The story of how I started a side hustle because I thought, 'This can't go on'

To the moms who feel that way,
I was exactly the same until about half a year ago.

I'm currently on maternity leave, but
my youngest will be one next month.

If I get into daycare,
I'll be returning to work again.

Before I return, I want to write down the process and reasons for starting a side hustle.

To the moms who haven't taken that first step yet,
and to the moms who have already started moving.
If you can think, even a little,
that 'I'm not the only one,' I'd be happy.

My day before maternity leave was something like this.

Looking at it now, you might think,
'There's some free time there.'

But back then, I was exhausted
just by getting through this schedule every day.

Before I knew it, I was angry.
Before I knew it, I was self-loathing.
Before I knew it, the day was over again.

Why do working moms have so little time? That's what I thought.

I thought I could finally breathe a little once I started maternity leave, but that was short-lived.

The second child was born right away, and
before I knew it, I had even less breathing room than before.

My daughter couldn't easily accept her younger brother,
and unstable days continued...

While busy dealing with my daughter like that,
anxiety about money never left the back of my mind.

Maternity and childcare leave
don't bring in as much money as I thought.

I want to make things easier with food delivery.
But formula and diapers cost a lot,
and I have to save money too.

Every time I opened my bank account, the anxiety slowly spread.

During childcare leave, don't you have more
'money anxiety' than you imagined?

And when childcare leave ends,
I'll go back to that 'life chased by time.'

When I lose my composure,
I'll get irritated at my children again.
The version of me that yells will come out again.

'This can't go on.'

That thought kept spinning around in my head.

At first,I started looking for a side hustle because I wanted to increase my money.

But I had no idea what I should do.

• Ending up just researching

• Trying to do something but stopping

• There was so much information that, conversely, I couldn't make any progress

For the time being, I even tried registering for the LINE account of a side hustle I found on Instagram.

I clicked it while being quite suspicious, thinking,
'Isn't this a scam?' or 'Will this be okay?' lol

In the end, I couldn't find the courage to pay money to learn, so I gave up.

At that moment, I suddenly thought.

Before increasing my money,
maybe I'm the one who needs to change.

I want to be kinder to my children.
I want to change these days where I'm always angry.

'I want to change myself, as I get frustrated with my children.'
I'm sure you've thought that at least once, right?

Thinking that, I came across
a school for moms.

I want to write about the details in another article, but
not only could I learn about parenting,
but there was also a place where I could talk to other moms who were struggling in the same way.

That was the first time
I was able to think, 'I don't want to end it like this.'

Having regained my confidence little by little,
I decided to try a side hustle again.

The next thing I found was a remote work school for women.

I even thought to myself,
'Another school that costs money?!' lol

At that point, my savings had no room to spare.

Even so,
'I'm scared of returning to a life where I'm chased by time.'
That feeling was stronger.

Besides, as someone who was lost in the world of side hustles,
I had been swayed by free information,
and I felt that if I took the plunge and paid to join a school,
I might not give up halfway through.
(By the way, I paid in installments. lol)

I didn't tell my husband the specific amount,

but I told him my thoughts, saying,
'I want to work hard at a side hustle to create a future where I can work close to my children!'

He gave his approval, and I decided to study seriously.

That was the first time I learned about Notion and Canva,
and I became able to use AI as well.

For me, whose days were only filled with
childcare and work at the company,
just being able to 'learn new things'
made every day a little more fun.

From there, I started trying my hand at side hustles little by little.

I applied for jobs on CrowdWorks,
and for the first time,I was able to achieve 0 to 1 in one month.

I'm planning to write about this in detail in my next article.

Honestly, I still have anxieties about money.
I'm also scared about returning to work.
And there are definitely days when I get frustrated with my children.

But since taking that first step,
the 'fear of taking on a challenge' has definitely decreased.

By the way, I haven't recovered the money I invested yet. lol

Even so,
I feel like I'm already different
from the 'me who wasn't doing anything'.

From now on, I would be happy if I could move forward
together with other moms who are struggling in the same way🌸