Healthy Hobbies to Help You Survive Law School

When law students begin their schooling, the first semester can often be incredibly daunting. One of the most difficult aspects is time management. Every professor assigns a workload without regard for the fact that you have other classes. This means that free time is as elusive as it is tangible.

However, you know that there are fleeting moments of free time, like while winding down for bed, or between classes, or when you finish getting ready 15 minutes early in the morning (cause you ran out of soap and couldn't shower). Every now and again, you might even be able to find a whole hour, or maybe a few consecutive hours, of free time.

When that happens, you might be wondering whether you should pick up an old hobby, or maybe a new one. Below, you'll find a shortlist of five different constructive and healthy hobbies that'll help you relieve stress during law school.

1. Exercise

For some people, hitting the gym, running on the treadmill, and doing some weights, is fun. Good for them. If you don't like exercising, try to get a group together regularly to play a sport, or do some other active activity, like walking through the park, dancing, or even paintball. Making your exercise a social activity will help to keep you accountable as well as help you maintain some semblance of a social life.

2. Cooking

You absolutely must eat if you plan to live through law school. If you know how to cook already, challenge yourself to get better. Make cooking a passion. Practice usually tastes pretty good. If you don't know how to cook, Youtube and the internet can teach you. It's easy. Cooking is really just science you can eat.

3. Get Back to Nature

Gardening, even it is a simple window planter box, can be a wonderful hobby. Gardening is a rather low commitment hobby, particularly if you select robust plants that can withstand a week or more without watering. If you don't have any interest in getting a green thumb, you can try to make regular stops at a park to get some nature time. If you drive to school, or take transit, check to see if a short detour might put a park on your route home.

4. Magic: the Gathering / Social Gaming

Getting a group of friends together to play board and strategy games is a fantastic hobby for law students. Rules intensive games, like Magic: the Gathering, are filled with problem solving, strategy, logical thinking, and variance, which will exercise your brain without the pain of reading dense casebooks.

If you don't have a good group of friends to game with, you can check out your local game store (LGS) to see when they hold game nights. If you've never been to a game night, don't worry, most LGSs are very welcoming places. You might be surprised by the fact that many game stores that host evening game nights are overrun by adults that love in person, social gaming.

5. Brewing Beer

While drinking too much beer is not healthy, there's nothing wrong with having a drink every now and again while you're in school (well maybe not on campus, unless it's a school social event that's serving). In fact, brewing your own beer is rewarding, fun, and challenging. It also does not require much space, or much of a time commitment.

Related Resources:

• 5 Hobbies Ruined By Law School: Why you Should Remember Them (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• 5 Hobbies for Lawyers to Take Up in the New Year (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Must-Have Credentials for Your Law Career (FindLaw's Strategist)