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.
Under-appreciating full-time jobs
With a boring ole job, I could:
- Pay rent
- Eat healthily
- Save a few hundreds
- Cover my sports memberships
- And go on the occasional vacation.
Whenever I felt creatively “blocked”, I was usually also broke and in survival mode.
All my brain power went to hardcore problem solving.
- How do I make money — now?
- What should I do to get out of this hole?
- Do I keep doing what I’m doing or pivot entirely?
Add in the insomnia, heart palpitations, not having enough cash to eat properly. Even when I ate properly, I still lost weight due to the stress of seeing my bank balance shrinking.
What I focused on instead
That constant low-level panic drains everything you have.
Creativity was the last thing on my mind.
Freelancing equalled constantly living in survival mode. I sucked at it. I didn’t enjoy it. It made me worse, at work, at rest, at life.
I prefer things simple — which is why I now seek a boring 9–5 (that, of course, hopefully won’t be boring but interesting, allowing me to learn and grow). Something that
- Pays the bills
- Keeps the stress down
- And has the potential to grow into a career.
That’s the base I need.
When the essentials are covered, my energy isn’t locked in survival mode.
It’s free to wander where it wants to go — towards creative projects.
Gracia Kleijnen is a writer, author, and Google Sheets creator. Learn more about her work.
