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Your Boring 9-to-5 May Be the Best Thing For Your Creativity
I was most creative when I stopped trying to “make it”
“Quit your day job. Go all in on your side projects. Stick it out for a year or two, make bank, retire.”
If only it worked like that..
I used to think I’d finally be free — once I quit my day job.
Only then, I thought, I’d have the mental space to create. To grow projects. Without pressure. Without time limits.
Did I find that freedom in freelancing?
After spending a few years scraping by as a financially failing freelancer, I see things differently.
Over time, I picked up many side projects:
- Reading a bunch of books for fun
- Starting a YouTube channel
- Writing on Medium
Here’s the common thread:
I started all of them from the safe and cushioned space of — drumrolls — a full-time job.
Those jobs weren’t glamorous. They didn’t fulfill some lifelong dream I cooked up in the womb.
But they did one thing right: they paid me enough to *not* have existential worries.