The Side-Hustle Won’t Save You
By Maxime Leonard
mapleleonard3@gmail.com
Have you ever sat down after work, turned on a TV show, and, while letting the laugh track fill the room, found yourself mentally kicking yourself for not being “more productive” with your free time? Have you started up a creative hobby and had relatives suggest you turn it into a side hustle to make a little bit more cash on the side? Maybe you have a side gig because a self-help guru convinced you to become an Uber driver to make a little bit of cash after hours. Do you ever feel guilt over how you could be more productive?
As of late, I look around and see more and more people feeling guilty for not “making something” of the time they use to lounge. I spoke to a friend of mine who kicked herself for resting after struggling to complete all her homework because she wished she had started on her future homework. Most people I speak to tell me of the immense pressure they feel from school or work, and I ask myself and them, why is everyone so stressed?
According to a 2023 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spend on average 8.34 hours a day working, the only activity surpassing that being leisure time which included sleep at 8.99 hours a day. When so much of our waking time is spent working, why do we feel the need to monetize our free time? Even when we make enough to be comfortable, why do we feel the need to tell our friends to monetize their hobbies? Sure, a little extra cash is nice, but why is it so necessary to monetize every moment of our lives?
Most people have grown up hearing that being lazy is a bad thing, in Christianity, sloth is considered one of the major transgressions against God. As young people become more atheists (according to a Pew Research Center study done in 2020), surely this would lead to an abandonment of Christian principles as well. However, the ideas of “being a hard worker” are baked into the very soil the US sits upon as we continue to worship the narrative of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
Many of us are in desperate need of rest, a disturbing new trend among Gen Z and Millennials being the rise of “sleepcations”—where people take a vacation to get good sleep. We’re taught from a young age that good health is important, and this includes sleep, yet as we grow older we forgo those lessons in favor of working more. A 2013 study found that 85% of the US population consumes at least one caffeinated beverage per day while many Americans consume caffeine to wake up for work. I know I am not alone when I admit to consuming caffeine to stay awake to work more. Office spaces often provide employees with free coffee to encourage productivity.
While we continue on and on striving to work harder for more hours, how many people stop to ask themselves why? As part of my personal journey to better my mental health, I was forced to ask myself these questions. Why do people yearn to work more? Is it to make more money or is it a fear of being lazy? I would wager a guess that it is both. When it comes to raising wages across the board so that many people might not feel so pressured to work more to make ends meet, unions are the best option to raise all employee’s wages. A report by the Economic Policy Institute found that unionized workers made on average 11.2% more than non-union workers.
Many people spend their lives afraid of being lazy, I was one such person until health issues in late 2020 and early 2021 took me out of school and forced me to re-evaluate how I live my life and view my work. I was forced to take a break which ultimately helped me live a healthier life, one where I am not torn apart by to-do lists and make more time for myself.
During this time I picked up hobbies, one such being bracelet making. At first, I was tempted to sell the bracelets but I found it to be more meaningful when I made bracelets for and with friends, free of charge. Not every hobby needs to be a side hustle, not every moment of our lives needs to be monetized. Whenever I get down on myself for being “too unproductive” I remind myself of a simple phrase, “we work to live, so why should we live to work?”
Collectively we have learned to center our lives around work, yearning for the rare times we are allowed a break, but what if we evaluated work differently? What if we acknowledged work for the necessity it is, but also held time and space for ourselves outside of the nonstop rush to succeed? What would that world look like? Take the time to stop and evaluate your relationship with work. How much of your self-esteem is tied to your productivity?
Next time you find yourself wanting to kick yourself for being “lazy”, think instead about why you think being lazy is a bad thing, because every single person is worth so much more than their work.