What's Your Side Hustle?
by Kelsey Alpaio, Senior Associate Editor
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a side hustle.?
One semester in college, I balanced an unpaid internship with shifts at Old Navy, delivering my school’s newspaper, and working at the college library. At the time, I needed the extra money. I was paying my own rent, buying my own groceries, and spending way too much on bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches.?
But something in me also liked the hard work. It felt good to be needed — and to feel like I was great at so many different things. I was genuinely proud of my ability to balance it all.
Believe me, I know that equating your worth to your productivity is a slippery slope that can end really poorly. But I often can’t help myself when a new opportunity comes my way. I’ll say to myself, “I’m too burned out right now, I can’t take on anything else,” only to find myself later that day agreeing to a new freelance gig or signing up for a craft market.
Part of me likes to keep an ongoing rotation of side jobs in case anything happens to my full-time one. Part of me likes my side hustles for giving me the ability to explore my passions outside of work. Part of me just has a hard time saying “no” to things.
But if there’s anything I’ve learned from my many side hustles over the years, it’s that you need to figure out how and when to say “no” to a potential gig. If you find yourself with a side hustle that’s more stressful than fulfilling, you need to let it go. It’s not worth it.
I’m still figuring out how to do these things myself, but I do know one thing: When you find a side hustle that’s a good fit, it can be incredibly rewarding. Side hustles can help you gain financial security, build new skills, expand your network, and move forward in your career.?
If you’re trying to figure out how to make a side hustle work for you, our authors have some advice.?
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1 年Boy, I remember when I was attending undergraduate studies at the University of Washington. I had to pay my own tuition, and rent, food, utilities, etc. In order for me to do this I worked as a waitress on the weekends, part-time as a bank teller at Wells Fargo Bank, I held two paid work studies at the Tacoma art museum and the Washington State History museum while carrying five classes and involved in student government. I managed to graduate with an above 3.0 GPA... And felt pretty happy. When I look back on that today fast forward 25 years I don't know how I did it, but I did! Today it seems I still manage multiple gigs... It seems in today's work world, it's hard not to. Good post, enjoyed reading it.