The Power of Hobbies: Why Stepping Outside Your Craft Makes You Stronger Inside It

In a culture that constantly praises the grind, hobbies often get pushed to the background. Many professionals fill their schedules to the minute, convinced that time away from work is time wasted. But when you study the lives of high-performing people (the people at ‘the top’), you see the opposite. They make time to do things that have nothing to do with their careers, and somehow, those side pursuits sharpen how they show up in their work.

Warren Buffett is a prime example. One of the most analytical minds in finance also spends hours every week playing the ukulele. He doesn’t do it for an audience. It’s a quiet exercise in patience, rhythm, and presence. Those same qualities play directly into how he approaches decision-making in the markets.

Olympic champion Simone Biles has shared that dance helped her strengthen her coordination, creativity, and body awareness. The discipline of movement beyond gymnastics made her a more fluid, confident performer when it mattered most.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, used to tinker with amateur radio and gadgets for fun. That experimentation ended up shaping how he designed technology later on. Each of them pursued something outside their field, and in doing so, stretched how they thought and performed when they came back to it.

How Brewing Beer Became My Reset

For me, that outlet is brewing beer. Most people who know me professionally don’t realize I’m a home brewer. A few years ago, I used the remainder of my Veterans Affairs education benefits to attend the Brewing Science and Operations program at Saint Louis University. It was a full year completely outside of my usual world of leadership, psychology, and coaching.

After nearly a decade in school while serving Active Duty in the United States Air Force, I earned an associate’s degree in Information Systems Technology, a bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership, a master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and a doctorate in Human and Organizational Psychology. Yet, I wanted to study something different… something fun. Something that had no connection to my day-to-day work. I just wanted to learn for the sake of curiosity.

Brewing has been humbling and grounding. The entire program taught me something. It showed me how slow, deliberate, and the total attention to detail brewing requires. You can’t rush fermentation. You can’t eyeball ingredient ratios or guess the temperature of your mash. You follow the process, trust time, and stay patient. Brewing forces me to slow down, to focus on one variable at a time, and to appreciate how every step builds toward the final outcome.

Brew school even made me a better coach by helping clients in the Food & Beverage industry but understanding the “Front of the House” and “Back of the House” operations.

I’ve realized that brewing mirrors leadership in unexpected ways. There are times when the process feels uncertain or stagnant, but that doesn’t mean it’s failing. You just have to let things develop. In brewing, the yeast is working even when you can’t see it. In leadership, growth happens the same way—quietly, behind the scenes, as long as you create the right conditions.

What Science Says About Stepping Away

There’s solid evidence supporting why hobbies matter. Research shows that people who regularly engage in creative or structured hobbies outside of work perform better inside of it. They’re more adaptable, less stressed, and better at solving problems. Hobbies strengthen what psychologists call cognitive flexibility—the ability to see challenges from different angles and respond to change without losing focus.

In fact, a study from the University of San Francisco found that employees who pursued hobbies outside of work performed up to 30 percent better in their professional roles. The more mentally and physically engaged you are in your off time, the sharper your brain becomes when you return to your main craft.

Why Leaders Need Hobbies

Executives, entrepreneurs, and high performers often fall into the trap of thinking they don’t have time for hobbies. The irony is that the busier they are, the more they need one. When all your energy is poured into leading, managing, or building, you burn through focus and creativity without realizing it.

A good hobby gives you distance. That distance helps you return to your work sharper, calmer, and more capable of perspective.

Brewing gave me that space. When I’m brewing, I’m not “Dr. Evan Lynn, Organizational Psychologist.” I’m just a guy cleaning equipment, checking temperature readings, and waiting for the right aroma to tell me it’s time to move to the next step. It’s meditative. It’s repetitive. And it teaches patience—a skill that every leader could use more of.

Finding Your Outlet

The lesson isn’t that everyone needs to brew beer. It’s that every leader needs a place to disconnect from performance mode. It could be woodworking, painting, cycling, writing, or even restoring an old car. The key is to find something that demands your focus in a different way—something that reminds you what it’s like to be a beginner again.

If your job is full of structure and process, find a hobby that lets you create freely. If your work demands constant decisions, try something that allows you to follow instead of lead. If your day is spent on screens, choose something that reconnects you with your hands and your senses.

Hobbies keep you balanced. They remind you that curiosity doesn’t expire just because you’ve mastered your field. They help you see that discipline and creativity work best together. And most importantly, they teach you to slow down enough to notice the details that make the big picture work.

Sometimes, the most powerful lessons about leadership, focus, and patience don’t come from another book or podcast. They come from quiet moments—like watching a brew kettle slowly boil, knowing that time and care will turn the ingredients into something far greater than they started as.

So, whatever your version of a hobby, like brewing, might be, make time for it. Your work, your clarity, and your creativity will all be better for it.

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Author: Dr. Evan Lynn, Organizational and Leadership Development Professional (and homebrewer)