This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Welcome to a brand new month. Excited to welcome you back to Side Hustle School. First of July, episode 2,373. Today we're gonna talk about a situation many of our listeners might find familiar. I really enjoyed working on this episode.
The situation is trying to squeeze a passion project into those precious hours outside the nine to five. And of course, you might work different hours, but the situation is sometimes you end up doing some of the side hustle tasks during the nine to five, or whatever your work hours might be. That is the situation that our listener, Natalie, is in. It kind of reveals an internal struggle that a lot of side hustlers grapple with, especially as they're getting started. But then also as your side hustle starts to take off, like sometimes your side hustle is taking off at the same time the interest in your day job is diverging, declining.
So let's dive into her question, unpack this tricky issue, at least attempt to answer the question, should I feel bad about side hustling at work? How do we feel about it? Do we feel bad? Do we feel good? Do we feel somewhere in between Natalie's question and my answer coming up in just 30 seconds.
[Music]
Hey, this is Natalie from Sacramento. For a while now, I've been moonlighting as a freelance graphic designer while holding down a full-time job in a completely different field. I find myself sometimes working on my design projects during my regular job hours. Honestly, I'm feeling a bit guilty about it, even though it doesn't affect my job performance and I always meet my deadlines. But at the same time, this side hustle is something I'm passionate about and it's been offering me a creative outlet that my job doesn't, I'm torn.
Should I feel bad about side hustling during work hours or is this something more common than I imagine? [Music]
Okay, a lot of stuff we could say here, right? From different perspectives. Natalie, thank you for the question and good work on pursuing your side hustle. I think it's normal to have mixed feelings about this.
I think someone could answer the question and say, you should never do this, right? You should never be mixing your side hustle with your day job. I guess I just think, here's a different perspective. Side hustles have become a mainstay in today's economy and for good reason. And do you ever do something for your work after hours?
Do you work the kind of job that is clock in, clock out? If so, maybe that's one thing, but a lot of us, we have different responsibilities and such. There are peak periods where your time is more needed or less needed. Sometimes you might have to answer some emails or do something else at night or on the weekends or whenever your non-official work time is. So, I mean, the same is true the other way around.
Like it's natural to want to explore your side hustle. And if it's not causing any harm to your day job, then, you know, why not? Like your value isn't determined by your employer. You know, don't feel bad for dedicating time to your side hustle. Like, I just think it's important to affirm yourself that way.
And so you've got to meet your obligations at your current job, whatever, you know, those look like, but don't feel guilty about investing in your future. You have the right, maybe even the obligation in some way to explore other avenues, the obligation to yourself so you can do something different for yourself in the future. So I always think of a side hustle as a bet on yourself. Like it's a declaration, your dreams are worth chasing, your ideas are worth exploring. So not only however it shakes out, I understand it's not always like a perfect scenario, but I think overall you should go for it.
Keep hustling, keep dreaming, keep building a future where your work means loving what you do. And for a lot of us, we find that eventually that is some kind of self-employment. And for others, they find a mix of things and that's okay too. But the important thing is to figure out what's best for you. So that's what I think about that.
Natalie, I am cheering you on. Listeners, I'm cheering you on every single day. It's just so fun to know that you're out there, hopefully working on something. But if not, at least thinking about it, dreaming about it and preparing to do something in the future. If I can be helpful, let me know.
Of course, we got a new episode every single day. Comes out seven days a week. It's all free. Hope you enjoy this month and all the months to come. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
