Ways To Reduce The Amount Of Hobbies You Have?

Curious to hear your thoughts, Waldun and everyone else. I’m almost completing higher specialist training in Psychiatry and start a life as a consultant in a couple of months. In a way it is more specialized, but I still view it as somewhat of a generalist (just how I want it and my skills are perfect here) than the subspecialties within. I’m great at what I do, enjoy it, but also slightly burnt out by it. Thing is, I was an a student of life before I started all this training and practicing medicine. Some of the best years of my life were towards the end of med school; deeply curious, intrigued and genuinely interested in learning; learnt languages, history, geopolitics, music and so on. Question is – how do I re-cultivate that ability, desire and hunger, when day to day life just exhausts me physically and mentally. I don’t see any other way but to leave the rat race. Opinions and thoughts very welcome.

In 2022 it seems to all about how well you can do at unverisity But there another world out there to learn from it’s about people who never went uni. Those people who left third year high in Australia in 1965. We were all given a good state or private education we all left school and went out to get our jobs The things we all learnt at school gave us the tools for life long learning. We grew to go to concerts art galleries read books Loved our families long before the idea l would talk to people in another country on a mobile phone. So we all need a bit of the old and a bit more of the new things in life. Regards Rita Cowled

Wehn you were talking about your teacher i felt that. In fact i AM seventeen and i have about.. 12 interests. Yea, kinda hard to keep up with when you have school and only 24 hours in a day. Imagine if I started working now.. I’d eventually fall behind on things I enjoy` Edit: After this article, I still do not know how to balance my interests ;-;. I CAN’T PURSUE THEM ALL THERE’S TOO MANY

sooo, as im perusal your article, im listening to a cute jazz cafe article in a separate tab and when you mentioned your childhood passion of being a pianist, it made me want to speak up and suggest maybe adding your own piano pieces playing in the background? the vibe of your article with this relaxing jazz piano backing was kinda perfect. thank you for the content you create 🙂

I really needed this. Thank you! I recently started my music based youtube website, because it is the interest I am most passionate about. I’ve struggled with leaving behind other fairly huge interests of mine like painting, articlegraphy, literature, theology, and writing. I feel like I need to niche down all the time, when I really want to be uniquly me and enjoy my interests. I think they are connected, but haven’t yet discovered how to live that out. I’m doing the youtube thing, and hope to expand my website into more of my artistic interests. For now I’ll do the music thing, but I love the idea of not having to let go of everything else I enjoy.

I just discovered this article and I am so incredibly happy that I did! You talk precisely about the thing that I have been struggling with for so long. Growing up I always had multiple interests and I always had this curiousity to learn about EVERYTHING. and this curiousity has been a driving force in my life. And as a kid, I always had people telling me that that’s a bad thing and if I don’t focus on one thing I will never get far in life. it is so refreshing to hear someone speak about this topic from a different perspective! And I 100% agree with you. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Some things I tried over the years have turned out to be not for me, but I also found a lot of joy and inspiration in diving into different fields.

I used to want to be an archaeologist more because of the topics you have to learn in order to become one. Anatomy, anthropology, history, geology… My interests never changed but I found my passion is history of medicine. It’s odd to not have a passion to having such a strong passion and direction in life. Night and day.

I really enjoyed this article and I find myself struggling with the same issue. I recently graduated from college and I am now looking into grad school. I am struggling with what is the best professional degree. I find myself dead set on a particular master’s program then the next day it changes. Thank you for posting this as it has made me really think about what I want to do.

Here I am, scrabbling a comment under your article… as a child I developed many interests. At first it was books, then nature, then arts and my dad’s camera and every time I felt like I discovered something new. The problem is that by the end of high school I had to choose and consequently lose one of my interest. The point is that is comforting to see that many people in this comment section say that they both gained a PhD and pursed their others passions. So, thank you for making this article and thank you to everyone who shared their experience below

Your article was up just after I worked on my Undergraduate thesis. Every now and then I’d think, “what’s in it for me after my graduation?”, “this thesis just feels like a drag”, and so on. Especially since I really want to branch out of my field (Islamic Economics). This article gave me new insights, especially regarding life-long learning and being ok with having many interests. I guess, as a friend of mine once said, “the world is not as narrow as our class room” :). Anyways, thanks so much for the article!

– The speaker introduces a new series called “Coffee Wednesday” where they will have casual episodes to engage with their audience and discuss various topics. – They express a concern about sacrificing community building for high-production scripted content on their website. – The goal of the series is to create a community of curious learners who can explore diverse interests and learn how to become well-rounded and creative learners. – The speaker discusses their struggle with having too many interests, citing a past experience in a mathematics class where a teacher advised them to focus on one area. – Despite the advice, the speaker believes in embracing multiple interests, drawing from personal experiences with music, photography, articlegraphy, history, literature, and philosophy. – They argue that in the 21st century, being a polymath or Renaissance person is essential for success, especially for entrepreneurship and creativity. – Emphasizing the importance of being proficient in various disciplines, they encourage viewers to open themselves up to multiple interests rather than being hyper-focused on one thing. – The speaker rejects the notion of hyper-specialization as the only path to success and instead advocates for pursuing all interests passionately. – They suggest using free time for learning and cultivating a passion for lifelong learning and exploration. – The episode concludes with a thank you message to viewers and a hint at taking questions from Instagram for the next episode.

I remember the lightbulb moment when you shared this before. I had a hobby room with beading, small woodwork tools, sewing, card making, photography, painting and scrapbooking. In the kitchen I had baking, essential oils items and outside the gardening. I evaluated which ones were bullying me, two hobbies left, which were bringing me joy, so I minimized the others and focused on three. After decluttering what I didn’t use from these I was happy I’d gone far enough and I had space to do them well.

You have a very good point about getting really good at a hobby instead of gathering a lot. My three hobbies are reading, knitting/crochet, and painting. I keep it under control by mostly reading library/digital books, growing my skill with knitting and crochet and consolidating my tools (still working on the yarn lol), and I focus on watercolor and water soluble pencils rather than all mediums. When I get interested in something new I give myself some time before deciding if I truly want to do it or it is just an idea.

A tip I just learned this week: If you twin plant your pepper plants, they will provide support to each other and give you more fruit because they’re not as stressed to form a thick stalk. Also, plant some companion plants with your tomatoes to deter pests! Basil is fantastic in a tomato bed, since the tomatoes plants offer a little shade to keep the basil from bolting. If you want more info on companion planting, read “Carrots love Tomatoes”- it is such an informative book!

I have gardened most of my life of 57 years, but I still ask my oldest brother gardening questions. About 20 years ago, I decided that every year, along with the usual plants, I would plant something new just for fun & experimenting. I try to learn as much as I can about that plant. If it doesn’t grow well, it’s no big deal, just the doing of it enriches my mind. Your garden is beautiful! Grow what you like to eat. Keep on gardening as a family. Pray over your garden. God will bless your hard work. It might not be in abundant food, but in sweet fellowship with your family. ❤️

“Rules” that changed my gardening time and life: #1 Know that every time you till or turn over the ground or pull out weeds – you are bringing weed seeds to the top so they can thrive (so minimize churning the dirt – be lazy!) #2 Add as much compost as you can ( I usually have a pyramid of compost at the beginning of each growing season – not green manure but well-developed compost. It smothers weeds! It feeds the soil microbes! It helps to leave the soil nice and fluffy – so weeds gently pull out, roots of vegetables spread out and stabilize in the wind (in a bit) {you can make a pile and just add green and brown for a year plus then transfer it to the beds} Then top with mulch, Every year don’t remove the mulch layer (unless it’s a hard solid sheet) – just add more compost and top with mulch! The mulch breaks down into nutrients – microbes eat the mulch, poop the nutrients, which feed the plants. #3 be aware that adding sand to clay or heavy soil is a great way to make cement – talk to your extension service about this #4 kids love to pick a veg as their veg – I had mine pick one plant seed every year from Seed Savers Exchange (their catalog is known as plant porn in my house). They have some wild veggies like purple carrots, striped zucchinis. Once a week they had to make notes on a page in my plant notebook. This could be pictures or science notes (measuring the stalk or blooms). I use the same notebook to put notes as to what I planted, what we liked the tastes of, weather, misc garden stuff – lives in a tub with my garden gear.

Ideas for the last bed: Plant flowers that attract bees to pollinate the rest of your garden; Include marigolds to deter other pests, herbs, currents (for making cider), Asian pear tree, artichokes. Everyone told me pumpkins were a waste of time but my crop did so well we do it every year now and pumpkins are so expensive at the store.

You can plant tomato plants extra deep, especially if they are tall and leggy. They root all along their stems when in contact with soil. You can even remove a few sets of leaves. I always remove the lower leaf sets to avoid splash back from the soil when watering, which can cause fungal and bacterial infections on your plants. If you happen to know anyone with rabbits, their manure is amazing for your garden! It is a cold manure, so it can go directly on your beds without having to compost. It will not burn your plants like other animal manure, which has to be composted first. Happy gardening! 🪴

Great article. Years ago my husband limited me to one major hobby because his mother had so many and it was a mess. I chose sewing because it has so many aspects, its practical and in particular quilting satisfied my brain like nothing else did. I’m so grateful he limited me 22+ years ago. I still love it and there’s still always something new to do & learn even if I just stick to quilting. I keep improving and adding on to my skills that I couldn’t have done if I had a lot of hobbies. When it came to decluttering my hobby stuff, some from before he asked me to chose one hobby, it was easy and I donated a lot of stuff and kept primarily the quilting items. I found I had enough to do so many quilts I stopped buying fabric & I’m focusing on using what I have. This was an awesome subject Dawn! Thanks so much & blessings to you & your family.

I may have missed the window for you to read any more comments, but I wanted to add a few things I had not seen and reiterate what some said in previous comments. I have not heard of cracking whole eggs in the tomato hole, maybe that’s a good thing also, but what I have heard and used in the past is drying my eggshells (I rinsed mine first but don’t know if that’s a necessary step) and then grinding / blending them into a powder. I put one or two tablespoons in each tomato hole. This adds calcium to prevent bottom rot. I think you can use that for peppers also. I have also added it as a fertilizer on top of the soil later in the season. I also would recommend herbs! They are so fun to learn about and use. People have mentioned great ones. I have been gardening for 10 years and last year was my first time harvesting garlic. Loved it! But we have to plant it in the fall here in NC. Not sure if that’s true everywhere? Tried onions for the first time last fall also. I will get to harvest them soon… I want to personally focus more on greens and lettuces since they are some of the worst for pesticides when you buy from stores. Perennials are a great thing to have so that you don’t have to replant! So excited to see you have asparagus. Blueberry bushes might be something you want to try in the future. Birds have been the bane of our existence on that though. This year we finally built a more permanent netting structure over our bushes. Rest assured, if there is a hole in your structure, the birds will find it.

Dear Dawn, how most lovely, that you are taking on gardening “for real” this year – so am I after having watched your articles and getting rid of pretty much all of my fantasy-self hobby-stuff… 😉 Here are my two tips for you: 1.) On the topic of herbs: Make sure to plant “Mediterranean herbs” like thyme, rosemary and lavender on sandy and not too fertile ground and don’t overdo it with adding any fertiliser. In my experience they grow better and taste more intensively, when they have to develop a bit of resilience, if that makes sense. 2.) The best fertiliser I use for tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkins are good old nettles. We collect them, when we are taking a walk in the forest (make sure to wear gloves, although they are supposedly an excellent cure for any arthritic diseases like rheumatism and painful joints) You either cut them and mix them in with the soil before planting or you put them in a bucket with a lid and let them soak in the sun for about 10-14 days. The mixture will start to smell and develop a foamy surface. After the period of soaking, you can drain the liquid in a clean bucket and compost the nettles. Now your liquid fertiliser is ready to be used in 1:10 mixed with water. So one portion of fertiliser, 10 portions of water. This is a traditional German fertiliser and we have been successful with it for years. Good luck on your gardening, I would love to hear, how things are working out for you.

Dawn, I can’t believe you made this article today. I just had a mini breakdown this morning over how overwhelmed I am with all the projects. I have a lot to think about. Having 3 kids under 4 doesn’t help. Please tell me it gets better!! Here are my garden tips: For fertilizer, Espoma Garden tone and Tomato tone are probably all you need. Just remember, N in the beginning of the season for leaf development (your chicken manure is high in N), P&K for when fruiting starts. The calcium from the egg shells helps prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes. Look into deep mulch gardening in the future for weeds. That’s a perfect trellis for tomatoes, look into the florida weave technique for peppers and smaller tomatoes. If you want to do pumpkins, just dump a bunch of compost into that bed. Pumpkins grow well in pure compost. Worm castings are also an awesome amendment to add to your bed at any time. Good luck!!

Omg I’m like two mins in and this article is gold already!? Pick one thing and do it well! 👌 I also love your ‘seasons of life’ question – it has helped me come to terms with the fact I’m not in the season of life to be scrapbooking and papercrafting at the moment like I used to be and so now I feel so much more comfortable with the idea of selling and donating my supplies 🥰

We recently moved into a multigenerational home with my parents. My dad grew up where if you didn’t have a garden, you didn’t eat. We always had a garden growing up but I didn’t glean information from him. As an adult, it’s nice to shoulder to shoulder to learn. I’m like the research assistant and my dad is the muscle and hands in person. It’s been a very interesting dynamic. I know I’ll cherish these times of learning.

One observation is, plant tomatoes much deeper. Even if they are really tall they can be planted up to just under the top set of leaves. If your family likes them grow green beans. Bush type beans don’t require trellises. Green beans freeze well, and can well. Consider carrots, the shorter versions. The best success to your garden.

We have rocky hard clay soil and I put in daikon radishes in the fall to break up the soil underneath the raised beds. I found out that my chickens and duck absolutely love the daikon radish greens. It’s a win win. Your garden is lovely and I appreciate the advice. I’m going to use it to downsize my quilting clutter, which I’m not doing right now. 😊