When things speed up and seem to be going really fast around you, how do you reset and keep the stressors in check?
At the place I worked right out of college, there was a guy named Glen who took me under his wing and mentored me for a period of time.
We’d meet every week, and he’d share various leadership & life principles with me.
I’d soak it up like a sponge.
One time he shared this with me (paraphrasing):
“if you primarily work (job) in/with your mind, find a hobby with your hands.”
The subtext there is that I had a software developer role at the time and most days I’d be behind a screen, writing code… to break away from that and “reset” I should find a hobby that was more physical in nature.
Here I am, years later still chewing on that piece of wisdom.
The three things that scratch that itch for me
- Woodworking
I enjoy the entire process, from cutting down dying trees, to milling up the lumber with a sawmill to working through all the dimensions and how I want something to look.
2. Cars (buying, selling, fixing)
I think I’ve had 15 or so cars since I started driving. I actually bought my first vehicle before I could legally drive… fixed it up and sold it (for a profit) before I turned 16. I tend to favor Silver or White vehicles… dark colored vehicles look dirty too quickly.
3. Working outside (mowing, landscaping, flowers, etc.)
Whether it’s the stripes in the lawn, pulling grass out of rock beds, falling a tree that’s dying, or cultivating some pretty rose bushes. I regularly enjoy being outside and completing some project. I especially love when roses start to bloom. Something about their colors & bloom detail that I’ve found I keep getting drawn to over the years.
While doing those things, usually 1 of 2 things become true.
- Time flies by. What some call “Flow”.
- Just the other day I went out after dinner to mow the yard. I mowed, used the weed eater, blew off the driveway, and set out some sprinklers. I come in and Rachel had already put the kids to bed. What felt like an hour to me was closer to probably 2 hours.
- It’s a common joke in our household, Rachel will say “how much longer?” and I’ll reply “5 minutes”…. which really means 15-30 when I’m working on one of these type items.
- Mental log jams clear up
- We all have stuff going on. “Life”. Sometimes you need to just let something bake for a bit and not overreact or try to push too quickly. You need to process thoughts and get your ideas together. Hobbies enable me to do that by giving me a different primary task and then my brain just processes through some of the mental log jam items I have going on.
- I’ll be measuring something for a woodworking project and then as I mill something up I’m solving upcoming logistical issues or work related items.
What do you do to reset? What hobbies do you have?
–Matt
Leave a Reply