My interests and hobbies, while existing in a closed system, show no sign of slowing their rotations. They are essentially unchanged since adolescence, as evidenced by this very blog: reading, writing, and gaming. That’s really about it. Yes, I play music and cook and curate a passive interest in wellness and have other peripheral interests, but the majority of my leisure time is genuinely spent reading, writing, or playing games in some combination.

The consistency is as bizarre as it is comforting.

Yet I’ve often gone back and forth with my level of diligence in my hobbies. They are, naturally, hobbies and not work, even if I am incorporated. And be it with thanks to inattention or a natural curiosity, I am often undiligent in my hobbies. I bounce from one book to another, one game to the next without finishing the first, fiction to nonfiction, blog to book to game. Why not? If there is any field in which my attention can frolic it ought to be leisure time. Right?

I’ve been hounded by the idea for years now, however, that I could reach more enjoyment and excellence, even in my hobbies, were I more consistent. How many shmups have I bought and never finished, much less scored high with? How many books have I stepped away from before their time? How many genres or ideas have I only a cursory knowledge of because I bounced between so many?

Consistency, it would seem, demands scheduling and that’s hard to do. But I’ve resolved this year to give it a shot and have some wins to show for it already.

Thus far the plan has been to commit Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings to working actively on my next novel. I’ve teased it here. I’m quite excited about it and am probably 1/3 of the way through.

Tuesday and Thursday morning are committed to trudging along with the next Broken Cask game. The core loop is done as is the session outline and it’s ready to be iterated upon using random tables and playbook moves. I’m hoping to get some eyes on it this weekend. The rest of the time is spent adding to the (infinite) random tables for food, drink, and events.

So far it’s working quite nicely. I’m considering imposing such a structure on game time as well. This day for this game (or this server, as is the case with LOTRO) and committing to such-and-such game for such-and-such amount of time. It feels constrictive but I’d also like to experience more of the games I’m already dabbling with, so I may pull the trigger.

We shall see! Expect a full report as these things develop as I hope it may be helpful for other creators and hobbyists.