Hustle culture be damned – it’s OK to suck at your hobby

The pressure to perform our passions undermines the playful escapism they’re meant to breathe into our chaotic lives

It’s the question we all fear – or at least, I do: “Do you have any hobbies?” It might spring up at the end of a job interview, or perhaps anxiously offered as idle chitchat on a first date if conversation is running dry. It’s a perfectly innocuous question – a way of finding out more about someone’s interests and how they enjoy spending their free time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve knitted my fair share of scarves and even completed a cable knit cardigan that didn’t immediately unravel, and I can successfully pull off a One Arm Hang to Bird’s Nest after a short-lived but feverish passion for aerial hoop classes.

But, similar to being put on the spot with a question about what my favourite film, album or novel is, my mind goes into a state of amnesia and I’m confronted with a sense of dread – am I totally devoid of passions?

It should be an easy question to answer, so why am I so reticent to acknowledge my extracurriculars? I suspect there’s a sense of imposter syndrome at play here; while I enjoy these aforementioned pursuits, I don’t feel that I’m good enough to proudly declare any of them with confidence as my “thing”.

Thanks to “hustle culture”, which encourages us to monetise our hobbies and use them to drive engagement on social media, it’s not enough to simply spend time on our hobbies because we enjoy them – we could always be doing a little bit more.

Go running a couple of times a week? Sign up for a half marathon! Knitted a jumper? It’s time to open that Etsy shop! Forget the fact that most Britons work over 40 hours a week, with millions more taking on a second job to cope with the soaring cost of living – too often, there’s a nagging voice reminding you that You’re Not Doing Enough.

Hobbies are important because they make us happier, healthier, better-rounded creatures, and engaging with our passions has been shown to reduce stress and improve mental wellbeing. However, hustle culture fetishises these beloved pastimes as another opportunity to grind, and social media hasn’t helped. The pressure to perform our hobbies undermines the playful escapism they’re meant to breathe into our chaotic lives.

The hobbies I enjoy might not be worthy of flogging or flaunting for the admiration of my friends, and I certainly don’t possess the skill (or indeed time) to monetise them into a side hustle – but this shouldn’t undermine my enthusiasm.

Don’t worry if you suck at your hobbies. It’s actually necessary to do so – at least at first. Imagine never trying anything new because you’re worried you won’t be “Instagram-worthy” good at it, or dropping an activity you really enjoy because the end result isn’t impressive enough to make money or a TikTok account out of.

We also risk putting too much significance on people’s hobbies as a measure of their personality. Of course, we all want to be seen as unique, talented and special – but having a hobby isn’t necessarily going to deliver this. Your chosen hobby doesn’t automatically make you interesting (on that note, I’m reminded of the catastrophic error I once made on a first date where I asked a man what he liked to do outside of work, which turned into an evening-long conversation about bikes).

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But don’t be discouraged. With many of us juggling full-time jobs, childcare and busy social lives, making time for our hobbies at all is nothing short of a miracle and warrants a hearty slap on the back. And in the face of soaring inflation, rising energy bills, and a cost of living crisis, we could do with injecting a little more joy into our lives to escape from an unrelentingly grim news cycle.

So if your thing is playing an instrument, glazing a ceramic bowl or flailing your uncoordinated limbs through a lyrical dance class, don’t worry if you’re not very good. Take away the pressure to perform, or you might just forget how to play. After all, isn’t that the whole point?

And there’s also a case to be made for allotting time to do precisely sod all. I admire anyone who, after more than eight hours sitting at a desk, blinking intently at a computer screen, can muster the motivation to drag themselves to a pottery class. Sometimes, an equally valid pastime is sliding into bed after a long day and doing absolutely nothing on your phone for an untold number of hours. But maybe don’t make a hobby out of it.