Finding Time for Your Hobby When You’re Busy: One Bite at a time

Published July 20, 2026. Last updated July 20, 2026. By marlevelpainting.

Hey everyone! It’s been a while!

A brief update on my life will help explain why this article is so pertinent today. I’ve been working more hours at the hospital, my twins are entering high school and are very active in sports, I took a new position in the Army that requires a lot of time between Battle Assemblies, and I really enjoy spending time with my wife. With all of those irons in the fire, my hobby desk slowly became neglected.

The Hobby Desk I Started Avoiding

Every time I walked through my office, looking at my hobby desk felt overwhelming. It even made me wonder if I should get out of the hobby altogether. I didn’t paint anything for several months. I no longer had the time to lose myself in projects or spend an hour or two painting several days a week. Instead, when I had a little downtime, I found myself playing games on my PlayStation. I lost my motivation to sit down at the hobby desk. It all just felt too big. That feeling has a name — it’s an avoidance loop that trips up a lot of hobbyists, not just me.

I missed the sense of accomplishment that came from a good painting session, but I convinced myself that wasn’t an option anymore. What I really needed was a change in perspective.

The Video That Lit a Fire Under Me

Then I watched a YouTube video featuring a paint scheme for a Deathwing army that I eventually hope to build and play. It lit a fire under me. That night, I decided I was finally going to begin the journey.

The question was: how?

The same way you eat an elephant… one bite at a time.

The next evening, I spent about 20–30 minutes organizing my paints. I found the recommended colors, identified replacements from paints I already owned, and set everything aside on my desk. As a side note, it has taken me several years to build a large enough paint collection that I rarely have to buy new colors, especially since I keep everything sorted on a Plydolex modular paint rack (available here). That has saved me both time and money while removing another barrier to getting started. I also keep a wet palette on the desk so paint doesn’t dry out between short sessions.

After that, I was out of time for the night.

But I still felt accomplished. The next time I sat down, I wouldn’t have to think—I could simply start putting paint on plastic.

Breaking Ten Knights into Two Smaller Projects

I was painting two squads of Deathwing Knights—a total of ten models. I decided to build five with swords and five with maces. Breaking the project into smaller groups made that elephant feel much more manageable.

The next time I sat down, I painted the first base coat on the sword squad and called it a night. It took about 20 minutes. The following evening, I repeated the process with the mace squad. This time, it only took about 15 minutes because I had already figured out the techniques the night before. With the extra five minutes, I prepared for my next session. I moved the sword squad back to my workstation, tucked the mace squad into a small project tray, and laid out what I would need next.

Then I turned off the light.

The next few days were hectic, so I didn’t paint at all—and that was okay. I wasn’t waiting for hours of uninterrupted free time anymore. Instead, I looked for small opportunities — a quiet afternoon, while the kids watched TV before bed, or any other short break throughout the day. It’s the same idea behind most advice on how to make time for hobbies: work with the minutes you actually have.

My perspective had changed.

Learning to End a Session Well

I became intentional about where each painting session would begin and end. Removing barriers at the end of one session became an investment in the next one. For example, I would set out the next colors I planned to use or put finished models away while bringing the next ones to the front of the desk — the same logic behind keeping a notebook at the hobby desk. Those small tasks eliminated decisions that would otherwise slow me down the next time I sat down to paint.

In total, it took about one month—just over 17 hours from priming to the final coat of varnish—to paint ten Deathwing Knights to a high tabletop standard.

At first glance, that might sound like a long time. In reality, using this method to paint an entire 2,000-point army would indeed take quite a while.

But it was infinitely faster than painting nothing at all.

And that was the real problem I had been facing.

Where My Hobby Time Stands Now

After using this approach to time management for the past two or three months, my hobby time has become both more efficient and more enjoyable. I’m steadily working through projects and checking them off my list. More importantly, I’ve stayed motivated — and if you’re looking for other ways to stay motivated, that’s worth a look too, because when you’re motivated, the hobby becomes that much more enjoyable.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexander Foust is a loving husband, father of twins, and committed Emergency Room Nurse. Balancing his personal and professional life, he finds strength in his faith and enjoys fitness, miniature painting, and tabletop gaming. You can reach Alex who is open to miniature painting commissions via email ([email protected]) and his MARLevel Painting Facebook page.

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