I collect hobbies. I write, garden, make jewelry and bottle charms, fold paper stars, design artwork, bake, all sorts of things. I’ve dabbled in resin making, used to dance, sometimes pick up making games, and am currently deep into determining how far I’m going to go into Notion.

If you also collect hobbies to the point where you are getting overwhelmed, here’s a quick checklist to go through before you app another one to the list!

New hobby checklist

1. Have you slept on it? A new hobby can seem really exciting in the moment, but give yourself a little time to think about it and see if the motivation continues.
2. Do you have the time for it? There is usually some kind of time commitment involved, whether that is taking classes or learning or even actually doing this hobby! Make sure it fits in with the rest of your life. As a tangent to this, if you are doing this with other people, do your schedules match up? Arranging things gets trickier the more people are involved, and you will want to make sure your schedules are compatible.
3. Do you have the capacity for it? Make sure adding this isn’t going to completely overwhelm you. Even if you have the time to take that extra class, make sure you have the mental space to do it as well!
4. Can you do a cheap trial run of it? New hobbies can be expensive. If you don’t know if you’ll like it, see if you can try it out without a huge cost investment first. Get a trial subscription, get a dollar store version of the art supplies, something to make sure this is something you want to do.
5. If you create things as a result of the hobby, do you know what you are going to do with those things? Trust me, if a hobby ends with something physical, you are going to wan a plan for what to do with everything you make. There are only so many drawers, shelves, and wall space for everything you are going to make if you like doing it.
6. Do you have storage for anything that you need for it? Does your hobby have a lot of materials or items attached to it? Skiing, snowboarding, fishing, these hobbies can have a lot of materials. Jewelry has a lot of small items that you don’t necessarily want to lose track of. Make sure that you have a place to put everything when you aren’t enjoying yourself.

If you’re good on all of these, go ahead and see how you like that new hobby! Give it a try, and I hope you have fun with the new skills you will learn or the time you’ll get to spend with others!