TL;DR: In this blog post, I write about how to engage with your hobbies on a deeper level, using my love for Films and TV as an example. I also share how I track the movies and shows I watch. Take a look at my ultimate watchlist.
Do you remember a moment when you were so obsessed with an interest that you tried gathering as much information about it, almost falling into a trance state of hyperfocus?
No matter the reason, we all go through periods of intense interest in a specific topic or activity.
At some point, we got used to this new hobby. Boredom kicked in as another shiny new interest gets our attention, so the brushes gather dust, the bookmark is left unmoved, and the links become irrelevant.
What was once your obsession becomes an unvisited section of your mental library.
But what if there was a way to give new life to that old obsession? What if you could fall in love all over again with your hobbies?
What I mean by “falling in love with your hobbies.”
Falling in love with your hobbies means engaging with the information you have about your interests and using it as an outlet for the expression of your true self.
It’s all about how we process the information we consume and interact with it.
Of course, this is only possible if you want the engagement. If you don’t feel like you MUST, this is not worth your time. Falling in love needs to be a meaningful and fulfilling process.
The good news is that you can rekindle your passion for hobbies anytime.
- Become aware of what keeps you captivated. Take a note about a hobby that you used to be passionate about. What made it so special?
- Develop your curiosity. Curiosity is the force that fuels your enthusiasm. It generates new questions and new answers. It makes you want to learn more about something. Take a note of the questions you have about that hobby. The thirst for knowledge is just an indicator of your curiosity.
- Take Action. That makes us fall in love with something; it happens when we experience it first-hand. Look at your notes, and set in motion the first step of fulfilling your curiosity.
For example, if you’re interested in learning about Artificial Intelligence, you might read books or watch videos on YouTube about it, and if you take it further, you might also start creating your own AI art or creating apps with GPT-3.
Keeping track of what I consume
I’m a massive fan of Films and TV.
When I was a child, my mom used to take us to the cinema every month. It was a treat for my brother and me. We used to watch all kinds of films, from cartoons to drama, from comedy to romance and many more genres that were available at that time. My first movie at the cinema was Lion King.
When the era of Blockbuster arrived, we rented a new movie every weekend; it was a ritual.
I’ve been tracking the movies I watch since 2011 when I decided to give myself the challenge to watch 100 films in a year. I had a notebook where I wrote down every single movie I watched and gave it a 5-star ranking.
I learned that I enjoy watching movies that make me think, opening my mind to new ideas. I get to improve my vocabulary. I feel part of the culture. The stories make life worth living.
When I got the chance, I bought the Moleskine Film Journal to keep an official record and filled the pages with my favourite movies. I did this for a few years until it became tedious and I got bored.
This year, I reignited my passion for cinema again, thanks to a Notion database that sparked it all.
How I track my Watchlist in Notion
Notion is one of my Second Brain tools to keep information about my hobbies.
Keeping notes of the movies and tv shows helps me remember what I’ve watched, what I’m watching and what I want to watch. It also allows me to give and gather recommendations from friends.
What I love the most is that I get to centralize quotes, trivia, images, and youtube clips from my absolute favourite ones.
I use the Notion Watchlist template, which adds a database to my workspace and automates much of the information capture, which gets updated constantly.
I’ve curated a list of hundreds of Movies and TV Shows.
If someone asks me for my favourite movie, I don’t have to squirm in cringe; I whip up my phone and browse through a sorted Notion database, so I don’t have to try to remember a movie from the hundreds I’ve seen.
With Notion, I can structure my obsessions in a way that lets me engage more deeply with the subject.
If you’re feeling like you want to rekindle your hobbies, try making a list and using Notion to track them. I bet you’ll fall in love with it soon.
Discover my ultimate must-watch list
