Having a hobby that we enjoy brings us joy and enriches our lives. It gives us something fun to do during our leisure time and affords us the opportunity to learn new skills. We are very fortunate to have so many different options out there today. In fact, there are entire websites devoted to hobbies and interests. There are many reasons why all of us should have at least one hobby, but here are the main benefits of having a hobby you should know.

Benefits Of Having A Hobby

Hobbies force you to take some time for yourself

Hobbies force you to take a break from your day-to-day stresses and carve out time to devote to yourself. Not all hobbies are play though – some hobbies like reading, writing, designing or learning a new language can keep you productive and instil you with a sense of purpose while having fun. And the more time you devote to become immersed in your hobby, the more satisfaction and sense of achievement you can get out of it.

Hobbies can open up your world

Hobbies can encourage you to stretch the limits of your imagination, see the world in a new way or provide you with the mental space to come up with great ideas. When you devote yourself to a hobby, you take on new challenges that motivate you to learn new ways to improve. Hobbies not only satisfy a curious mind, but can also put you in touch with a completely new community of people, allowing you to broaden your experiences and your social life.

Hobbies encourage taking a break

Hobbies offer an opportunity to take a break—but a break with a purpose. If you’re like me, you might like to feel productive while you’re engaging in an activity and a hobby gives you that. You are doing something while still having fun. Hobbies are great ways to take a break from your busy life while still having a sense of purpose.

Hobbies promote eustress

One of the benefits of having a hobby is to promote eustress. Eustress is that positive kind of stress, the kind that makes you feel excited about what you’re doing and about life. When you’re doing something you love—something you don’t have to do for any other reason other than the fact that you love it—you feel a rush of excitement and joy.

Hobbies offer new challenges and experiences

Work-related challenges are often accompanied by stress and the pressure to be the best at what you are doing. With a hobby, you can enjoy the process of learning something new without feeling discouraged at being bad at it in the beginning. It can even help you get out of your comfort zone.

A hobby can also offer you different types of challenges than you are used to. While you may spend your days at work being challenged mentally, you can take up a hobby that can challenge you physically, such as rock climbing or kayaking.

Hobbies allow you to explore yourself and your talents

You never really know what you’re capable of unless you try something. You may surprise yourself. For example, you might assume that you would never be one to take up golf because you find it is boring to watch on television, and it seems like a slow way to spend your time.

But if you try it, you may discover that you love playing golf, and that you have a certain talent for hitting the golf ball correctly and being successful with the sport. Hobbies help you discover the things that you’re good (and bad) at, and might surprise you. Self discovery is especially important during the teenage years.

Hobbies can provide additional income

You may find a hobby that you are good enough at that you can make sales for extra income. You may even get the chance to turn your hobby into a full-time job. For example, maybe you really like to garden, and you spend time keeping your garden well-manicured and healthy.

If you find that you really have a knack for that, you may offer garden design services to other people, which could turn into a full-time job. Even if it is just consulting, this would be one example of a great way to make some money off of a hobby.