How to not abandon a new hobby as someone with ADHD
Starting a project and then realizing that it’s much harder than you thought it would be, that you need to get down the basics first and be a beginner, is the hardest thing ever for me for some reason.
I hate looking up inspiration for a sewing project and then seeing all of those items made by people who aren’t beginners, and that results in me losing motivation. I go “What’s the point in spending time on this project? It’s gonna turn out bad anyway because man I don’t have the experience…. Wack”.
Butttt we can work with this:
How to not abandon a new hobby as someone with ADHD
If you can let go of perfectionism, make ugly things on purpose. Make those projects bad on purpose. So that when what you created is bad, it’s not because you’re a beginner, but because you WANTED it to be shitty,, that was the GOAL.
If you CAN’T let go of perfectionism, do parts of the project perfectly,, E.g. instead of making the perfect song start to finish, try to make the perfect bass line first or write the perfect chorus or the perfect bridge. Same thing with idk making clothes; don’t make the perfect westwood-esque corset or the sickest pants, instead aim for the perfect color match of your fabric or aim for sewing the perfect clean finish etc…
Let inspiration come and go in waves without trying to desperately hold on to it. If you get sick of a project after working on it for 3h it’s probably just a dopamine dip,, doesn’t mean you won’t come back to it again someday or that this hobby isn’t for you
You losing interest in something isn’t a sign of failure, so don’t go “damn I started something and wasn’t able to stick with it, AGAIN, it’s hopeless”, just accept the fact that it’s neurobiology and have a journal or a google doc to keep track of all the things you DID try out. That is an accomplishment in itself; having the courage to be a beginner in something and stepping out of your comfort zone to try this new thing. That’s truly a gift and trying new things makes you more likely to find YOUR thing. Or maybe doing tons of stuff imperfectly is “your thing”? Doesn’t matter if it’s not a classic hobby; you’re having fun and novelty
Make an account where you can show your progress;; I made a video on TikTok showing a dress that I wanted to upcycle and the video ended with me just showing the dress in safety pins, as in, how it’s supposed to look once I finish the sewing part. Did I finish it? Well no, I lost interest. But the trying, the thrill of starting a new project and documenting the progress was enough for me that day. Whether I’ll actually finish it is up to me (or up to my brain). I could pressure myself into setting deadlines, but that would kill the purpose of a hobby. It’s not your job; it’s supposed to be fun???
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