--- title: We’re Taking Hobbies Too Far description: We are confusing leisure with achievement, writes Meehika Barua. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/07/20/we-are-taking-hobbies-too-far/ author: Meehika Barua article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-07-20T10:00:04.424Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-20T10:00:08.120Z article:section: Ideas og:title: We’re Taking Hobbies Too Far og:description: We are confusing leisure with achievement, writes Meehika Barua. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/07/20/we-are-taking-hobbies-too-far/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f00c232bebfd197/6a51009dd2f3f90b38975399/hobbies-too-far.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3828 og:image:height: 2153 og:image:alt: hobbies-too-far.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: We’re Taking Hobbies Too Far twitter:description: We are confusing leisure with achievement, writes Meehika Barua. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f00c232bebfd197/6a51009dd2f3f90b38975399/hobbies-too-far.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEAS Time ideas # We’re Taking Hobbies Too Far > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Meehika Barua](https://time.com/author/meehika-barua/) ## Meehika Barua Meehika Barua is a freelance journalist who is currently working on her memoir on friendships and love. Jul 20, 2026 10:00 AM UTC  Mitch Diamond—Getty Images by [Meehika Barua](https://time.com/author/meehika-barua/) ## Meehika Barua Meehika Barua is a freelance journalist who is currently working on her memoir on friendships and love. Jul 20, 2026 10:00 AM UTC A few weeks ago, a [clip](https://www.tiktok.com/@openlight.media/video/7650709401828986126?is%5Ffrom%5Fwebapp=1&sender%5Fdevice=pc) from [Dominican Sisters Open Mic](https://podcast.openlightmedia.com/), a podcast featuring Catholic nuns, went viral. “Do you have a hobby, sister?” one nun asks the other. “I do not have a hobby,” the nun replied, noting that a “hobby, to me, feels like just something else to do.” That must be freeing. My hobbies have taken up my entire calendar. I started [skiing](https://time.com/7342230/women-solo-travel-independence-skiing/) last year, [run clubs](https://time.com/article/2026/05/10/running-clubs-are-a-horrible-place-to-date/) the year before, and along the way dabbled in dance classes, tennis, acting classes, archery, hiking, surfing, yoga, and bouldering. Before I knew it, I was optimizing my leisure time like my life depended on it. It also seemed like a status symbol because having multiple hobbies shows that you have the time, money, and energy to spend on them. If someone had said to me a year ago that they don’t have a hobby, I would have just assumed they were a sloth in human form. How can someone not have a single hobby? Now, I’m starting to question the need for hobbies. I recently returned from a group trip to Slovenia with an adventure company for a holiday that included hours of paddleboarding, hiking, and paragliding. It was a disaster. By the third day, I was taking multiple painkillers just to get through the itinerary. When I struggled during one particularly demanding hike, I asked for occasional breaks, only to be chastised by the local organizer for not embracing the experience enthusiastically enough. Why had I put myself through this experience? If I’m being honest, it wasn’t because I was excited about those specific activities; it was because I thought I should. We have turned hobbies from optional leisure activities into a marker of identity. Somewhere along the way, hobbies have become another thing to perform. We are confusing leisure with achievement. Hobbies are increasingly sold as a route to becoming a more interesting or successful person, rather than simply a way to spend free time. That mindset can leave people feeling guilty if they prefer quieter pursuits, or if they discover they don’t enjoy the hobby that everyone else seems to love. Hobbies were never supposed to become a chore. Bella Syme, founder of luxury travel company [ALS Private](https://www.alsprivate.com/), has seen first-hand how adventure activities have been woven into people’s identities, but she argues that their appeal comes from the opposite of performance. “Many of our guests have fast-paced lives and hold stressful jobs in city environments, and so we’re seeing that outdoor sports are actually a way in which they can escape their busy lives to take a break,” she says. Her clients want to do activities that they enjoy on their holidays, whether that be hiking, kite surfing, or skiing. “Our guests aren’t just going on holiday to sunbathe, eat and drink.” I wonder if the rise of wellness culture and social media creates this pressure to perform, even during holidays, making vacations another arena for showcasing one’s achievement. “What hobby makes me look like the most interesting version of myself?” is a question I have asked in the past after seeing my friends sign up for Hyrox or marathons. A 5K run club is where I draw the line; I refuse to feel guilty about not pushing my body to run 26.2 miles through London just so that I can look impressive. This pressure isn’t just limited to extreme adventure or holidays. It reflects a wider shift in how we approach movement and leisure altogether. Pauline Alonso, Employee Benefits Expert at [Hussle](https://www.hussle.com/), a fitness platform, says that exercise is increasingly being positioned as a tool for self-improvement rather than something people do for enjoyment. “It’s no longer just about weight or aesthetics; the conversation has shifted to include mental health, longevity, workplace wellbeing and burnout, bone density, metabolic age,” she said. The rise of [wearable health trackers](https://time.com/collections/future-of-living/7341843/health-metrics-tracking-live-longer/) has accelerated this mindset. Tracking your health excessively has become a hobby, too, turning everyday movement into something that needs to be continuously monitored and improved. I think about what a conversation would look like if the nun without any hobbies sat down with my friends who have sustained injuries from their many pursuits. It would be a stark contrast to see a nun who doesn’t measure her worth by trying to squeeze another achievement into her weekends next to my friends who are obsessed with posting their miles on Strava. Thanks to the nuns, I have decided I don’t need another hobby to justify my free time. It’s liberating to just be. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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