Ask HN: Does having a hobby make you more efficient at work?

[adamof]

Hey guys, I'm a college student and I had a little argument with a fellow student about the reason for procrastination. Procrastination, as in not doing your work during the day, but prolonging in till late nights and the weekend.

My theory is that the reason is, that we don't have a hobby, something that we want to do in our spare time and cause all our friends are stuck with coursework, we don't have motivation to finish our work when we are supposed to.

What do you think? Does your hobby help you get things done during the day?

[nicholas73]

You procrastinate because you have an unpleasant task that is not internally motivated. A part of you hopes it will go away, so you delay starting. Only when time is running out do you realize you need to get on it. The trick is to find something you would do on your own time.

IMO, a hobby merely helps you spend the time you would have wasted procrastinating.

You are at a golden age where you can choose any path. Don't procrastinate on that. One day you will have to spend all your waking hours working to pay the bills, and changing course then will be doubly hard.

Though, by all means find a hobby, because that teaches you more about what you'd like to do.

[ahulak]

I work at a startup in Santa Barbara and I will sometimes take an extra 30 minutes to an hour at lunch in order to make sure I get a good hour long surf session in. I would say my productivity is definitely higher both before and after the surf session. Not sure if it's to make up for lost time or I am actually getting more done because I am happier.. but it definitely doesn't hurt productivity.

[ankitml]

well.. My hobby is coding and my job is coding. Doesnt work for me.

[adamof]

Well, what about your side projects? I mean, if you have a side project, it is kind of a hobby, right?