I’m a busy person. I participate in a number of extracurricular activities outside of my basic coursework and as I move through college that basic load just seems to get heavier and heavier. This particular semester, I have a number of classes that I would describe as “assignment-heavy.” These are the classes that expect you to complete assignments and turn them in nearly daily – such as language classes or the more hands-on classes around campus.

For me, personally, these are much more difficult than classes that rely primarily on reading and discussion. Because of this, I have been letting some of my favorite hobbies slip to the wayside.

This has happened in the past, where I’ve become incredibly busy and eventually realized that I had not picked up my guitar in three months or that I had stopped in the middle of my cross-stitching project.

When it does happen, I’m always amazed by just how much time has passed since I did these things, and I get a bit down because I don’t like leaving behind artistic mediums.

So, these days, I’ve been trying to catch myself earlier before I lose track of my hobbies completely; as I’ve noticed the workload in my classes this semester, I’ve been thinking about the things that I’ve stopped doing – crafts, playing the guitar, reading for pleasure, writing – and trying to find ways to slip them into my schedule. These are some of the methods that I find work best for me.

First, it works really well for me to slip in the things that I enjoy in breaks between chunks of work. It’s impossible for me to be completely focused on assignments for hours at a time. It’s much more effective to study for 30 minutes and take a 5 minute break. Then, I use those five minute breaks to do something fun for me – such as reading a book for pleasure or pulling out my guitar. I guess it is helpful for me that my hobbies aren’t necessarily difficult to complete – for example, it would be incredibly difficult to utilize this strategy if your hobby is mountain biking or rock climbing.

Another way that I personally find effective is scheduling your hobbies into your life very specifically. This can happen in a number of ways. For example, I wanted to take up dance again, because I hadn’t taken a dance class in a few semesters, but it didn’t fit in my credit load. So, I signed up for the Beginning Ballet II class for zero credit, and now I have four hours a week assigned to dance. I think that this method is particularly effective when someone else can also hold you accountable to it, because then it creates an obligation that is not as easy to skip as something that you just decide on your own.

People get caught up in their obligations, running to the finish line, and getting tunnel vision.

Beyond that, it is also helpful to create very specific goals for yourself. For example: “I want to work on creating Youtube videos for at least 1 hour this week” or “I want to spend at least a half an hour drawing at least two days this week.” I’m sure it has been told you multiple times in a myriad of ways, and I appreciate your bearing with me in repeating it again, but this method can really work. I don’t always find that it does, because for me it is much easier to create a buddy-system to meet goals, but I do know that this type of goal-setting is very effective for others.

All of these methods to try to create time to work on projects or hobbies that you feel you are accidentally leaving behind can be very successful if utilized correctly.

One thing that they do require is that you be cognizant of your own interests and the draws on your time that take you away from those interests. I know that that is not always an easy thing to be – people get caught up in their obligations, running to the finish line, and getting tunnel vision. They forget the things outside the goal because they’ve been working towards it for so long. But don’t forget to broaden your horizons and try to keep the things you love to do close to you, even if they don’t necessarily fit in with the specific path you’ve set your education on.

-Andrea Broman