ADHD and that Side Hustle Life

ADHD Money

Sep 11

Side hustles can be exciting, creative, and empowering—especially when you have ADHD. But they can also be overwhelming, unsustainable, and, let’s be real, joy-draining if you’re not careful. In this kickoff to our new series on ADHD and money, we’re talking all things side gig—from handmade crafts and tutoring gigs to late-night freelance projects and full-on mini-businesses. We break down the benefits and challenges of turning your interests into income, while exploring the emotional and executive function landmines that too often get left out of the conversation.

We look at the upsides: hyperfocus, creativity, independence, and the opportunity to build something meaningful on your own terms. And we also name the hard stuff: shiny object syndrome, burnout, disorganization, and the pressure to monetize every hobby. Whether you’re side hustling by choice or necessity, we’ve got practical strategies to help you stay on track—planning tools, body doubling, automation tips, and pacing ideas that won’t crush your ADHD brain.

So before you burn the midnight oil trying to ship Etsy orders and do your day job, take a breath and join us for a real talk about protecting your energy, your time, and your joy.

Pete Wright
Hello, everybody, and welcome to Taking Control, the ADHD podcast on True Story FM. I'm Pete Wright, and I'm here with Nikki Kinzer.
Nikki Kinzer
Hello, everyone. Hello, Pete Wright.
Pete Wright
Hi, Nikki. Oh dear. If you are listening to this show and you're not a member of our Patreon and listened to the early episode, you missed a doozy of a story. It involves bears and pandas, but mostly raccoons and a lot of money. And you're welcome. That's a teaser. That's a teaser for what we talked about before our
Nikki Kinzer
It's true
Pete Wright
show this morning. I am glad we're here. Today we're talking about side hustles as we start our money and finance show.
Nikki Kinzer
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
Do you feel like you're still doing a side hustle a little bit every day?
Nikki Kinzer
Sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes When you see the ebbs and flows and like the inconsistency and you're like, hmm
Pete Wright
Uh yeah. Yeah, for sure, for sure. And so we're gonna talk about side hustles and the pros and cons and the benefits and perils therein. uh as we dig into this new series. Very excited about it. Before we dig in though, head over to take controladh. com, get to know us a little bit better, listen to the show on the website. subscribe to the mailing list. We'll send you an email each time a new episode comes out and more stuff. And also, of course, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Blue Strike, Blue Sky, all take control ADHD. The most important thing, as I mentioned, is Patreon. I don't know if you've noticed, the economy is questionable. Still, feel like I've been saying that for a long time. The most stable support that ensures the consistent, reliable production of this show season after season, is your support on Patreon. Just visit patreon. com slash the ADHD podcast. You get to the show early. Uh you get the show without any uh of uh without ads, you get the show with extra stuff, you get the Q<unk>A at the end of every episode, and you get the pre-show chat, which sometimes is about TV shows, and sometimes it's about raccoons. Um, and uh there's just all kinds of stuff. Patreon. com slash the ADHD podcast to learn more, please. And very, very, very heartfelt thank you for your support. Side hustles, Nikki. Here we go.
Nikki Kinzer
Yes.
Pete Wright
We're talking side hustles. Now, you first brought this up months ago in one of our planning meetings, and I reacted with some hostility.
Nikki Kinzer
Yes Well, you had a reaction for sure. Because I had gotten this idea because I had seen somebody speak about it. And I thought when we do a financial series, this would be an interesting angle on it. uh right because um it has to do with finances and bringing in extra income and uh and the presentation was great and You know, I just thought it would be an interesting conversation. And yeah, you did have a hot reaction, I will tell you that you you were definitely I would say against them. And I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Pete Wright
Yeah. I'm not against you.
Nikki Kinzer
Uh yeah, right.
Pete Wright
No.
Nikki Kinzer
But you were definitely you were very passionate about it. So um we decided not to bring in the extra speaker, but to have a conversation around what your feelings were and also just like what we've experienced and what I've seen with clients and friends and
Pete Wright
Yeah. Sure.
Nikki Kinzer
You know, because there's pros and cons for sure.
Pete Wright
Sure. Absolutely.
Nikki Kinzer
Um, yeah. And so I think just to to start off, let's just define what we mean by side hustle. I mean, it sounds so fun, right? Like let's
Pete Wright
It sounds so fun.
Nikki Kinzer
Do a side hustle. It sounds like a dance. Like you should be dancing.
Pete Wright
It sure does.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah. Um, but it's really it's it's basically any kind of income that's coming in, income stream that's coming in that's outside of your like primary work. Right. So if you work as an accountant, you might have a side hassle of, you know, being in a band. And
Pete Wright
Yes.
Nikki Kinzer
Right? Or uh maybe, yeah. So we'll have we'll have lots of examples here. Should we go into our examples? Maybe we should go into our examples.
Pete Wright
Yeah, let's go into the examples because I think they're really important.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah.
Pete Wright
But I I for as we uh before we we go to those explicit examples, I think there's a certain mentality around the side hustle that I want to make sure we we address. And that is when I hear people mostly talking about side hustles, it's yes, to earn this extra income. But also because they're for s they're somehow frustrated with their primary job and they are looking for some sort of catharsis. They're looking to augment that. They're looking to uh build it into something that can drag them out of their primary job, right? There there is something that is outside of their main work. And and that I think what you described, somebody who's side hustle is, you know, they're in a band might be wholly different from what their day job is, and maybe that's good emotional balance, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Sure, yeah
Pete Wright
Is to say, look, this is a hobby that I happen to be able to make a few bucks from and it's you know, maybe it's coffee money, maybe it's like Netflix and and Amazon money, um, but it's not something that I am I am you know, uh considering myself moving in a new direction. And those are two very different ways to think about side hustles. And um
Nikki Kinzer
Right, 'cause I mean one of it is more of a hobby kind of passion that I can get paid for.
Pete Wright
Yes.
Nikki Kinzer
But then the other one I think definitely can lead into a curr a a career or a change of career.
Pete Wright
The other way. It can.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah.
Pete Wright
It can. And I I think that's where the the career friction comes into place. And that's where and I
Nikki Kinzer
Sure.
Pete Wright
So I think your example the first example's great. Uh you know, people have are uh crafty hobbyists. They have like you have a friend who sells handbags on Etsy.
Nikki Kinzer
On Etsy, yes, done it for years.
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Nikki Kinzer
Um also have a client who works in project management, typical kind of Monday through Friday job, but she sells jewelry and homemade cards that she's made um on Etsy. Um so yeah, lots of different, you know, things like that I've seen people do.
Pete Wright
Yeah, I think it's a iPhone.
Nikki Kinzer
Um What I'm really curious about, and I'm sure probably our audience is curious about, you have a bunch of side hustles that you want that you've done, but I'm curious around why the reaction was so strong when I brought it up.
Pete Wright
What I'm really worried about are I was doing Why that's Yeah. Um so f first of all, uh I I've you know I've got some side hustle receipts, right? Over my life, I've spent decades in my of my early life. trying to figure out what direction I was moving in and it was made up of a a mesh of side hustles. A lot of them were MLMs. Which are notoriously terrible for as a side hustle, but they're a very easy MLM, a multi-level marketing organization.
Nikki Kinzer
What is an LM
Pete Wright
For example.
Nikki Kinzer
Oh, okay.
Pete Wright
Right.
Nikki Kinzer
That's a different kind of side hustle, isn't it?
Pete Wright
So I think it's very much a side hustle though.
Nikki Kinzer
Really? Oh no, it is, but it is like that's another category almost to put in.
Pete Wright
It's very yeah. Because it's so easy to get started, right? Like it's really easy to start.
Nikki Kinzer
Yes
Pete Wright
And so you th you you have it in your head, well, I could just do this a little bit. Uh this is the the Amway promise, right? Amway or Mary Kay.
Nikki Kinzer
Yes, Mary Kay, yeah.
Pete Wright
I already use the products, I should just become a a quote business owner, and then I'll buy inventory and I can sell it to my friends. And
Nikki Kinzer
Yes. So let's just be clear because we started off with kind of two categories. This is the third. Cause this really doesn't fit into hobby or a career change.
Pete Wright
Oh, I think it could. I think it absolutely could.
Nikki Kinzer
Well it could, but I think for most, yeah.
Pete Wright
That's why I put it in career change. No, no, no. I mean I really do think it's because the categories are not like kinds of business.
Nikki Kinzer
You you think
Pete Wright
The categories are emotional intent. Right?
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah
Pete Wright
The emotional intent of starting something new, putting myself in a position where I'm feeling like a business owner versus I'd like to make a few bucks to augment my primary income. And those are those are two different things.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, right.
Pete Wright
I categorize MLMs very much as the entrepreneurial side hustle. And that's how they're promised. And so I did cut co knives.
Nikki Kinzer
Right.
Pete Wright
I sold knives door to door. Uh I uh there was a water purification company that I worked for, as it was an MLM. I don't remember the name of them. Um, but I sold water purifiers. Uh I sold uh Niken, which is a Japanese magnet company that promises all kinds of benefits for like selling mattresses that have magnets. in them and and all kinds of magnet related things. Uh I sold uh prepaid legal subscriptions, which is now it they've changed their name. It's still it very much in business. I think my mom is actually a customer of the company now. Um, and they uh uh they sell like essentially subscription to attorneys. So if you have a problem, you call this company and they assign you an attorney in your local jurisdiction who has agreed to be paid by this company and they do little simple things form your business, you know, they they just do simple stuff.
Nikki Kinzer
Yes
Pete Wright
Um, and and you know, on the other side of that, my hobbies, photography, web design, podcasting, all of those. did turn into a career for me, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Right, right.
Pete Wright
Over the years. And so it it's like those those were the things that ended up being much um sort of m much more authentic. The the promise of MLMs is a side hustle. You're never the business owner. You're the customer. You spend much more of your own money than you make in others, generally. Uh the uh many side hustles have this sort of unrealistic income promise that you make to yourself. Like If if this is a if this is a thing that you're looking to start your new business, you have it in your head that you'll be able to make more than you do. Um incredibly high executive function demands if you want to m turn this into a business, you know?
Nikki Kinzer
Oh, right, right.
Pete Wright
That where work from anywhere, right? That's a promise that that they make is all is just a code for you're always working. Right? You can work from anywhere because you'll have to. Um and it actually rejection is constant and deeply personal. Because people might reject you for what you're doing and who you are as a result of making the choice of doing it. And I I find all of those things let alone the the pressure to you know recruit and and um you know do that stuff it makes mlms a a terrible side hustle for me I I know people who drive the pink Cadillacs for Mary Kay. That means they were very successful and uh for them it works. I s I see a lot of people with ADHD incredibly frustrated if they're trying to create a second serious income stream with a side hustle. because we just struggle with the executive function piece to keep all the balls in the air that you need to keep in the air. And that's that that's you know, em MLM or not, like that regardless of the kind of business organization, it's incredibly hard to do. And I so that's why I reacted so viscerally, because I have failed so many times. at the side hustle, and yet I am sort of emotionally compromised on it because it was my side hustles that turned into a career.
Nikki Kinzer
Right, right.
Pete Wright
Right? Like that's that's what I do for a living now. And that's important to note. Like you know, possibly all of my failures led to being able to find the thing that was most authentically me. And that's okay. But um that's it's great.
Nikki Kinzer
I kind of feel like that's why I fe that's why I kind of put those love the marketing level, whatever they're called. What are they? LM something?
Pete Wright
M LM Multi Level Marketing
Nikki Kinzer
M L N M L N. I I still kind of see it as a third category because I don't uh when I think of Photography, for example, like my husband also started it as a hobby and now makes money from it.
Pete Wright
Mm-hmm.
Nikki Kinzer
Um and in and an and is an entrepreneur. He's a business owner around that, right? Um And I think I know a lot of people I or I do know a lot of people who want to do coaching and so they'll work full time as they're learning how to be a coach and they're thinking that this is something that they can do when they retire or they can do part time. And that kind of can lead into, you know, a different a r a role, a different um career. I I just think with the MLMs, it feels like that's not the purpose is to be your own boss or to like have something that you're passionate about because you're you're selling something else that somebody else has already put together. And I don't know many people and I mean this is just I could be very wrong. Uh and maybe the people who are driving the pink Cadillacs would say different, but I think for the majority of the people that are underneath that person with the pink Cadillac aren't necessarily looking at it as this is going to be my full-time job. It look I mean, and I know maybe I'm wrong, but
Pete Wright
Oh Nikki, you got you gotta go to one of the meetings.
Nikki Kinzer
Like, yeah, I mean, I don't know.
Pete Wright
You gotta meet the people.
Nikki Kinzer
Like I've never been part of it. I I don't know, but it just still feels very like a different category to me.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
That's all. We can agree to disagree. I just feel like it's a different category.
Pete Wright
Yeah, it's a it's a disagreement based on inexperience. Like I promise you, if you had experienced it, you'd see what I'm saying.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, yeah.
Pete Wright
This is just like your husband is a photographer and he became a business owner in photography. These are people who are exceptional at or want aspire to be exceptional at sales and they need a product to sell. They are salespeople, just like photographers make photos.
Nikki Kinzer
Well, right, right. That's true. Right. They're salespeople.
Pete Wright
Right. And that's that's what it is.
Nikki Kinzer
And they can sell anything. It doesn't matter what it is.
Pete Wright
They can sell anything. That's why it is the same, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah.
Pete Wright
It's you're just you you are being positioned to think that you're running your own business. by running a network as a s and and it starts as a side hustle and most of them fail because of these unrealistic expectations, which I think can be applied to any, any, any side hustle.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, expectations.
Pete Wright
Like those are things like the pressure, the high executive function, regardless MLM or not, those are the perils of doing this.
Nikki Kinzer
Right. Right, right.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Okay.
Nikki Kinzer
So when would it be, I mean, uh when would a side hustle be a good idea for somebody with ADHD?
Pete Wright
I think the side passion is probably a better way to look at it because the hustle sort of relates so much to hustle culture, right? Which I think is overtly negative. I think it is terrible for humanity, hustle culture.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, yeah, because it's busy, busy, busy all the time, no downtime.
Pete Wright
I really do. Yeah. Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah.
Pete Wright
And uh and so I don't like the idea of side hustle. Because it means that you have a primary hustle and then at home you have this side hustle and you're just always doing, doing, doing. Now. What we do know is that fractured attention does have benefits. And sometimes it is cathartic to sit down and bead, for example, and make, you know. leatherworks or sew or paint or or you know mediate divorces if you're retired or something a retired attorney, right? There there are all kinds of ways to um to normalize your your brain's natural fractured attention with other things. I think the danger when we call it a side hustle means that you that you're counting on it turning into something else.
Nikki Kinzer
Sure.
Pete Wright
And and ADHD makes that incredibly difficult. You're playing very long odds. Doing it because it's a passion and a hobby means you can do it six hours one day and not at all for the next six days, right?
Nikki Kinzer
And be okay with that
Pete Wright
Yes, if it's a side hustle, you need to do it every day, right? If you're in a band, you're gonna need to practice and learn new music and do that a lot until you're, you know. r retired and playing in Las Vegas. Uh right? Like that's that's just a thing you have to do. And I think this this is like the the word, you know, how I I always kind of bristle when we say ADHD is a superpower, right? Like Turning hyperfocus into money is not a reliable thing because hyperfocus is not reliable.
Nikki Kinzer
Right, it can change.
Pete Wright
Ever.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, yeah.
Pete Wright
Right? So that's why I struggle with this.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah. Yeah, and I think that's what I see with like clients that have done this before that I'm aware of. The the shiny object, you know, is it they lose interest after a while. Right. And so then it it doesn't have all of its attention. And um there's a lot of frustration that that can come with that. Yeah, for sure.
Pete Wright
Yeah. And we all this is the other danger. We all hear hear stories about people whose side hustle turned into a thriving career and now they um they've set up a retreat in Costa Rica and they're now mindfulness guru. I don't know what they are. I'm just making those up. But the the reality is for every one story of some ridiculous success. success at someone's side hustle, there are a million others of people who are struggling to put food on the table and their side hustles.
Nikki Kinzer
That are not right.
Pete Wright
are not economically viable. Hell, we're looking at like y you know, I we I've got friends, uh a friend who lost his job and ended up driving Uber, Doordash, and uh and Lyft all at like Every single minute he wasn't sending resumes out, he was out driving errands for people. Those were side hustles to his primary job of you know, of trying to get a job and pay off debt and do all of the things. And it ended up breaking him even further because the economics are not in favor of someone to do that full time. the cost of the car. Like there are so many unseen expenses to a side hustle when you're not understanding it as a primary job. And I guess that's what I'm saying. Like if you're gonna be a full-time driver for these services, you can do it, but you have to understand it at a level that is much different than somebody who's just kind of a fly-by-night part-timer.
Nikki Kinzer
Right, right
Pete Wright
I'm I feel like I'm ranting at you and I'm sorry about that. I feel I get fired up on this topic.
Nikki Kinzer
That's okay.
Pete Wright
I want people to be healthy and safe and and confident, and sometimes that means fighting the urge to side hustle.
Nikki Kinzer
Right
Pete Wright
You know, I mean, you you said it too. Like the the the challenges of the side hustle for ADHD. I haven't even, you know, I talked about executive function functioning. There are more. Uh, and they all stem from the fact that we have unrealistic expectations if we're looking for it to be a a even marginally significant part of our income.
Nikki Kinzer
Well, and maybe that's that's part of the uh kind of the thinking going into it, if you're thinking about going into it is, you know, what is what are your expectations and being very clear about what you want out of it. Because I think if you're going into
Pete Wright
I maybe with the loyality how I want to tell you I want to tell more
Nikki Kinzer
you know, I want to sell some of my photography or I want to sell some of my painting. And the reason is not to make it a full-time job, but the reason is to pay my son's, you know, college tuition. And that money is gonna go towards c college tuition and I get to, you know, the amount that I need and I'm happy, like that can be a really, you know, positive thing, especially if it's not like
Pete Wright
And that might be more than now that I'm going to do that.
Nikki Kinzer
And I'm thinking of like, you know, can you rent a booth at the Saturday market to sell your stuff, right? Like I'm not talking about something that's really over like huge overhead.
Pete Wright
Yes.
Nikki Kinzer
Um then it makes, you know, it can make sense as long as you still enjoy what you're doing.
Pete Wright
Then it may be no
Nikki Kinzer
I think that that's the part too is that these passion projects If you start putting pressure on yourself, and I I can see this with EDHD, if you start putting pressure and somebody's waiting for you, then it's like it doesn't become enjoyable anymore and it doesn't happen. Like I know for I know being on the receiving end I've seen I had a friend who does painting and I asked if I if I sent a picture of our house, could you paint our house? Because I wanted a a a painting of the front of our house. um for Christmas as a gift. Um and absolutely, you know, I can do this.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Like is it middle?
Nikki Kinzer
I sent pictures and everything. And then I got ghosted and I never heard from her again.
Pete Wright
Yeah, right.
Nikki Kinzer
And she I know she has ADHD. I this is Very, you know, this is not a secret. And with empathy, I understood what happened. So I didn't kind of I didn't press her, right? Like I was just like, I'm just gonna let this go. If I really want this, I can figure out somebody else to to do it. But I've been on the receiving end. I get it. I know exactly what happened.
Pete Wright
Yeah, you know, all the time, but you go to the orange, you know, I feel like
Nikki Kinzer
You know, all of a sudden there's pressure into it. There's money that's been settled. And, you know. Hard to get started, whatever. I feel that way with my own watercolor painting. As long as as soon as I tell somebody I'm gonna paint them something, I can't paint anymore.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Never do that, right?
Nikki Kinzer
You can't ever tell anyone you're gonna do something for them.
Pete Wright
Never do that.
Nikki Kinzer
So I mean I do think it it you know you do have to think about the the enjoyment of it and what your expectations are and being really clear
Pete Wright
I would get you a little bit more.
Nikki Kinzer
clear about that. And maybe that will help, you know, that that helps the disappointment that might come with whatever it is that you're doing.
Pete Wright
Right, right, because the reality is l that if if it's important enough to you to have to sell photos Right, that's different from being able to sell photos, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Right, yeah, for sure.
Pete Wright
What what becomes the stressor and the anxiety manufacturer is I have to sell these photos or I don't eat or I don't pay for daycare or I don't whatever. And that that's not that's the thing that I think is needs to be the sobering reality of the side hustle culture.
Nikki Kinzer
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
is it's not reliable and not predictable. And if you were, if you ask this question, if you were to take photography really seriously as a business, how would you do it differently? Well y you would pay more to have a professional website set up, you would um you would uh market, you would join all of the associations, the American Photography Association, you would network, you would take the time that it takes to build a business.
Nikki Kinzer
Market, you would be out there networking. Yeah.
Pete Wright
Often side hustles are troublesome because you don't have the time to build a business around this thing and you get frustrated when the phone just doesn't ring, when people don't ask for your stuff.
Nikki Kinzer
You know, I think that's a really good point. And I see that when I talk to to people who want to be coaches. Sometimes they'll call and want to pick my brain and you know ask me about the coaching industry.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Right.
Nikki Kinzer
And I I agree exactly what you're saying 100% that if someone wants to be an ADHD coach or a life coach, business coach, whatever be very clear if you want to bring if you want it to be a business or is it a hobby that you are doing occasionally because it is a business if you want a a full client tell. Like if you want a full client list, they don't just come to you because you have a website. So there is something you have to, you know, you have to frame that differently And so that's the big question usually around that I offer to ask them is that, you know, what is it that you want from this? Do you want just a couple of clients a week that you can get from friends and referrals or do you want you know, inqui inquiries coming in on a pretty base, you know, regular basis. Because then it is not just about being a coach, but now you're a business person.
Pete Wright
I think that is a really important distinction, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
That that there is so much to this idea of identity. and of taking on the identity of who you want to be. And are you, do you want to be somebody who goes to an uh, you know, eight to five day job and is generally, you know, fine doing that, but only is really happy when you're hustling in the afternoon. You're not giving your all to your day job, and you don't have enough time to give your all. to the evening job. And so you're you end up over not very long just being frustrated and burned out.
Nikki Kinzer
Right, yeah, yeah. And that's the that is definitely the risk of burnout Like I, you know, it especially if you're all in at first and you are, you know, really doing so much with this and you're doing it evenings and weekends and any free time. And then that little shiny object syndrome starts to kind of twinkle in, and now you're kind of resenting what you're doing. I mean, there's a lot of risk there.
Pete Wright
Or we just start another one. Like we have ADHD, you guys, there is high risk of starting a side hustle against your first side hustle, or second, or third, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Right, right.
Pete Wright
Like that when your hobbies get uh this is a there's a line in in uh the Spanish prisoner David Mammoth play and movie. uh you know, when your hobbies get in the way of your work. That's that's one thing. That's acceptable. But when they start getting in the way of each other, that's a real problem.
Nikki Kinzer
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
Well ADHD is a is like coursework on hobbies getting in the way of each other. And it's just the way we're wired. And that's really exciting for us to live in our brains sometimes. And if you start to count on it without the proper forethought. It can it you can you can burn yourself out. It's emotional whi whiplash, right? And it can leave you with a sense of of guilt and and a lot of two-ended candles with no wicks.
Nikki Kinzer
Right, right. Okay, so let's flip this a little bit.
Pete Wright
Okay, I dare you.
Nikki Kinzer
What If someone still wants to do this, even after our conversation, they're like, no, I have a good idea and I feel really good about it and I want to do this.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
What do you think? What what kind of advice or uh guidance would you give them for a person who's had a lot of side hustles?
Pete Wright
Yeah. I think very first is do whatever you can not to fall out of love with your with what you're doing, right? If you are making photos, if you're painting, whatever it is, figure out how to develop a routine. That is consistent and stable over time that allows you to create regularly before you commit to selling it. Right? Learn how to be the manufacturer of quality work in your off time and then learn to how to sell it. Right. Like make sure that you have what it takes. To maintain your inspiration over time before other people start counting on you to deliver. You'll be happier. when you have some inventory, when you have some handbags to sell, when you have something that you're proud of, something you can take pictures of uh for a new website one day. That's the one thing. Make sure you are you maintain your love of the craft that you're doing. Music, whatever, accounting. I don't know. Make sure you find you maintain the love of that. Before you start to sell it. What do you think?
Nikki Kinzer
I think that's a great idea. I love that, having some kind of inventory or like almost template of some sort, right? Like we love templates because it helps us not having to redo the the work all the time. So that's how I kind of see that is like if you are going to sell something that you're creating, how can you almost like sis systematize it in a way so that it's not um
Pete Wright
Yeah. Yes.
Nikki Kinzer
Hard. I mean it still may be hard, but not har as hard as it could be.
Pete Wright
Yes.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah.
Pete Wright
Right. And then the second step, if you st decide that you still want to try to turn this into an income generating operation. Which let's be clear has been losing money as a hobby because all you've been doing is spending money on supplies, right? Right. That's all you're doing.
Nikki Kinzer
We don't talk about that.
Pete Wright
Is it we don't talk about that? You are burning money for your hobby, but you're being paid in joy.
Nikki Kinzer
Right
Pete Wright
As soon as you start you know, you you say, Okay, I still I've been doing this for six months and I still love it and I'm still creating and I'm proud of the work. Then take the time to learn the craft of running the business, right? Figure out how to make this a second sort of job. Don't consider it a side thing. Make it a second thing. Another thing. and recognize that it's going to involve invoices and shipping and taxes and all of the the things that go into running a business. Treat it as a business. Right, because it's not a secondary thing. Your time, what did we say about time blocking? Your time, you only have one calendar. Your time is your time, and it is precious. So if you're going to spend time and create a, you know, work to be sold, figure out how to do that in a way that that is industry standard. This is how photographers set up small studios. This is how um accountants set up, I don't know, small accounting businesses. I don't know how to do that. And learn that and see if you can still love the work while you have that in you.
Nikki Kinzer
Yes, and you know, I think that one of the things too. when you're considering this is is also considering what your energy is like. And I bring this up because I remember working two jobs. when I a long, long time ago, several years ago, I was working in retail and then I decided to take a second job and uh in retail, different store. And I was just gonna do like stock room stuff. I just wanted to work in the stock room so I didn't have to be with the with the customers because I had already worked with customers at a different store, right? Like I just I thought this would be a good idea. But I can tell you I don't have the energy to have two jobs.
Pete Wright
But I I don't believe it.
Nikki Kinzer
I just don't. Um
Pete Wright
You burn an awful lot having one.
Nikki Kinzer
I ha yeah, yeah. And so for me to for me personally to have a side hustle, it it it it would have to I don't even know what it would look like. like um because I really don't I I don't have the energy. So I think it's just important for people that are thinking about it. Like, do you have the agency? to take on something else from what you already have. Especially if you're if you still have kids at home or you have a a a parent that you're taking care of or, you know, you got to kind of think about all of the little
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
uh buckets in your life before taking something like this on because it like you said in time blocking you have 24 hours and this is where things are filling up and and do you really have the the space to do that right now. And maybe you don't, and that's okay, because you can always put it on hold and maybe you do it in the next chapter of your life.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
Um, but that's the that's the only thing I would say is also just like check in with yourself about, you know what what you're feeling like productivity-wise and what you're able to really give.
Pete Wright
I I think you've just described why shame can hit you on both ends, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
Because this is how it so i especially if you're in creative, say you're a writer and you're You write a story or you write something on your blog about a local community issue. Somebody call somebody says, Oh my god, I just read that piece. You should be doing this for a living. You should set up a sub stack and start making money because p you're so good people would subscribe to you. All right. Now something that you loved, just crafting words and putting them on your word website for people, has become an opportunity that you are The internal script can say, you're foolish if you don't take this. Somebody just complimented you and said you should go do this work for money. People would pay you. So you feel ashamed if you don't take the opportunity. Right? Because they're mu what's wrong with you if you don't take that opportunity. But then once you do and you realize, oh my God, it's much harder to build a network and to build a base of paying subscribers and to write every day at the same level of that one thing that I crafted for my website.
Nikki Kinzer
Mm-hmm.
Pete Wright
Then you feel shame on that end too, because you're not living up to the opportunity that somebody else took five seconds to say you had, right?
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah.
Pete Wright
that's the that's the the sort of challenge that you're in. You get burned at both ends. So I really, really believe if you want to write, write and do it long enough. and capable enough on your own platform before you start selling it because that's a different thing. It is a wholly different experience turning your passion into a side hustle.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, yeah.
Pete Wright
right, a side passion or a second job. It's different. It's a different set of skills. It's a different set of expectations. And and it's hard. And if you do it, if you are capable of doing, I love you. You're amazing. It's hard.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, yeah. Well, and I I like in the notes here, Pete, the last thing you said is, and above all, protect your joy. If it stops being fun, ask why and whether it's time to step back.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
And I think that that's that's a really good way to to end the conversation is to know that, you know, that's a good red flag. If if you're not having fun It it may be, you know, time to think about whether or not you want to take on everything that it does entail. And uh
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
And step back for a little bit.
Pete Wright
Yeah. Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
Uh the other thing you said too that I wanted to point out really quick that I thought was really good.
Pete Wright
What is down from the side and I call it side looking on the user and look at the page in the land on the
Nikki Kinzer
A side hustle isn't a failure if it doesn't make you rich. It's not a failure if you pause it, pivot it, or pack it away. It's a sandbox, not a sentence or a promise. And I think that's so important to fight the shame.
Pete Wright
Yes.
Nikki Kinzer
Right?
Pete Wright
Me too.
Nikki Kinzer
Like this is bigger than I thought it was gonna be.
Pete Wright
Yeah.
Nikki Kinzer
It's okay if I pivot. It's okay if I put it away for a little while. It's okay if I stop the pace that I'm at right now. and redirect myself. Like I think that those are all really good reminders.
Pete Wright
It is.
Nikki Kinzer
It's tough.
Pete Wright
And the longer you do it, the harder it is to pivot. The longer you make promises to the greater economy that you're going to enter this conversation and try to sell your stuff. the harder it is to get out. So that's why I just really caution foresight. Take the time. Make sure you're you're feeling strong about it.
Nikki Kinzer
Yeah, yeah.
Pete Wright
And don't do an MLM.
Nikki Kinzer
Love that yeah
Pete Wright
Don't do an MLM, please. That's not the way to do it. Hurt it hurts. All right. This has been really this is I'll tell you, this has been fun. This has been fun, this conversation. I hope I uh it's j I'm not I know it sounds like we're discouraging people from trying side hustles. We're really not. This is side hustles are often a great way to change careers. If you need to change a career, it's a great way to do it. But just keep in mind that identity conversation. At what point do you become the person you want to be versus how long you hold on to the person that you are or were? Because that can often be the th that's where you you cut the string and and you become you become your destination and it can happen very quickly. Uh and side hustles are a way to do it. So that's that. You're all brilliant.
Nikki Kinzer
All right.
Pete Wright
I don't know what else to say. Thank you so much for downloading and listening to this rant of a show. Thanks for your time and attention. Don't forget if you have something to contribute, head over to the Show Talk channel in our Discord server. Join us right there by becoming a supporting member at the Deluxe Level or Better on Patreon, patreon. com slash the ADHD podcast. By far the best way to support the ongoing production. and the team behind this show. On behalf of Nikki Kinzer, I'm Pete Wright, and we'll see you right back here next week on Taking Control, the ADHD podcast.