Divide Time Between Work And Hobbies

There are many hobbies that individuals are talented and interested in, which makes us diverse but at the same time, similar.

Source: FlexJobs

Working is part of a necessity in everyone’s daily life, even for Peter Parker, better known as Marvel’s Spiderman. Avid watchers of the highly popular action-packed series would know that Parker has spent his teenage years as the friendly neighborhood hero but as soon as he entered his adult phase, he decided to work as a photographer at The Daily Bugle. Parker may have a job that pays him well but he has to learn to balance his time between his work and being Spiderman.

Spiderman or no spiderman, everyone has a stable job to support them. Working is significant in our life as it helps us to gain experience and increase our productivity that would benefit us until we retire. However, having hobbies that fill up our leisure time away from our workload is important too but many people have succumbed to the overworking culture which turns out to be toxic to each individual.

It is known that a recent study published by Kisi, an access technology company, found that Kuala Lumpur ranks third as one of the most overworked cities in 2022.

The comparison between cities that have a balanced lifestyle (top) and the concerning overworked cities which includes Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (bottom).

Source: Kisi

With a high-drive work intensity that pressures people in Kuala Lumpur, hobbies are important to take up to improve one’s mental state and also upgrade performance at workplace.

Hobbies are a great use of escapism for people especially when they are overwhelmed with their work. Nur Ain Izzati, a 24-year-old personal online tutor who focuses on math subjects for primary school students, feels that her job correlates positively with her hobby as she’s an avid collector of Korean artists’ merchandise. The salary she earns from her hard work manages to provide for her hobby because collecting merchandise needs money.

She says, “Most of the time, working exhausts me but I feel ecstatic when I manage to complete my merchandise collection with what I earn so I would say I am satisfied.”

The perfect example of “Collecting Korean Artists’ Merchandise”, as told by Nur.

Source: Bandwagon Asia

Hobbies have physical, mental and emotional development benefits which helps an individual's self esteem at work. Ayesha Aziz, a 23-year-old social media intern says, “I started horse riding last year as I was not previously athletic but I realized that this has made me improve my posture and I also gained confidence from it.”

Both Nur and Ayesha have contrasting perspectives towards how their hobbies made them feel but they do share a certain factor in common; dividing time between what they love and their commitment to their job. Interests beyond work would bring new knowledge and skills or even connections that can be linked to our job but at the same time, we should not forget to spend time on the responsibilities that we are obligated to do.

Having “no”time is a typical excuse for people when it comes to balancing their work and hobbies. There should be no reason for it and instead of trying to pack your schedule together which will drain you, try to find ways to make time for your hobbies without being a distraction to your responsibilities.

“As for work, I would usually spend half of my day handling classes, preparing notes and exercises for students. After I finish everything, which usually is around 10pm, I would spend some leisure time by myself browsing the internet with the hope that I can complete my collection which I missed out on,” says Nur, as she believes that quality time by yourself after a stressful day is important for your mental health. If burnouts occur, performance at work would decrease and you could get demotivated.

Burnouts can cause poor performance and a decrease in an individual’s mental state.

Source: VeryWell Mind

Ayesha balances her time differently.“I mainly work on a typical 9 to 5 job and there are times, I have to work at night just to complete extra tasks if clients need it urgently. I usually spend time on my hobbies during the weekend. Though it’s short, I believe that it is better to do something productive than nothing.”

Without the presence of hobbies, people would work relentlessly and devote themselves to their job to the point of mental exhaustion that would contribute to the culture of overworking.

On 4 November 2020, Twitter user @KatyLeeson spoke about the glamorisation of overworking culture that has made people lose out on their social life and mental health. She wrote in her tweet, “We need to stop glamorizing overworking. The absence of sleep, good diet, exercise, relaxation time with friends and family isn’t something to be applauded . Too many people wear their burnout as a badge of honor and it needs to change.”

Katy Leeson’s tweet on the glamorization of the overworking culture that would cause more harm than good to individuals.

Source: Twitter

Since Kuala Lumpur has been ranked as one of the most overworked cities in the world, Ayesha states that the overworking culture is indeed toxic and exhausting but yet, the minimum wage is still low especially when the living expenses are high. She says, “It’s even sadder to know that employees who work overtime during the weekend are being exploited for their jobs.”

Nur advises, “Rather than living without knowing well what your future holds, just enjoy the present, just make yourself happy while you still can. The ones who can still have desires for hobbies, enjoy your young adult days and enjoy the present.”