You do not need a job to make money.
They do not teach it at school, but there are other ways to make money than by going to work every day. Today, we have so many possibilities. We can even make a living without ever leaving our home.
The easiest way to find out what you like doing and what works for you is to start an online side hustle.
Even though the expression “side hustle” implies that you do something else, you do not have to.
One side hustle may not be enough to make you a full-time income. But since they, by design, do not take up your whole day, you can have more than one side hustle.
Just start with one.
You need to get familiar with your new business before you broaden out into a second one. Trust me on this one. Far too many new online business owners have failed because they did not focus on one thing.
Once your first online side hustle makes a decent income, you can start another.
Before you go looking for “how to make money online” and get overwhelmed with the number of replies, let me share this with you. It is important that you like what you do. You can make more money with something that earns you $20 per hour than $100 if you hate doing the $100-thing and therefore never get around to it.
Overall, there are two kinds of online side hustles:
Services will often be best if you need money fast.
It takes time to build a passive income, but it is worth it. In other articles, I will share services you can do as well as the best of the numerous passive income sources you can build.
Whichever route you choose, it is important to set boundaries from the start.
If you are already out of job, you know this situation.
One of your friends or family members calls you to ask for a favor. “Please look after my dog for two hours while I go to the hairdresser.”
You were just about to start today’s work on your side hustle, but – sigh – yes, that can surely wait.
Of course, once your friend/family member is back from the hairdresser, to thank you for dog sitting, they will offer you a cup of coffee or to stay for dinner…
And you get nothing done that day.
Sure, that is the worst case scenario, but it happens very frequently.
Even more often, you will find your family peeking in on you to ask you a question or to share the latest dance hit on TikTok. For every quick interruption, you lose 20 minutes of concentration. Now that cute cat video that made you smile has cost you more than one third of the time you had set aside for the task you were working on.
You need to set boundaries from the start.
If you do it later, right after you have exploded and hurt your friends and family, they will not understand. “But you used to have time to dog sit Bob, and he is such a good boy.”
Tell your friends and family about your plans.
Wait until they have finished laughing at your idea of making money online. Do not argue with them. Just tell them that you are serious about this and that you will need two hours per day where you can focus only on your new business.
They will not understand.
But stick to what you told them here and, over time, they will accept your crazy decision.
Especially when you make up for it later with quality time outside of your best work-hours.
Speaking of work…
You need to be disciplined enough to work when it is time to work.
But you also need to set limits for your workday. It is way too easy to keep working when the “job” is fun. But that can lead to a burnout.
Stop at a fixed time every day and then relax.
Focus on work when it is time to work, and on relaxing when it is time to relax.
A boss does more than work, though.
They also delegate work. They tell their employees what to do (at least at first). And you have nobody but yourself to do that now.
This is a complete mindset change.
I suggest you pick a maximum of three things you need to get done that day. If you can do more, fine. But pick the three most important things.
Preferably ones that make you money.
Depending on what online side hustle you pick, there will be lots of tasks to do. You can write an article for Medium (produces money). You can get your picture taken and write your “About” page on a blog (does not produce money directly).
Even though you need to do all the tasks, prioritize the money-producing ones first and finish the others as quickly as you can.
You can always come back later and polish your bio.
This is the hardest part of becoming your own boss.
When we start a new job, we do not expect to get paid at once. We know we will have to wait for 30 days. When we start an online side hustle to make money without a job…
Then we want instant results.
That is not what happens. Making money takes time. If you can be patient now and give it one, three or even six months, you will be greatly rewarded later.
If you need money now, urgently, then find something you can do and do it for other people.
It can be things like setting up a blog or writing articles. Just make sure to schedule time for your real side hustle and work on it daily.
The easiest way to do that is to start with a plan.
Start with the end in mind. What will your side hustle look like once it is up and running?
Then back step and make a to o list for every task you need to finish before you can get to the next one.
Now you have a plan.
It is absolutely possible to make money without a job.
You need patience and persistence. Pick a side hustle you like to do and every day will be a joy. Even the days you make no money.
The money will come over time and it is important to spend your life doing something you like rather than letting a boss be in charge of your life.