Whether you enjoy running, painting or writing, when we participate in a hobby that we love it makes our souls feel nourished; it’s a great stress reliever and helps with depression.

We know when we are truly in our zone, because we are so absorbed in our beloved pursuit that we have the ability to ignore distractions. We are surprised when we notice the time – hours have swept by unnoticed.

But in our ever-increasing hectic lives, how do we attempt to find the chance to pursue what we love doing?

Well, first, we have to stop considering the hobbies we like as a luxury. They’re not, they are essential for your mental wellbeing. We need to retrain our brains and grant ourselves permission to spend time on ourselves.

Next we need to get familiar with our weekly commitments, work or studying, so that we can see where we can allocate some time just for us. This is hard to do. I know. For me, I am juggling work, trying to find new clients, housekeeping, taking care of my dog, and car-sharing with my partner. So it’s very easy to think: “Stuff it, I can’t see how I’m going to fit this in!”

However, I am also mid-writing two books and a blog each week. For me, writing is my lifeblood.

How do I do this? It’s taken a lot of practice, but I’m now at the stage whereby I enjoy writing time, daily. Initially I looked at my weekly diary and found and marked out a valuable free hour. From there, I decided to keep my laptop on so that if I could jot a sentence or two down whilst cooking, then it was ready and waiting. When I don’t have my computer on, I keep a note book and scrawl my ideas down ready to type up when I’m able to.

Hopefully you can plan out some time to do what you love each week, and try to change your view so that you see your hobbies not as a luxury, but as a necessity.