This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Should you keep offering a service that is profitable, but emotionally draining? How do you handle a service that is profitable, but takes a toll on your energy? In this episode, we'll hear from a graphic designer. We'll do our best to help him evaluate whether it's time to let go or time to find a way to make things work better. And I think that's ultimately what it's gonna come down to, right?
If something is not working well for you, then you need to either move away from it and towards something else, or find a way to change the existing situation, because simply doing more of the same thing that's not going well or otherwise causing this, in this case, it is a drain on his energy, that's not going to end well. So you have to make a change. And it's also a common dilemma for freelancers and side hustlers, 'cause you found a way to get something that works and that's great, it's making money, but there are other costs to it. What is the best approach or how do you make that decision? That's what we're gonna talk about today.
And by the way, welcome to Side Hustle School. My name's Chris Guillebeau, your host, detailed question from our listener, and my answer coming right up. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Sean. I run a side hustle doing freelance graphic design for small businesses. And one of my most popular services is logo creation.
It's profitable, but honestly, it's also the most draining part of my work. I enjoy other aspects of my business more, like branding packages or social media templates, but they don't bring in as much money. I'm stuck between keeping this service for the income or letting it go to focus on what I enjoy doing. How do I make the right call? [Music]
Sean and anybody else in this situation, the risk you face if you keep doing something that is draining, the risk is burnout.
And I've seen it over and over. I've experienced it many times in my life and work just because something is profitable, it doesn't mean it's what you should continue to do. Now, there may be some way to tweak it and to change it to where you're still doing this work, but it is easier. I mean, I think that's one great solution is to consider how you can streamline what can you do to automate or use AI tools as part of local creation. And you're still doing the design work.
Maybe you're getting ideas from AI. Lots of designers are doing that now where AI is like the first step and then they're doing, maybe not the second step, but somewhere along the way, they're kind of taking over and doing the manual work. So that is one solution. Find a different way to do it. This is your side hustle.
I think that's also really important. Personally, I believe for all of your work, wherever possible, for your day job, for anything else, like you should, if not love it, you shouldn't hate it. Like it shouldn't be a drain. It should be something that you are good at and look forward to at least to some degree. But especially for your side project, this is your second thing.
So a lot of people come into the world of side hustling because they don't love the day job or it's not as fulfilling as they would like. And so they want to find something that is more fulfilling, but they end up in a situation like Sean where it's like the service is doing well, but then it is something that takes their energy. And so as I said at the beginning, I think the wrong thing to do is just to keep going. Some people might say, hey, it's working. This is your business.
This is life. But the whole reason you got into this is because you wanted something different. And perhaps you wanted to build less dependence or create independence from your day job. Or perhaps you want to eventually do this full time, whatever your goal is, having your energy drained, not being able to focus, not looking forward to your side hustle is not going to be great for you in the future. So as I said, experiment with adjustments before cutting it off completely.
It may very well be that there is a way you can continue to do it and have it be less draining. A few years ago for me with the podcast, I was starting to think, well, this has been fun for a thousand days, but maybe I want to spend some time on other things. And I don't want to be in a situation where I feel burned out. So I found a way to make some adjustments that made it easier for me to keep doing it. So I would say that's the first thing.
But if that's not possible, then don't be afraid to then transition gradually and phase it out, move on to something else. Because you are going to do your best work when you are excited about it. And you're going to do your best work when you're looking forward to it, or at least it is not a drain. You don't have to be super excited about every single task every day. That's not realistic.
But overall, you want it to be something you're proud of. That's my two cents, Sean. The right decision is the one that aligns with both your goals and your wellbeing. Listeners, thank you for being out there. I know you're doing lots of things as well.
I know you have a lot to manage and energy, capacity, attention. These are really important resources. I hope you will guard them and take care of them as much as possible so that you can keep doing fun things and maybe start some new things. Life is short. Let's have some fun.
Let's work on things we care about. And of course, I hope you'll continue to listen. New episode every day, always free. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
[Music]
From the Onward Project.
