Free Time, Free Time, O' Where Art Thou Free Time?

[Tawmis]

In all honesty, it's not so much free time being an issue - as to me having entirely too many interests and projects. Between the (several!) websites I cycle through that I randomly focus on, the two podcasts I do, the mountain of comics I read, the writing I do... It's no wonder, that gaming - in general, has sadly fallen to the way side.

For example... I have Moebius... but haven't played probably more than 10 minutes of it... I have Gray Matter, and played about 30 minutes of that... I have the Gold Rush remake and played 30 minutes of that... (and here I am still waiting for Hero-U and SpaceVenture)... I did manage to finish the Leisure Suit Larry HD - but that, while an okay game - was mostly done so I could put it on the LarryLaffer.net site... Even played Dragonsphere (which I played quite a bit, until I got stuck, and never went back to it!)... Even tried to "force" myself to play by doing a "Let's Play" type thing beginning with King's Quest games...

So how do you do it? How do you manage all your hobbies and still squeeze in gaming time?

[el_pombo]

I have the same problem and I made some changes in my life during the past year to deal with that situation.

I was working as a computer programmer at HP but was always fiddling around with my small projects, building gadgets and creating my own software projects which left almost no room for anything else. I remember staying up 'till late in the night playing (or re-playing) GK3 in the summer of '14 and waking up totally wasted the next morning to go running and then to work. What's worse is that I almost always brought work home and things were becoming unmanageable.

At the start of last year I quit my job, developed and filed a patent for one of my gadgets and I'm starting a company along with my former boss around that product.

It's no walk in the park, but by converting by hobbies into a business I was able to find some more time for my other hobbies, like adventure gaming and long distance running. I'm even playing guitar again, after years of it collecting dust in the attic.

I'm about to start playing Monkey Island for the first time since 1996, at the time I left the game unfinished because there was a file missing and the game would crash (with no internet in those days, it was very frustrating)!

This all might fail, but it's worth the risk!

Like the man said, It's better to burn out than to fade away!

[el_pombo]

When you have the time you should play Moebius! That game surely deserved a sequel, but it will never happen!

[BBP]

Wow we have a lot of musicians out here! If I didn't have such bad experiences with the Zappa Forum band I'd suggest we'd do one here!

I'm a composer but it's next to impossible to make money with that in the current market, so I'm looking for something else... some people have expressed their admiration for me doing what I wanted but at the moment I'm really cursing at myself for that decision. I would've loved to support Pinkerton Road but I don't have the money to spare...

[el_pombo]

Wow we have a lot of musicians out here! If I didn't have such bad experiences with the Zappa Forum band I'd suggest we'd do one here!

I'm a composer but it's next to impossible to make money with that in the current market, so I'm looking for something else... some people have expressed their admiration for me doing what I wanted but at the moment I'm really cursing at myself for that decision. I would've loved to support Pinkerton Road but I don't have the money to spare...

I think it's great that you do what you love to do even if, sometimes, it brings you financial and/or emotional problems due to the unfair way society is organized! There's not a lot of people who have the heart to do what you're doing, by following the path that makes more sense in your heart and assume the risks instead of just yielding to expectations and pressures society exerts upon you.

Even if, temporarily, the context dictates that you have to find a less enjoyable way to earn a living, I see it just as a necessary and transitory strategy to achieve your ultimate goal!

Do you have your work online? I'd surely like to hear it! I can hardly call myself a musician, I'm probably the worst guitar player in the world, but at least I can hear and enjoy the work of talented people.

[Rath Darkblade]

I'm hardly a musician, but I have been making some contribution to the musical world (in my own small way) by being a chorister with a local professional choir. (In fact, we're doing a concert tomorrow with our city's premier symphonic orchestra - the MSO, or Melbourne Symphony Orchestra). Wish me luck... I probably should be sleeping right now rather than be online. But the online lure beckons, alas! So I'll just make do with less sleep.

I know what you mean, Tawm. I've been writing - short stories, long stories, poetry, haiku, whatever - for a looong time, and I've been promising myself to get to grips with that for a while. I should probably cut down on my gaming and do some work on my latest short. I've been procrastinating lately - the curse of the writer! - but that's mostly because I've been suffering from writer's block. So, instead of gaming or writing, I've been reading a history of Rome's conquest of Macedon and Greece.

I keep telling myself that it's research.

*looks around guiltily*

Well, it is!





...mostly.

[Tawmis]

I know what you mean, Tawm. I've been writing - short stories, long stories, poetry, haiku, whatever - for a looong time, and I've been promising myself to get to grips with that for a while. I should probably cut down on my gaming and do some work on my latest short. I've been procrastinating lately - the curse of the writer! - but that's mostly because I've been suffering from writer's block.

Yes! I literally have a children's book (something I've never attempted before), that I have been "dabbling" into for over 5 years now... 5 years... and I am barely like 60 pages in, because I keep slacking...

I do need to cut down on having so many hobbies. So I can hone my focus better.

[Collector]

I have never understood the people that don't know what to do with themselves when they retire. Even without working I would still run out of time for everything.

[Tawmis]

I have never understood the people that don't know what to do with themselves when they retire. Even without working I would still run out of time for everything.

Agreed. As evidenced on weekends...

[audiodane]

I have never understood the people that don't know what to do with themselves when they retire. Even without working I would still run out of time for everything.

+1