Prioritizing What Brings Joy and Fulfillment

I've always been exploring all my life. I'm always trying to learn some new skill or get a new hobby, just for the fun of it. At the moment, I'm learning 3d modelling and animation.

Asides coding, I also design. It started out as a passion and then realised people actually need my skill and it kind of became a side gig thing. I work on a range of projects from prints and layout to branding and visual identities. I draw and paint too btw; I've dabbled in watercolors, tried my hand at some basic music production (others might have a different opinion on my "joyful melodies" though lol).

And the thing is: I actually enjoy all of it. Like, genuinely, sparks-of-creativity-flying kind of enjoy it. It got me thinking - what if the key to my purpose isn't locked away in some dusty corner of computer science, but lies at the intersection of code, design, and maybe even a melody or two?

Don't get me wrong, I still love coding. But my love for this artistic expression can't make me ignore the many possibilities.

The problem? There just aren't enough hours in the day. Between lectures, exams, work and personal projects, squeezing in time for these creative pursuits feels like trying to fit a square peg in a round algorithm.

So, the question becomes:

how do I make more time for the things that bring me the most joy and fulfillment?

Here are some ideas I'm brainstorming:

• The Time Audit: Maybe I'm a total black hole when it comes to time management. Time for a brutal honesty session with myself to see where those precious hours are disappearing.
• The Mini-Me Approach: Can I break down these creative endeavors into smaller, more manageable chunks? Maybe 15 minutes of painting in the morning or an hour of coding a new feature for my personal project on the weekends.
• The Relentless "No": Gotta be honest, sometimes I say "yes" a little too readily. Learning to prioritize and politely decline things that drain my energy might free up some much-needed creative space.

This is all a work in progress, of course. But hey, that's the beauty of the journey, right?