why work kills creativity

Many people have a boring job. They work from 9a.m. until 6p.m., performing the same routine everyday.  They count the days until Friday, and dream about going on vacation. I was the same. I didn’t like this kind of job. And one day, I quit it. I started to do what I like. I became happy. I felt wings behind me. My new job was very creative, I didn’t have a boss anymore, I could create my own schedule and I could earn more money. I had friends who hated their routine just like me. When they asked for my advice I told them “Quit your job”. They listened to me. They were inspired by my example. But after couple of months they went back to their previous jobs. I didn’t understand why. I started to wonder what was wrong with them, they were also creative people. And this is what I understood:

A job is not just a hobby, it is a business, a business which you need to raise every day, every single minute of every day like your own child. One of my friends is a talented artist. She paints when she is inspired, but it’s not every day. She can paint 1 picture per year, which is definitely not enough to make a living. That’s why her main job is an accountant.

When I turned my hobby into my main job, I realized that it’s not so easy to continue to enjoy it. I’ll give you a couple of reasons:

• Work is not just a favourite task.

I like to create something. But if you turn hobby into a career, you need to perform a lot of administration. You need to look for clients, communicate with clients, prove that your product is better than your competition, develop your business, and perform accounting…

I believe that you are a very talented and creative person, but you need to have management and marketing skills too. Not everybody has these skills.

• Work is a business.

You need to receive profit. When I had a hobby, I did it for free. I made souvenirs and gave them to my friends as gifts. However, when I started my own business, I couldn’t make souvenirs for free anymore. My friends were very surprised and said “Why do we need to pay for this now? You feel satisfaction afterwards and you want to have money too?” – yes, I wanted money. But at the beginning, I was too shy to put a price on my labour. As a result, I tired of my creativity, I started to hate it, I didn’t have money to pay my bills, and received incomprehension from my friends and relatives.

• You need to work more than 40 hours per week.

I was so happy when I started my own business that I took on as many clients as I could. I didn’t have my weekends free, I worked from 7a.m. until 12 a.m. I was happy at the beginning. I did what I wanted. I was proud that I had so many clients and so many orders. But then I was overworked. I received more and more orders and I couldn’t stop them. After 5 months, I wanted to take a rest from my work, but I couldn’t stop the conveyer belt. I wanted to spend time with my husband and work on my hobbies. Wait! My new job is my hobby. Why do I want more? But you need rest, even if you do what you like. You need to switch your brain from time to time. If your job is your hobby, you need another hobby for relaxation.

• You need to please your clients.

When you create something for yourself, you don’t care what other people think. It’s different when you work for clients. For example, my mom is very good at knitting. But she only knits things for me or herself. When she works with clients they say “everything is good”, BUT can we change colors or make squares instead of circles. As a result, you need to satisfy the clients’ tastes and keep changing your creation over and over again. My mom can’t do this.

• You have a deadline.

I like to embroider. I make 1 picture every 3 years. I do it only when I have time, mood and inspiration. I don’t want to make money from embroidery. If I try to make money, I’ll have a deadline. I’ll need to embroider 1 picture per 1 month and I’ll hate it.

I still have my business and I’m happy. I can create despite having difficulties. But my friends couldn’t. And now I do not give advice as thoughtless as before. I don’t ask anyone to quit their job and I don’t ask anyone to stay in their job. I just want to warn and inform you about the perils of turning your hobby into a career.

I hope you find yourself and are happy in whatever you do.