In a hectic life filled with work commitments, household chores and socializing with family and friends, it is important that you also make time to pursue hobbies that are personal to you. Hobbies are an important way to stay connected to your own interests and relax and unwind after work. They are also a good way to keep your mind mentally active and to learn and develop new skills that could prove useful further down the line. If you would like to use your free time to learn new skills, here are three hobbies that will help you to up-skill yourself.
1. Learn a new language
Learning a new language is always a useful string to add to your bow, and there are many reasons why you might want to learn. You might interact with a lot of native Spanish speakers in your job, for instance, or be planning your dream trip backpacking around Vietnam. Or, you might simply be an aficionado of manga and anime and want to enjoy these in their original Japanese. Some phone apps are a great way to get you kickstarted on your language learning journey. As you progress, however, you might like to consolidate your learning with one-to-one lessons or conversation exchanges with a native speaker of the language you are learning.
2. Sewing
Sewing is a very useful hobby to have and opens up new worlds of possibilities to you. As well as learning practical hand sewing techniques and how to use a sewing machine, you can express yourself creatively through your makes. Start with small sewing projects to practice and perfect your skills; face masks in a range of fun fabrics are a great first sewing project that you and your family will get a lot of use out of. As you become more confident in your sewing, you might want to jump into a larger project, like designing and sewing your first quilt or sewing the dress of your dreams. Check out reallymaria.com for a well-stocked and trusted haberdashery where you can find all of your sewing supplies.
3. Cooking
Cooking is something that you do every day; however, when you are busy with work and family commitments, it is all too easy to neglect your cooking and instead fall back on preparing the same rota of basic dishes. Why not challenge yourself to develop your culinary skills and try out a new recipe at least once a week? As your skills improve, you might learn increasingly more complicated techniques and recipes, and could even set yourself the challenge of cooking an entire restaurant-quality dinner party for your family and friends, or be in charge of Thanksgiving dinner this year. Cooking is also a great way to travel without the air miles: find a country’s authentic recipes online to recreate in your own kitchen.
These are just some of the skills that you can learn in your spare time; try a few different hobbies out until you find something that you love.
