Just realized the 'side hustle' everyone talks about actually made my main job feel worse

For about a year, I kept hearing that getting a side gig was the way out of my dead end office job. I finally tried it, doing freelance data entry from home for maybe 10 hours a week. It brought in an extra $300 a month, which was nice, but it completely backfired. Instead of feeling like I was moving forward, I just felt more trapped. I was spending my evenings and weekends doing the same boring tasks I hated all day, just for a different boss. It didn't give me energy or new skills, it just ate up my free time and made me resent my main job even more because I was never really off the clock. I quit the side work last month and feel way less burned out, even though I'm still stuck in the same place. Has anyone else found that trying to hustle just made the main problem feel bigger?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_bennett8d ago

Freelance data entry? Man, that sounds like the worst possible side hustle to pick if you already hate your office job. It's literally just more of the same soul crushing work, just in a different chair. No wonder you felt trapped.

patel.leo8d ago

Honestly I used to think the exact same way. Tried doing some spreadsheet work on the side a few years back and quit after a week because it felt so pointless. But then I saw a friend turn it into a real thing by only taking jobs that taught her new software, like Airtable or those automation tools. She basically got paid to build skills that got her a much better job later. Changed my whole view on it.