I'm now in my third year as a practicing attorney. Anyone on here who has followed my posts knows I've kind of had a roller coaster ride with my current employer, but I seemed to have found my footing and things are going well enough that my job security is stable and my prospects here are decent. Also, the prospect of becoming a solo attorney is seeming to be a very viable alternative to my current corporate practice, so that idea is floating out there as well.
Nevertheless, I recently ran across the following very eloquent and relatable post from Laura33:
I will give you an example from my own life: I got into a rut at work where I was wasting hours every day putzing on the internet -- at times to the point where I was not even getting my work done. I spent a long time beating myself up for that (lazy, unfocused, [insert epithet here]). And then I started to think really hard about *why* I kept doing that -- and I forced myself to move past the simplistic "because I'm a lazy good-for-nothing loser" stock response. And I realized it was because when I was at home, I was always going in seven different directions -- full-time job, two small kids (one with major ADHD/anxiety), spouse with another full-time job, house, pets, etc. But I am an introvert; I need downtime that is quiet and just me. So when I was running around taking care of other people all night/every weekend, I wasn't giving myself any downtime, and so my clever brain figured out its own workaround to get what it needed (just in a very self-defeating way). Once I realized why I was doing what I was doing -- that is, once I understood that it was an unmet need and not a character flaw -- I was able to build in more downtime for myself at night and on the weekends, so I came back to work a little more refreshed and was better able to focus on the job.
This resonated with me to such an extent that I've been thinking about it seemingly every hour for the last 24 hours. And this is mostly because I think I want to have a side hustle as an outlet. I've actually designed my own planner and sold a couple of those. I'm also a pretty decent writer and have multiple draft outlines and chapters written for several ebooks. I think about these all the time when I'm at work.
I'm only half-committed to these ideas, though, and the fire comes and goes because I feel guilty about working on side hustles instead of investing in my career. For instance, I checked out Justice Scalia's "A Matter of Interpretation" this weekend rather than work on any ebooks.
But I LOVE when I'm working on my side hustles. I can stay up for hours outlining, writing, tinkering, etc.
So I seem to be at a crossroads: should I be investing my spare time back into my career (e.g., networking, volunteering, reading about the law, etc.), or should I commit to my side hustles and have a go at those?
All input appreciated. Cheers.