The Side Hustle Illusion
The devastating effects of the side gig economy and why you should avoid it at all costs.
By Robyn George, Contributing Writer
When was the last time that you picked up a hobby solely for entertainment? And no, binge-watching Euphoria, going out for drinks every Friday and scrolling for hours on TikTok do not count. I was interviewing for my current job last fall when my manager asked me that exact question. I was sure that I had several hobbies until I realized that a hobby doesn’t pay you; it’s not a stepping stone to your next career move and it requires more effort than mindlessly consuming media.
It was true. I was super busy and very involved. I was a full-time student, I worked part-time, I was in a committed relationship and in my free time I worked as a personal stylist. But one thing I didn’t have was a hobby, just for fun. I got home and looked around my room to see the graveyard of many abandoned hobbies: spools of yarn that were meant to be knit scarves, a ukulele that I couldn’t play a single song on and a bin of art supplies still sealed in their plastic wrapping.
I wondered what hindered me from sticking to a hobby and thought back to just why I invested in those spools of yarn. After finishing a class project for textile design, I was encouraged by a friend to start selling scarves, hats, gloves and other knitwear as a side hustle, so I did. And just like that, I became a victim of the side hustle illusion (the money-making move earning millions of 20-somethings pennies a week and throwing a wrench into any resolutions of “work-life” balance they had for the year).
A side hustle is an illusion or fantasy that we can make passive income from doing the things we already enjoy doing in our free time. A side hustle is a big shiny poisoned apple—it seems like the perfect plan. You’re doing the hobby anyways and a little cash on the side can’t hurt, can it?
Spoiler alert. It can hurt and it’s called the side hustle illusion for a reason. Odds are, you’ve either been a victim to the side hustle illusion or have had a front-row seat to see someone else do so. Your thrifty friend Emily used to love going to the Goodwill bins for fun after class, but this summer she started a Depop shop and now she has to be at St. Vinny’s before the other alt people wearing Levi 501s and Chuck 70s beat her to their selection of “vintage” baby tees for the day. Your sneakerhead boyfriend used to scroll through Goat and StockX for shoes for his collection, but now he resells shoes and stands in line at Nike waiting for new drops every week. Do we see the pattern?
According to a Zapier data study, a jarring one-third of Americans had a side hustle in 2021, and the number is only growing. This study also recognized passive income and income diversity as two main reasons for starting a side hustle, with enjoyment only accounting for 38 percent of responses (Zapier, 2021). In today’s digital age, “platform economy” gigs like DoorDash, Instacart and RIDESHARE provide a work-when-you-want schedule that is appealing to college students. But this form of side gig, too, presents many concerns for those looking to make passive income. A study done by Pew Research Center states that “29 percent of gig workers have performed work using these sites for which they did not receive payment” (Smith, 2016).
The roots of the side hustle illusion go far beyond our own desire for a new outfit, or whatever we think we’ll do with the earnings from said income. Living in a capitalist society, we are conditioned to both mass-consume and mass-produce goods, even at the expense of our own interests and well-being.
Turning a hobby into a side hustle takes away the fun and adds unnecessary stress on top of everything we deal with at work and at school. Money is great, but what price tag do we put on our little free time and peace of mind? And more importantly, are you really getting anywhere near that amount from your shitty side hustle?
As college students, hobbies are the perfect way to meet others on campus who share things in common with you, to destress between classes. To do something that isn’t for a grade, a payment or for something in return, just for yourself. Setting boundaries on personal time is vital to keep us from turning into stressed, antisocial assignment-completing robots with no personality.
So the next time you pick up a hobby, post your work and someone comments “I’d totally buy that!”. Kindly remind them that they can’t and carry on doing what is meant to bring only you joy. Most importantly, celebrate another instance of resisting the side hustle illusion.
Sources:
Side hustle report: 1 in 3 Americans have a side hustle. (2021, January 14). Zapier.
Smith, A. (2016, November 17). The Gig Economy: Work, Online Selling and Home Sharing. Pew Research Center.