes, is smoking weed after social meetings. It gets rid of that exhaustion caused by people talking and children screaming, sometimes I even find energy to do something fun then.
Totally agree on this. Burnout is real, and hobbies are among the first things to go that that hits. Finding a way to turn hobby time into relaxing “Me” time helps, in my case it meant cutting down my expectations a lot. Working slower and less often, no mental deadlines, and pairing it with a glass of wine and some Star Trek episodes.
Weirdly enough I get more done now, overall.