The ADHD money diaries: New hobby obsessions

We know that living with ADHD can mean we have poor impulse control, and this can impact our financial lives.

Nobody seems to talk about our ability to become totally obsessed with a 'new hobby' and how it can almost bankrupt us, before realising it's actually a 'meh' hobby and forgetting about it.

I've finally found what i've been looking for

At the core we are craving dopamine all the time, but we also crave something that will finally keep our attention for longer than a week.

Getting a new hobby can seem a logical way of creating an environment that will keep us focussed on something for the long term.

So we see a person posting on social media about a new astrophotography hobby and how inspiring it is.

Queue a week long deep dive into research, followed by dropping £10k on the most expensive equipment available.

Three weeks later it's gathering dust in the garage.

What the hell happened?

Maybe dip the pinky before diving in

I've done this loads of times in my life.

I once got really into one tournament of darts, and convinced myself that I was gonna be the next World Champion. I bought all the equipment, including dart board set up.

It lasted about a week and I can't remember the last time I threw a dart.

You know what would have been better?

Booking a board at some Sports Bar for £5 an hour to see if I was actually going to stick at it.

Find the cheapest possible 'hobby tester'

Next time you get hyper-fixated on a new shiny hobby that is the answer to your focus prayers.

Ask yourself "what is the cheapest way of testing this out?"

Odds are even asking yourself this question will deflate the idea because you don't get the dopamine hit of buying the stuff needed for the hobby.

This way you know you never truly cared in the first place.