How to Be Consistent with Hobbies (Even If You Love Starting New Ones)
How to Be Consistent with Hobbies (Even If You Love Starting New Ones)
Why You Stopped That Hobby—and What to Do About It
Have you ever gone all-in on a hobby—bought the painting supplies, yarn, Cricut machine, committed to working on your new craft every day, fully committed to becoming an artist—only to drop within a few weeks? If so, you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not inconsistent. You're probably just someone with a brain that thrives on novelty, and that’s okay.
Let’s talk about why hobbies change, how to reconnect with hobbies you've lost touch with, and how to release the guilt when your passion fades. Because consistency with hobbies doesn’t have to look like doing the same thing forever.
Why Hobbies Naturally Change
Hobbies aren’t jobs. You don’t need to master them, monetize them, or stick with them forever.
For many people with ADHD, novelty and dopamine go hand in hand. A new hobby lights up your brains… until it doesn’t. And when that dopamine fades, so does the motivation. That’s not failure—it’s the natural cycle of interest and attention.
I once had a client say, “My hobby is having hobbies,” and honestly? That’s an ADHD-friendly approach that more people should embrace. Whether you’re bedazzling one week, crocheting the next, or diving into beginner calligraphy, bouncing around isn’t a problem, it’s a pattern. A very normal one.
Side note: having any hobby as an adult is impressive!
The Guilt Spiral When You Stop
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why did I stop that hobby I loved?”—that question can quickly spiral into shame with thoughts like:
“Why can’t I just stick with anything?”
“Other people finish what they start—why can’t I?”
“I wasted so much money on supplies I never used.”
“This is just another example of how I can’t follow through.”
Shame becomes avoidance. And before you know it, you’re not only not doing the thing, you’re also avoiding even thinking about it.
Here’s the thing: routines shift. Seasons change. Life happens. And so do your energy levels, access, and priorities.
For example, l’ve been avidly reading for over a year- about a book a week. But for the past two months, I haven’t read a single page. It’s not because I’m failing or not a reader anymore—it’s because I’m in a new season of life, with a different schedule and different energy.
I used to read in the early, cozy mornings during winter. But now it’s lighter earlier, I’m in a new home, and that routine no longer fits. That’s not a problem. It’s just… different. I was curious instead of critical with myself when reflecting on this change. I still want to read and I will get back into reading, it’s just going to look different.
So if you’re stuck in that hobby burnout guilt loop, zoom out. You don’t need to feel bad about yourself. What’s changed in your environment, your season, your life? How might this routine look different?
How to Reconnect with Something You Love
If you’re hoping to reconnect with hobbies that once brought you joy, here’s a low-pressure coaching framework I use:
Reflect:What did you love about this hobby? What need did it meet—creativity, connection, relaxation?
Redefine:What would this hobby look like now, in your current season of life?
Remove pressure:No “catching up.” No rigid schedule. Just a curiosity check-in.
Re-entry ramp:Pick the lowest-friction version. Instead of saying “I need to play piano every day,” try “I’ll sit down and play for 5 minutes after work.” Or “I’ll bring a book to the beach” instead of “I’ll finish a book a week.”
Small, simple, and zero shame. It’s all about joy.
When It’s Time to Let Go
Maybe you don’t want to return to the hobby. That’s okay, too.
Letting go of hobbies doesn’t mean you’re lazy or lost your spark. You’re allowed to evolve, and so are your interests.
You’re still creative. Still passionate. Still someone who brings energy and curiosity into the world. Even if you’re no longer “doing the thing.”
You don’t have to get back into something to prove anything. Hobbies should support your joy—not become another box to check.
Strategy Roundup: Your Takeaways
You’re allowed to change. Let your hobbies evolve with you.
Bouncing between interests? That’s a form of consistency, too.
Don’t let shame steal your fun—reflect and be curious.
If you want to go back to something, build a no-pressure on-ramp.
If you’re ready to move on, release it with full acceptance.
Next Steps
What’s a hobby you’ve let go of? Do you want to reconnect with your hobby—or lovingly release it?
And if you’re figuring out how to make time for the fun stuff again—whether it’s creative projects, rest, or joyful routines—these are the conversations I love having with my executive function coaching clients.
Because consistency with hobbies doesn’t have to mean forever. It just means creating space for joy, in whatever form it takes right now.
Curious about executive function coaching?
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Sarah Lovell (00:02.488)
Have you ever discovered a hobby and decided that you are destined to be that person, the person who does that hobby? So you buy all the supplies, paint, yarn, fancy label maker, maybe even a cricket. And then three weeks later, it's all collecting dust in a corner. If you've ever gone all in on a hobby, loved it, and then abandoned it just as quickly,
This episode is for you. Today we're talking about what it means to be consistent with joy and how your relationship with hobbies is allowed to change over time. You're not flaky. You're not lazy. You're not inconsistent. You are a curious, creative human with a brain that loves novelty. And that's not something to fix. It's something to understand, accept, and embrace. So today we're talking about how to
how to reflect, reconnect, or lovingly let go of hobbies without shame.
Sarah Lovell (01:12.396)
Ahem.
Sarah Lovell (01:18.914)
Well, I have been consistent about talking about being consistent. This is the third episode I've done on kind of this topic of consistency, what it means to be consistent. And to be honest, I was not planning on continuing down this path or even recording this episode this week, but I've heard from a lot of you that this topic has really resonated. And so if you haven't already listened to
The last two episodes, episode 35 is all about what it means to redefine the word consistent and to change how you think about being consistent. Episode 36 was what to do when your system stopped working for you, like planning, organizing, prioritizing, know, the to-do list, calendars, those types of things, and how to change them up. And so today, as a little bit more playful, a little bit more fun, we're not that those things aren't.
Obviously, I nerd out over those things. I find those things fun. But today we're talking about literal fun, literal joy. And we're talking about what to do when something you love doing or enjoy doing that you want to do, that you want to do, like a hobby, how to reconnect with it if it falls off. And so it isn't about being consistent with the hobby.
It's about being consistent with joy. You're allowed to change things up. You're allowed to stop something and come back to it or stop and never return. Your interests ebb and flow for lots of reasons. One, dopamine. We're gonna talk about that obviously. But also you change, situations change. And so that's before we even jump in today talking about being consistent with hobbies or interests.
I know sometimes I'm like a little clickbaity with my titles, but you don't need to be consistent with your hobbies. That is not the point of this episode. But I think that's oftentimes what people are searching for is how to be consistent. And so like I talked about in the last couple of episodes, it's about changing your definition of what it means to be consistent, if that resonates with you. And to say it's about coming back.
Sarah Lovell (03:43.586)
to the thing or it's about letting go and being okay with that.
Sarah Lovell (03:52.856)
So.
Hobbies aren't necessarily meant to last forever. If you're somebody that your brain wants novelty, this can be a natural life cycle of finding something new and exciting, going all in on it, buying the supplies, signing up for classes, joining a team, whatever it is, being in love with the thing, and even maybe creating an identity around it, like, I'm somebody who does this, right?
And that is really exciting, that honeymoon period, that novelty period. But then it can be the natural life cycle of the novelty wears off, your brain is looking for something new and different, and you jump to the next thing. And for some people, this can create shame and guilt, like I can't stick to anything, I'm inconsistent, right? So there can be that shame, guilt, and maybe even avoidance of...
If you want to reconnect with it, you're like, well, I've already given it up. I can't go back. Right. and so I think it's really about shifting how you think about this. If you're somebody that jumps from hobby to hobby, or you get really excited about something and then the next day, poof, that excitement is gone. So I had a client describe it one time as my hobby is having hobbies. And that was something that she embraced for herself.
So she was not consistent with, you know, she was not crocheting every night or every week. She was not playing tennis every single weekend. She was bouncing between all of these hobbies. I only listed two. She had, she has lots of hobbies. But that was originally something that created a lot of shame for her of like, you know, when people are like, oh, what are your hobbies? And she's like, well, I have 47 or none, depending on what day it is.
Sarah Lovell (05:52.728)
So she shifted that mindset. Her hobby is having hobbies and she lets herself bounce between creative projects, trying new crafts, learning new things, joining different sports teams, right? Buying supplies and then knowing that this is part of the life cycle where she's like, okay, I did this bedazzling project for a week and a half and maybe I'll never pick it up again. And so she joined a creative space where they swap.
materials. So it's like she doesn't feel like it's just sitting collecting dust. But even if it's sitting and collecting dust, that is okay. It's okay if your hobby is having hobbies. Honestly, having any hobby as an adult is impressive. I one time had an old coworker ask me when I first started a job, like, what do do for fun? What are your hobbies?
And at the time, work was my hobby. Like I was working a nine to five and then growing this business in the evening. And I will save that story for another episode for my fellow entrepreneurs who want to, who want to talk about work, the work, work balance. But this has been something that I've been exploring more as I've wanted to create more space from myself and my business that I do need hobbies. I do need things that I enjoy and that I do for me.
And so recently in past episodes, I've talked about reading and reconnecting with reading as something that I do for fun. And last year I read 52 books. I was pretty consistent with my reading. I loved like exploring new books, new genres. was pretty, I was like very consistent with reading. And then all of a sudden in the past couple of months, I have stopped reading.
And first it was like, oh, just like I was in between books, like if you ever fall into a book wall. But then I realized it was something bigger and that I was in this big life transition. I was in the process of moving. I had lots of change happening. And at the same time, it was a literal season change. You know how we talked about seasons of life? Well, my season of life was I was moving. And then there was a season change from
Sarah Lovell (08:19.68)
winter to spring. And so I basically stopped, I haven't read a book in, I think it's like, we're going on almost two months. And initially there was this window of opportunity for me to be like, my gosh, know, blame, guilt, right? But I coached myself the same way I coach clients. Like sometimes people ask me like, do you coach yourself? Yes, I coach myself.
And so I did some reflecting and I was curious instead of judgmental of the situation. And I realized one, I was having a schedule change with work and with the move, giant life transition. And the season change really impacted my schedule. So I used to read before work. I would read for like five to 30 minutes when it was dark out and it was very cozy. I get up very early because of the dogs. They're up at five 30.
But now it's brighter earlier and I don't feel the need to have a cozy book morning. And so that is a change that I'm like, okay, I can change how I'm doing this. And I can give myself permission that right now I'm not picking up books in the same way. I don't need to pace things. It's not a number goal. And so this is a mini, mini coaching framework that you can take is
looking at the hobby that you have enjoyed and noticing what do you enjoy about the hobby and maybe looking at is there a way to redefine what that looks like for you? Can you change the hobby to fit what is currently going on in your life? And if not, it's okay. It's okay to pause. It's okay to stop. And the other thing, the third piece of this is removing the pressure.
So giving yourself a light, easy lift to get back into it if that's the path that you want to go on. Because the other thing is sometimes you want to give yourself full permission to release a hobby that you love without guilt. So you're still a creative person, you're still a passionate person, you're still someone who, you know, learns new things, does new things, right? Even if you're not.
Sarah Lovell (10:45.358)
doing the thing, the hobby that you were so, you know, engrossed in or obsessed with, or, you know, it started building your life around it. So you don't need to get back into a hobby to prove anything. It's all about, does this bring you joy? I think that's like the Marie Kondo quote for tidying, but does it bring you joy? And if so,
How do you want to reconnect with it? Or can you give yourself permission to let it go? And that's okay, because we don't want this to become another box for you to check. Because if you're like, I should get back into, pick a random hobby, bird watching or playing piano or signing up for a pickleball league, whatever it is, if you put a should on it,
immediately. Red flag, red flag, right? If you put a should on anything, your brain is going to put up a wall. And so it can be a gentle check in of like, hmm, I haven't sat down to play piano in a while. I wonder what that's about. Or what am I doing instead? Maybe you've done this natural pivot to another hobby or activity that's meeting that need or meeting a different need. Or if you've noticed, I'm not
crocheting at night anymore, but I am a doom-scrolling hard. Maybe there's an opportunity there to be like, okay, clearly I'm not in the mood to crochet. Doom-scrolling does not feel good. I don't want to do that to this level. I'm not shaming you for using your phone at all. But if you're like, I'm stuck in my phone and I want to get out, what is something else that you could pivot to? And again, giving yourself that permission to change or to try a new hobby.
or to go back to something else, takes that pressure off and makes it easier to do whatever it is that's going to bring you joy, bring you relaxation, give you dopamine, boost your mood, boost your adrenaline, relax, whatever it is that your brain is looking for. Because your hobbies are allowed to evolve and change with you, with the circumstances, and based on dopamine. So you're allowed to bounce around if that's what feels good.
Sarah Lovell (13:08.706)
because that is a form of consistency too. Bouncing around, you're someone who consistently bounces between hobbies. So don't let like shame or guilt or shoulds steal your fun, because that is the opposite point of having hobbies. So definitely take the pressure off, give yourself a lighter lift if returning to the hobby is something that you want to do.
or give yourself permission to move on. So this was a short little episode today, but just as a closing reflection for you, if you have a hobby that you've let go of, do this check-in with yourself. Do you want to return to it or do you want to release it and move on to something new and different? And there's no right or wrong answer.
If you're figuring out how to make time for the fun stuff again, if you're trying to figure out how self care fits in, if you're trying to prioritize these things in your schedule, these are the things that I talk about with clients and stuck to started my coaching membership all the time. think sometimes people think that coaching is just for the quote unquote productive stuff or organizing stuff. Self care and hobbies require executive functioning to do the thing.
And then by doing the thing, whatever the hobby is or your interest or your passion, that then supports your executive functioning for all of the other things that you need to do because you have a solid foundation of self care. You're doing things that boost your mood, boost your confidence, and then it truly does become a more accessible way to create space in your brain.
to plan, prioritize, organize, and do the things that you need to do. So I'm all about prioritizing fun, prioritizing self-care, and prioritizing your hobbies and your passions in a way that fits for you and your brain. So thank you for being here today on this quick little episode about hobbies and passions. If this episode connected with you, let me know. Reach out to me on Instagram or send me an email.
Sarah Lovell (15:30.518)
If there are topics that you would like me to cover on future episodes or if you have questions about things, please reach out. I would love to connect.
and all the links are in the show notes. Thank you so much. Have a good day. Have fun with your hobbies this week.
