So Many Interests

So much I want to do, so little time to do it...

I have a lot of interests  

There are so many things that I want to do and learn, but I never seem to stay focused on many of them.

Here’s what my list of interests looks like at the moment (in no particular order):

• Cyber Security (also my career)
• Making YouTube videos
• Playing D&D
• Creating content for D&D
• Graphic design
• Learning cinematography
• Video editing
• Self-improvement
• Running my own business
• Fantasy writing
• RF stuff (amateur radio, aircraft tracking, satellite communications)

And all of that needs to be while I still work full time (for now) so I can continue paying for things like food and shelter and all the rest of the crap I spend money on. Yes, some of those can be combined into the same type of path, like general content creation and YouTube videos, but some others are standing out on their own and require a pretty substantial amount of my already limited time.

So what do I focus on? What will actually hold my interest for more than a couple of weeks before I either just stop doing it or am unhappy with my progress?

D&D is definitely one that I’m sticking with. I’ve been DMing games for over two years now and still love every minute of it. Couple that with writing new content for those games, and preparing for the sessions that I run - and that eats up a lot of time. For each hour of game that I run, it usually takes another hour or two to prepare.

But I also am starting to work on YouTube content for D&D as well. Not just recordings of game sessions (those don’t take much time at all), but original content as well. I have a whole list of video ideas that I want to do, and have already started writing the content for a lot of them - but again, that takes a pretty substantial amount of time. And then I’ll have to get those videos recorded and edited, neither of those are very quick activities either.

Oh, and also, I want to learn more about video production and cinematography (takes me like 30 seconds to spell that word) so I can make those videos even better as I make more of them.

AND I still have to focus on my career. Cyber security is an ever-evolving field, and if I don’t stay current on the newest threats and vulnerabilities, I’m going to start falling behind and not be as effective as I need to be at my job. And that’s what pays the bills (at least for now).

So, all of the things I have that I want to do and learn, but only in the hours that I’m not working or sleeping. That doesn’t leave a lot of time left in the day for those things, but that doesn’t stop me from doing them anyway!

I guess the point I’m trying to get across here is that if you want to do something, just go for it! Figure out how important a specific activity is to you. How happy does it make you? Do you find yourself smiling and/or laughing often while doing it? Do you think about it all the time? If any of these are a yes, then you should probably be doing more of these activities. That’s what I’m doing! Maybe don’t try all of them at the same time though. Focus on one, or a group of things that are very closely related, and go for that.

Turn out this post was more just me ranting and venting than anything really constructive, but there’s nothing wrong with that!

So thanks for reading, and if you’re curious about any of the D&D stuff I mentioned, check the links to the right over there to see more.