This morning while I ate breakfast, I watched a YouTube commentary video featuring someone’s take on the death of hobbies, particularly among Gen Z. She cited a lot of plausible reasons: cost, the fear of being seen wobbling through the early stages learning something new, and the lack of persistence people have in working through inevitable plateaus while learning a new hobby. And she went on to talk about how many of the “hobbies” people do have are dissociation or consumerism in disguise. (Think things like scrolling on a phone, adult coloring books, collecting Squishmallows, or blind boxes.)

I’m not Gen Z, so I can’t meaningfully speak to why more Gen Z’ers allegedly don’t have hobbies. But listening to that video made me realize something I’ve been chewing on for a while: the distinction between activities and hobbies matters, especially when you’re trying to understand your own relationship to both.

I genuinely think activities and hobbies are important things everyone should have in their lives. But they serve different functions.

Activities are for relaxing and winding down.

Activities are the what we do to relax and pass the time. The two most common examples today are likely scrolling on our phones or streaming shows on TV. But this also looks like playing card games, going on walks, doing puzzles, or something like those gem painting kits. Most of us can do our activities at the same time we do something else such as carry on a conversation, listen to music, or watch a TV show. They are also often easy to start & stop at random intervals and they’re usually consistent. One crossword puzzle isn’t fundamentally different than another crossword puzzle, for example.

Hobbies challenge us.

Hobbies, on the other hand, are the interests we actively engage with. Unlike activities, hobbies are genuinely progress-oriented. They are all about challenging ourselves as we learn new techniques, work on finishing projects, or reach new milestones. They require learning, decision-making and creativity. And – at their best – hobbies are a safe space to practice important life skills like patience, planning, and persistence. What can be considered a hobby is pretty limitless. It can be cooking, playing tennis, gardening, writing, learning to sew, etc. The challenge is that hobbies usually require forethought and planning, and they are more engrossing in the moment than most activities.

Now, one person’s “activity” can be someone else’s hobby (and vice-versa).  But at the heart of it,  hobbies require our active, long-term engagement in some way. And that small amount of engagement pays dividends that are a rich and wonderful thing to have in our life. 

What am I getting at?

I think I’ve known this distinction for a long time. But to be honest, I’m mostly writing this to remind myself of the need to have both activities and hobbies. Over the last couple of years, I have struggled so much to engage with any of my hobbies as I find myself binging on low-effort activities.  And I feel like the problem isn’t that I’m simply bored of my existing hobbies – because I also don’t feel the itch to try new ones, either.

This year I’ve also put a lot of work into cutting activities out of my life that feel like barriers to spending my time in the way I want to. To use a metaphor, if activities are the snack food of my time, I’m trying to eat fewer chips and choose celery sticks or an apple more often.  I’ve tried to spend less time scrolling on my phone, and more time reading, for example.  I am also hoping that by snacking a little less overall, I may find it easier to eat meals when I should. Which is to say, I’m hoping that being more mindful with my activities may help rekindle my desire to engage with my hobbies.

And I do think it’s working some; but man, the going is tough.  

Still, contemplating the distinction between these two is food for thought that may help me make room on my plate for more of what I want to be doing with my time.

(Okay, enough food puns…)