- Guest Contributor
- February 15, 2022
If you’re motivated and want to earn, then there’s a good chance that you’ve been a part of hustle culture – either now, or in the past. Side hustles give people the freedom to earn more money to pay bills, take care of their families and maintain quality of life.
Whether you’re a freelance writer or a driver with a ride share service, you probably consider your gig an important part of your life. It’s good to make money! It’s also important to be sure that your hustle doesn’t come at the expense of your own health and wellness. It’s important to live a balanced lifestyle and take care of yourself! Here’s what you need to know.
How Hustle Culture Interferes With Self-Care
Independent workers often struggle with self-care, from taking time off to getting enough sleep. It’s difficult to stop working when you know that every minute you’re not working is another minute when you’re not earning money. From working all night to stressing about doing more work, many people who have side gigs and who work in the gig industry have a hard time finding work-life balance.
What You Can Do to Take Care Of Yourself
Think about the last six months. Think about the six months before that. Have you been getting enough sleep? What were your stress levels? When did you feel most relaxed? How often did that happen?
If a reflection on your lifestyle has made you realize that you aren’t finding enough balance, there are many things you can do to take care of yourself.
1. Create a Stop Time
Creating a stop time at the end of the day helps you get more rest, and also prevents you from dallying when you’re trying to get work done before the end of the day. Pick a stopping time that will enable you to rest and relax before it’s time to go to bed. Don’t forget to spend time with family members or loved ones before sleeping. Working on your relationships is another important part of your self-care routine.
2. Give Yourself Permission to Relax
Do you find yourself stressing through periods of relaxation? Are you ever doing something fun with friends or family and find yourself unable to think about anything but how much money it’s costing you?
Give yourself permission to relax when the moment calls for it. Stress can wait. Worry can wait. Say to yourself, “I give myself permission to wait until alter [this event] to worry.”
3. Plan and Organize
Avoid the stress that comes from forgetting to do something, or procrastinating, or running up against a deadline. Plan and organize your day, your week or even your month. Look ahead at what’s due in the future, or pay attention to your schedule and consult with it regularly, to avoid over-booking yourself.
Planning and organizing can help you with self-care, by reducing stress. It’s also an important part of the hustle culture, since most gig workers are their own boss and must rely on themselves to ensure that they are staying on top of their workload.
About the Author: Kathryn Elwell grew up in the Midwest. She has experience in management and human resources, and has been writing on these topics and more for 12 years.
