I Need to Appreciate My Side Hustle More

Part of being a full-time writer, one that REALLY wants to hit a few lofty targets and goals is struggling with patience. I have mentioned this a number of times in previous blogs I’ve written. I am not the most patient person in the world. It’s probably one of the things I struggle with the most in life.

I tend to go balls-to-the-wall in any area of life that I suddenly find myself pushing at to succeed. Jobs and careers have always been at the forefront of these situations. I give my best effort daily to reach the places I want to be.

When I’m being so focused and driven, I tend to forget to live in the now. I’m generally thinking two or three steps ahead almost constantly. If I’m not writing, revising, editing, or working on more than one blog or article at once, I’m thinking about other things.

These include growing my following here on Medium, pursuing social media goals, and lamenting that I’m falling behind on answering people’s comments back or reading enough of everyone’s writing. I feel let down when there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all I want to do and still be able to rest or enjoy a little downtime.

Inevitably, I can be a little moody when it comes to my side hustles. I have three things that I earn income with besides my writing. One is so infrequent, it doesn’t really count and isn’t worth mentioning. Don’t worry, I’m not a secret gigolo, or dealing drugs on the sly.

One of the other two is easy to keep up with. I’ve monetized a Facebook group with over 11,000 mostly local people and likely 1000 real estate agents. I charge for the ads they post about their new listings and open houses.

I built it for 8 years and decided it was time to charge a small fee to use it, for the time I spend keeping spam out and performing the admin side of things. Some agents didn't particularly like that it was suddenly a pay-to-play group. However, enough of them have been accepting of the newer policy and it contributes a decent amount to my monthly income.

The other side-hustle and the one with the most earning potential is carpet cleaning. This one earns me and my buddy Justin the most I earn hourly of the four things I do to earn income. We both made $120 today for an hour and ten minutes of work, not counting drive time. It’s a money-maker, for certain.

It’s also my least favorite of the four things I do for a living. I dread the days we actually have a job scheduled. I shouldn’t. I feel as though I ought to be grateful for the work. I should be looking forward to the one or two days a week we typically have jobs to do.

But I don’t. I tend to start stressing about it the evening before. I think part of the reason is that I know how it cuts into my writing routine. I have a very set schedule for the most part with my writer’s day. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to write and publish two new blogs every day. I do my best and usually can make that goal happen.

It’s difficult to do this though on days we have a carpet cleaning job or even two as we do sometimes. I start feeling resentful that I’m still having to bust my ass physically and risk hurting my lower back doing the work. I think I also resent that it’s taking away time from my passion for being a full-time writer. I’d rather be here hanging out with you guys.

It’s pretty silly to let it bother me as much as it does. It earns us a higher than average amount of money per hour. Far more than I’m earning as a writer at this stage, 9 1/2 months into my Writer’s Journey. I know I need to be more grateful for the jobs, as they come about.

I also love hanging out with Justin. He’s one of my best friends and driving to and from the jobs is our perfect opportunity to catch up, joke around, and share ideas about the business, as well as our writing. You may remember me talking about Justin becoming a new Medium writer. He’s awesome, you should check out his stuff and follow him if you haven’t yet.

The money is lucrative, and the company is top-notch, so what’s the problem? The hard physical aspect of the jobs? The clients I deal with? Something else besides those things?

It must be another factor. I don’t mind the physical labor end of the jobs. When I was doing anywhere from 25–30 jobs a month alone, it could be difficult on my body. I’m sure whatever damage I’m feeling in my lower back on bad pain days is due to completing at least 2000 jobs solo in 10 years.

Since I started teaming up with Justin on every job though, it’s been easier. We’re splitting the four-step process we’d each do separately prior to joining forces to work our side hustles. That has saved a lot of wear and tear on my back and reduced the amount of chronic pain I have significantly.

It’s certainly not the clients we help, either. Though we may run into the occasional person with unrealistic expectations for their beat-to-hell carpeting, most are truly wonderful people to deal with. Justin and I both have a significant social media following here in our area which brings us a decent amount of business. We appreciate those people who think of us first for carpet cleaning.

Just today, we had the opportunity to work for a long-time social media friend of mine who I’d never met in person prior to today. We’ve chatted on Facebook though for years, I’ve seen her and her husband get married, buy a home, and have two adorable daughters. So it was a pleasure to finally get to meet her in person and do a great job for her.

These are the aspects of my side hustles I need to focus on. Having gratitude and looking at the situation in a more positive light needs to be my default setting. I’m aware of this little issue and plan to work on it.

The writing will always be here when I finally am home for the day. The writing understands that carpet cleaning is a nice shot in the arm for my income. The writing knows that I’ll be back to give it my full attention at my earliest convenience. I appreciate the writing being so understanding like that.

After completing the job, I always feel wonderful about it. It’s sort of like going to the gym, or even that rare time you might attend church. The idea of going can be rough and something you don’t look forward to, but you usually feel better after you go. I need to look at the side-hustle work as that.

I’m not a failure because I haven’t worked my way out of doing side-hustle work quite yet. I’m successful because I’ve found four ways to earn income. Even though I want to earn all or most of it from writing, I need to respect the process. The Writer’s Journey takes time. It’s a journey, not a trip to the convenience store.

How do you feel about the side-hustle work you do? Is writing your side hustle, or do you do other things part-time to supplement your writing income? Do you have a positive or negative outlook on your side hustle, regardless of what it is? I’d love to hear about them! &:^)