This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today we're gonna talk about burnout and this is such an important topic for so many people out there who are busy doing lots of different stuff and you start a side hustle, which you're really excited about. It begins as a joy project. It is something you are passionate about. You love it and maybe it actually takes off. Like it becomes successful, but then success can morph joy into drudgery.
And this is just all too common, like you love what you do and you do it more, but then all of a sudden there are these obligations associated with it. So you might be tired or you might need a bigger break. We're gonna hear from a caller today. She has calligraphy boards, hand-lettered wedding signage specifically. These boards become a hit and then she becomes super busy.
So now she's exhausted. So does she just need to take that break or does she need to reinvent the whole business? Let's kind of consider a diagnostic. Like how might you actually solve this for yourself? And I think if you're starting a new side hustle, this is something to think about from the outset.
How can I keep doing what I enjoy so that I don't become burned out? Or if I am tired, like what do I do? How do I evaluate it and determine what are the next steps? The best next steps, let's say. The caller's name is Adrienne.
We're gonna hear from her and my response right after this quick shout out to our sponsor. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Adrienne calling from Phoenix, Arizona. My side hustle, hand-lettered wedding signage took off during the pandemic and now supplies half my income. Lately though, I dread every order. Even after taking weekends off, I'm torn.
Do I just need a real vacation or is the dread telling me this niche isn't right anymore? I've heard burnout can make a deeper need to pivot your offer or target market, not just rest. How do I tell the difference between normal exhaustion and a sign that it's time to change direction completely? - Adrienne, I'm so glad you called in with this question. First of all, congratulations on the side hustle working in the first place and taking off.
That is worth celebrating. It's also worth acknowledging that it's stressing you out now, especially if you are dreading every order. I think that is a pretty telltale sign. It sounds like you're not just tired. You're more than tired, right?
You're exhausted. So as to whether you need a vacation or whether the dread is telling you something greater, I think most likely you're gonna need to make some kind of change. I think the vacation is a good start, but if you go back to the same way things were before, then it won't be long until you're in the same place emotionally and physically. So maybe take the vacation, but also use some of that time to consider, is there something I can do to change the operations of my business? Like, what is stressing me out about all these orders that come in?
Is it the amount of time it takes? Is it the communication and the emotional labor behind that process? Is there something about the delivery or the shipping or other logistics? And once you understand specifically what's causing you the distress, maybe there is a way you can fix that or at least mitigate it a bit. But if it's just the whole thing, if you're like, actually, the whole thing is stressing me out, then maybe it is a sign that this is not the side hustle.
So you need to continue with. And that's the great thing about these kinds of projects is you don't have to commit to them for life. You're not making a lifelong commitment to any particular project you take on. In fact, often one thing will lead you to the next thing. And you will notice and learn, oh, here are the working conditions that I like.
Here is how I like to use my creativity. Here is a way that is draining my creativity. And you observe this over time, and perhaps eventually you get to like, oh, here is the one side hustle to rule them all, or you just keep doing different things and that's also okay. So I think the way you tell the difference between normal exhaustion and a sign that it's time to change direction is, like, is there a way that you can see to remedy some of that exhaustion, or is it just inherent to this project specifically? And then from there, you kind of know what to do, right?
So I think the worst thing to do is just keep going forever without evaluating, without paying attention to those signs. So hopefully you will do that. And listeners, I hope you will take care of yourselves as well. There are so many things you could do in life. Why not try to spend as much time as possible doing something that you find to be enjoyable and purposeful and all those good things.
So I hope you'll do more of that today. Of course, the show continues to be free. It continues to come out every day, seven days a week. You can access the complete archives of the podcast directly at sidehustleschool.com. That's all for now.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
