[First Year as a Writer] Full-time or Side Hustle? The Decision Made by a Former Teacher Mom After Much Agonizing
"Why did you decide to work solely as a writer instead of doing it as a side job?"
This is a question I was asked during a meeting with a client on Lancers the other day. I resigned from my job as an elementary school teacher this March and started working as a writer in April. I have no plans to work outside the home, such as part-time jobs, and am working as what is called a "full-time freelancer." As the client mentioned, it may be more common for people to start writing as a "side hustle" while working a main job.
So, why did I start as a "full-time freelancer" instead of a side hustle? I would like to talk about that here.
This February, I received a job offer as a part-time elementary school teacher to start in April, and it was decided that my two-year-old son would enter daycare.
I'll work at the school four days a week and do my best with my writing work as a side hustle!
However, in March, my husband's transfer was decided, and all my plans were wiped clean.
After that, I hurriedly finished moving, and my life in a new city began in April.
Days of agonizing over how to work
As life settled down, I kept wondering what kind of work style would be best for me from now on.
Should I re-register as a part-time teacher and do freelance writing on the side? But I don't have the courage yet to work at a school in an unfamiliar place. Then, should I look for another part-time job? Or rather, can I even get my younger child into daycare? Is it possible to do writing work while taking care of my child at home? But...
Because I had options, I didn't know what to choose, and my mind was constantly filled with worry and impatience.
Asking myself
Currently learning self-coaching, I asked myself a question to break out of this loop.
1. What state do I want to be in 1, 3, 5, and 10 years from now? 2. What will I be glad I valued 1, 3, 5, and 10 years from now?
Without thinking too much about my current situation, I kept writing the answers to these questions in my notebook to face the person I want to be and my values.
And finally, for the future I desired, I wrote down the person I want to be right now.
I want to be able to earn a living solely through work from home and cherish my own time and space.
My life until now has had no margin in time or heart, and I have always lived by wearing myself out while worrying about what others think. The first thing I wanted to do for myself was to create time and space for myself, rather than money or career. As a result of continuing to answer this question, that became clear. Since then, I have taken action at an incredible speed and tackled the things I wanted to do one by one.
▽ I have also written about this in detail in this article.
Currently, I leave my children at daycare and work from home.
I am very grateful that my children enjoy going to daycare and that my husband supports this way of working.
I will likely hit various walls from here on out. When that happens, I think I will just adjust as I go.
First and foremost, I want to make the life I truly desire a reality.
Thank you for reading this far.