Having a Hobby Is No Longer Allowed
It’s all about the dreaded ‘Side Hustle’.
Does anyone else remember the days of learning a new skill — for the fun of it?
The other day I had the following conversation with my younger sister.
“Considering no one is going anywhere anytime soon, I might finally buy a mic and start that podcast.” “How will that make you money?” “…I was just going to do it for, erm… fun?” “Oh. That sounds like a waste of time then.”
Naturally, her sudden flip from enthusiasm to dismissiveness threw me slightly, but ultimately I wasn’t surprised because part of me thought she was right.
Therein lay the problem, not with her mindset, but with the one that has seeped into the culture. If you have a hobby, you must monetise it.
I miss my hobbies. I miss doing things for fun, rather than because I feel I should. — Coco Khan (2019)
Let’s face it though the economy went to hell years ago. We are all just clinging on as best we can, making do with what we have hoping to weather this constant storm.
But it’s hard to watch the younger generation paving the way forward and literally change the conversation of how we make money, and not think; I could do that.
Scrolling through job sites looking for something flexible to squeeze in during weekends or evening around your main jobs is becoming a thing of the past. Steady incomes are being made by content creators who work for themselves, often from home, managing their time however they see fit. And the appeal is overwhelming.
64% of millennial said they have a side hustle… — Taylor Locke (2019)
Millennial, also dubbed The “Side Hustle” Generation, simultaneously stumbled into and spearheaded turning a hobby into a full-time job. All you need to do is look at YouTube which is rife with Makeup tutorials, Work Out Programmes and Cooking Instructions, to name a few of the popular searches.
Starting out as a way to simply share something you did in your spare time, it exploded with companies seeing them as a cheaper advertising route. Sharing your hobby online soon became looked at by many as a way to get free shit and pay rent.
It has bled through to the following generation who no longer seem to have hobbies. When asked what they do for fun they often shrug before glancing back at their phone to learn the latest Tik Tok craze.
Instead, Generation Z’ers have ideas they try to monetise. If the play an instrument they can sell their music or make tutorials. If they play basketball they can make a basket so epic it will go viral and get them seen by the NBA.
The notion of the process: work, then get paid minimum wage for said work, for some feels insulting should you even suggest it. Gone are the days of a retail job at sixteen being the sole way to make some pocket money.
So begs the question; if our kids aren’t doing it then why should we?
Henley forecasts 50% of the UK population will have a side hustle by 2030. — Sylwia Kotarba-Harris (2019)
There is no age limit on utilising the web and her resources to gain a little extra on the side. Not all of us are camera-ready — nor want to be — and so we have found other ways to share our passions with a niche community.
Etsy is, of course, a big one, giving knitters, painters, ceramics artists and a plethora of other talents the chance to have their own shop and sell custom created products.
Building a following by blogging about being a parent, your hair growth or weight loss journey, and then using it to cross-post across social media.
That’s not to say you have to avoid the big two; on YouTube, a lot of artists, only shows their hands, and video essayists only use their voice over dynamic images. Bookstagram (one of my favourite things on Instagram) even found a way to market sharing a love of reading without showing your face.
Making a sizable amount to generate a second income is never a given on any platform but it’s the possibility that often keeps people going, not the love.
I recognized the look of a woman suddenly overwhelmed by people’s expectations of her. “You don’t have to monetize your joy.” — Molly Conway (2019)
The articles listing the “easy” ways to make passive income, or a steady second income feel endless in 2020. They come subcategorised based on either your current profession or interest; Accountants can set up a Fiverr page and offer their services on the side, amateur photographers are guided towards selling images on Getty Images, and the list goes on.
We have to undo the notion of having to turn our hobbies into side hustles and putting that pressure on the people around us. Afterall the original YouTubers and Instagrammers, Bloggers and Writers, started for the love of it, not for the payday.
The expectation can be exhausting, and so it’s important to remember to try and keep some things for yourself, only to be enjoyed for the love of it, never to be cashed in.
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