Should you monetise your hobbies?

Firstly, I want to apologise for not sending out the newsletter last week as I was ill. But from this week we are back to our usual fortnightly schedule and with a really interesting question.

Is it a good idea to monetise your hobbies? Or is it capitalism at work, making us look for an opportunity to make money everywhere?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. But for me, there is a reason for having hobbies, and that’s not to make money off of them. I have hobbies to get away from the stress and the need to make money. They’re where I go to relax, take my mind off the daily grind.

So, while it might seem like a nice idea to monetise hobbies, because then you think you’ll have fun earning money for something you love doing, as soon as you start seeing it as a business you might feel pressure and it may put you off of it.

It can lead to burnout and blurring of lines between your personal time and work. It’s so important to have things that you do outside of the pressure of making money and that you just enjoy.

I think if you create something, like a painting or jewellery or whatever it is, and someone sees it and wants to buy it, go for it. But that shouldn’t be the goal of a hobby.

The other side of this is because of the constant “hustle” culture that we now live in many people feel like if they’re not monetising hobbies it’s a waste of time or they’ll be perceived as being lazy. They have to have a side hustle. But having that break and doing something you enjoy can be its own reward, and definitely shouldn’t be seen as a waste of time.

Of course, there is also a gendered aspect to all of this. According to the Office for National Statistics in the UK women do 60% more unpaid work than men. After marriage, women often take on more unpaid work, in addition to having a full-time job. This then limits the time women have to pursue hobbies. With the limited time women have, it makes it all the more important to have things you enjoy doing without thinking about how to monetise them.

Action of the week: Take a moment, an hour, a day to be lazy!