10 Signs Side Hustle Culture is Killing You

From glitzy influencers, to armchair authors, side hustles offer a side stream of income and the option to cultivate a passion into a profit-making venture without waving bye to the stability of a full-time job. With mounting (student) debt, increasing housing costs, fewer full-time permanent positions, and lagging wage growth, people are turning to other revenue-generating streams in big numbers to even the playing field (or simply, to get themselves onto it). But is saying you have more than one job really worth it though? Rarely, it turns out.

This said, we do acknowledge that not everyone has the choice to avoid participating in the side hustle economy, whether it be due to job precarity or the need for additional income. Here are the side hustle’s side-effects.

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The pressure is real

With the potential for side hustles, and more flexible platforms that allow us to work from anywhere, anytime, there is the mistaken belief that everyone should or could be doing more, all the time. While before having more than one job was seen as a measure of financial insecurity, today we idealize side hustles as aspirational and celebrate side hustlers as entrepreneurial innovators. This always-on mentality is draining, at the very least and could lead to serious burnout.

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Reality isn’t living up to the dream

We hear of overnight success stories who made billions from the comfort of their livingrooms...And IG and other social posts certainly make these self-made entrepreneurs look glitzy and glamorous. This idealized version of reality seems only a few simple clicks away. Sadly, side hustles are seldom glamorous...Many hustles are merely pyramid schemes thinly disguised as multi-level marketing, and there’s nothing glamorous about being taken advantage of to pad an opportunist’s pockets. We also seldom hear of all the would-be hustlers who tried and failed. This group would far outnumber the seeming success stories.

RELATED: 10 signs you are suffering from imposter syndrome.

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The financial benefits aren’t adding up either

For this reason, adding a new way to earn cash may seem appealing, but not all platforms are created equal, and side hustles may come with hidden and unexpected costs. Upfront investments could also take a longer time to recoup than you expected, be it a camera, vehicle investments, or other material costs. Lastly, not only do side hustlers underestimate how much side hustles will cost them, but they also routinely overestimate the amount they will be raking in, when it’s all said and done.

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Making profit from your passion is killing it

Whether it be baking, knitting, photography, crafts, or anything else you’re hoping to develop into a side hustle, once you add other components of a business such as accounting, or marketing, you may find the joy you initially got from your hobby diminishes quickly.

RELATED: 20 work-from-home mistakes to avoid.

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The hours are long and monopolize other areas

You only have 24 hours in a day, and side hustles by their nature need to exist outside your regular 9-to-5. This means that any time invested in your side hustle comes at the cost of your time to restore and reset for the next work day, to bond with family friends, or to pursue other activities you find enjoyable. The side hustle may even creep into your actual work day, jeopardizing your full-time job too.

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The side hustle may be against company policy

Furthermore, your side hustle may be against company policy, particularly when there is a conflict of interest. It’s unlikely that an architecture design firm would like their architects providing their expertise on the side, while also offering these services through the firm.

RELATED: 13 awkward things to avoid in front of your boss.

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The alternative might mean you’re also not invested in your hustle

Doing two things half-heartedly is arguably less effective than focusing on a single task and doing it well. This may mean that even the time you do invest in your hustle is splintered, ultimately leading you to half-baked results.

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Prep for an emotional roller coaster

Nurturing something from the ground up also comes with huge emotional costs, given the side hustler’s level of personal investment. For this reason, when things aren’t going according to plan, it’s easy to attribute this professional failure to a personal failing, rather than understanding that our side hustles are unfolding in a wider social and economic climate.

RELATED: Improve your self-talk: 8 ways to stop negative language and be kind to yourself.

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The underlying hustle mentality is problematic

This ideology of “hustle harder” and “sleep is for the weak” is rooted in misguided beliefs that our success is only dependent on hard work and merit. It discounts the role privilege plays and any systemic barriers that may exist. When we perpetuate the myth of the successful side hustler, we perpetuate the harmful idea that the only path to success is to simply hustle harder.

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There are wider implications

By fragmenting the work space, side hustles normalize part-time and the gig economy, fostering an environment where employers can avoid hiring permanent, full-time employees, and simply hire on a job-per-job basis, minimizing costs, but also their responsibility to their employee. This removes other benefits of full-time work, such as benefits and employee pension plans. Similarly, this type of climate has the chance to further marginalize workers who already find themselves on the margins, such as women of colour, those differently abled. Side hustles can seem like a simple solution to an otherwise much more deeply broken system.

RELATED: Why the bamboo ceiling is a real thing and how it hurts all POC.

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