Passion Projects Versus Paychecks

One of my favourite podcasts is the Side Hustle Nation, where they talk about … surprise, surprise … side hustles you can set up to bring in some extra income.

I especially like one of the things that Nick Loper, host of the Side Hustle Nation podcast, often says, which is ...

 “Your 9-5 may make you a living, but your 5-9 makes you alive.”

The “5-9”, of course, meaning building a side hustle or working on something you love doing.

But it’s tough ask to set up a side hustle or passion project in the copious amounts of (not) spare time you've got.

If you’re like most people I know, you put everything you have into your job … especially if you’re working for yourself.  You’ve got clients.  Those clients pay you to work on specific things.  The money pays the bills and puts food on the table.

You most likely don’t have time for a passion project.

But oh my goodness, I'd be willing to bet that you dream about having one.  I used to, anyway.

Back in the dark ages before there was such a thing as AI, I worked part-time as a transcriptionist, turning jumbled up customer focus group recordings into readable records of what was said. 

One day, I was handed a 90-minute audio file and asked to urgently transcribe it.  I will never forget the dismay I felt when I discovered that it was a focus group on … wait for it … toilet paper.

The world’s most boring topic.  By the time I finished, my brain and my bum were both numb.

I would far rather have been outside in the garden or writing articles for the local newspaper.  ANYTHING, but listen to people talking about toilet paper.

And that’s a tension that I think a lot of service-based businesses can face, especially writers.  You do what you have to do to pay the bills, but you crave being able to put your energy and passion to work on something else.

Which is tricky because after your day job, whatever that is, there’s not a lot left in the tank to bring to your own passion projects.

However, I can tell you from many year’s experience that with the right mindset and strategies, you can work on what you love, sacrificing the financial stability that client work brings.

Why Passion Projects Matter

There is definitely something to that old cliche, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

Having to focus all the time on jobs and tasks we personally don’t care that much about can really impact on our enjoyment of life.

I mean, seriously!  Toilet paper, anyone?

Plus, research shows that working on hobbies (and presumably other types of passion projects) can reduce the risk of mild to moderate depression.  So much so that some doctors do what they call “social prescribing”. 

Social prescribing simply means getting patients to take up a hobby or engage in activities that they enjoy, instead of taking medication.

But there are other reasons why you should give yourself permission to take at least a little bit of time to work on a passion project instead of paid client work.  Or write about a topic you DO care about.

Keeping Your Voice Authentic

Passion projects are more than just “extra” work—they’re an essential part of a fulfilling writing career.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you love writing about saving the environment and you’ve come across this weird toilet paper brand, “Who Gives A Crap” (affiliate link).  I kid you not, it exists.

And suddenly you’ve gone from writing about people’s toilet paper preferences (mind-numbing), to one where you’re shouting the benefits of recycled toilet paper to the rooftops and loving every minute of it.

It’s projects like that that keep you hooked on the joy of writing.

Keep Developing Your Skills

It’s old news that you have to keep developing new skills or you’ll become irrelevant.

So a wise person, like you, would make a point of building expertise, particularly in areas you really care about.  And there’s a hidden benefit to doing so.  Working on a passion project is a great, low-pressure way to experiment with new ways of doing things or writing about new topics.

When I used to write articles for medical magazines, I had no idea that one day I’d be writing articles about menopause for my own menopause-focused passion project website (themenopauseeffect.com).

And working on that website has helped me hone so many new skills, that I’ve lost count.  At a minimum those new skills include first-person experience copywriting, lead generation, marketing, quiz funnel building, newsletter copy and the list goes on. 

Future Payoff

And when I created themenopauseeffect.com website with a project partner, I had no idea that at some point in the future, I would start to earn money from it, or monetise it, as they say in the world of online business.

So that’s something for you to think about.  If you start writing about a topic you personally care about, someday you might build a blog, niche website, or book about that topic and you’ll already have a lot of content available.  

Which means that not only does that blog, niche website or book become an income-generating asset, it will start to showcase you as someone with an opinion and some experience.  Which means that other people will start paying attention to what you have to say (which is the definition of a thought leader) and become familiar with your personal brand.

And what’s not to like about that!

Purpose & Motivation

And finally, working on a crunchy passion project that lights you up will leave you remembering exactly why you became a writer and why dedicating your time to that passion project is worth the revenue you’ve had to (possibly) forego because of it.

So if I had to summarise what I’ve been trying to say down into one sentence, it would be this …

“Paid work builds your bank account. Passion projects build your soul.”

The Tension Between Passion and Paycheck

Which brings me to my next point.  There is an inherent natural tension between the benefits of working on passion projects (usually for free) and working for pay.

Paid work gives you immediate income but often lacks creative freedom or the ability to focus on what interests you.  Passion projects don’t always pay right away (or at all), but they CAN lead to personal satisfaction and career growth.

The trouble is … when you’ve got bills to pay and mouths to feed, doing unpaid work can feel like “wasted” time.  And I know that leaves me feeling as guilty as heck, so it probably leaves you feeling guilty, too.

On the other hand, spending too much time on unpaid projects and neglecting paying clients leaves you at risk of living on bread and water and sleeping in your car.

So the real challenge isn’t to get rid of the tension between the two, it’s figuring out how to manage it in a way that works for you.

So how do you do that?

Balancing Paid Work with Passion Projects

I was talking to a colleague recently who said he’s finally figured out how to balance out his client work and his current passion project.  He said that the secret for him had been to start treating his passion project like it was one of his clients.  Which meant he no longer felt guilty about spending time working on it.

I thought that was an excellent solution.  I’ve been doing something similar in my own business and the best advice my colleague and I can give you is to treat your passion project like a client because it’s the best client you’ll ever have.

Your passion project won’t yell at you or be grumpy or tell you off. 

And just like you would for your human clients, you’ll be taking practical steps to meet deadlines.

Here’s some examples of what I mean by practical steps:

Schedule Dedicated Time: 

Block off consistent time every week or month to work on your project.  Then stick to that schedule, even when your hind brain starts screaming at you that the bills are piling up and you should be focusing on paid work.

Set Clear Goals: 

Just like you would for your other clients, be sure to create actual, doable milestones and deadlines so you can track progress. 

Find a Way to Hold Yourself Accountable: 

Holding yourself accountable for hitting milestones and deadlines can be as simple as joining a mastermind group or setting up a tracking system in Trello or Asana or whatever project management tool you use.

Be Sure to Celebrate Wins: 

I’ve mentioned this before, because it’s something I find hard to do, but it’s so important to acknowledge the little wins.  It helps so much in keeping the momentum and motivation up. 

 I have found that if I plan ahead of time what my celebration will look like if I DO hit a certain milestone, it helps me remember to ACTUALLY celebrate.  

Batch Your Time and Match it to Your Energy Levels:  

One of the things that really works for me is to structure my day so I’m focusing on client work during the morning, which are my peak productivity hours.  

Then I block out those “off-peak”, not-such-high-energy times for working on my passion projects.  And as I mentioned earlier, it makes a big difference if I schedule in dedicated time for those two different types of tasks and treat that dedicated time as non-negotiable.  

Matching how I schedule tasks to my energy levels is one of the reasons why I almost never have meetings on Mondays.  That’s my day to refocus my weekend brain and work on the strategy side of my business.

Blends can be Better:

Sometimes, as writers, we can spend so much time writing that the thought of doing more writing, even if it’s for a passion project can feel exhausting.

One way to get around that feeling is to choose projects that really do make you feel excited and energize you. Treat those projects as creative escapes, not obligations.

And ask yourself if there’s the potential to get a “2-for-1” benefit from your passion project.  Is there any overlap between your client work and the work from your passion project?  Could your passion project double as a portfolio piece or a way to attract clients?

For example I recently saw a website for sale that someone had built as a side project.  The idea for the website was simple … it’s a place where you can find riddles.  This website is only 9 months old, but its minimum bid price is $9,500 and based on my experience, I’m pretty sure they’ll get close to that, if not more.

In creating (and then selling) this website, the author is proving that they have the chops to create great website content.  And the work they’ve put in has been an investment that is now paying off.

Treat Passion Projects as Investments:

Like starting a business, these passion projects may not pay off immediately but can grow into valuable assets.  Word of caution here, though:  those passion projects won’t ALL become valuable assets.  One of the reasons that the riddle website is worth as much as it is, is because the person setting it up has done a good job with the SEO.  So there’s lots of traffic and that means money coming in from ads on the site.

But my key point still stands.  If you can reframe your thinking so that passion projects are seen as future investments and not “wasted” time, it will make it so much easier to honor the times you’ve set aside to work on them.

You do Have to Learn to Say No

Sadly, not every client is a good client.  And not every passion project is going to give you a payout … whether that “payout” is a much needed mental health boost, adrenalin buzz or actual money.  

So at the same time as you’re protecting your time so you can work on projects that excite and energize you … keep an open mind about whether the investment is worth the pay-off, whatever that pay-off might be.

So if you 100 percent agree with Nick Loper that “Your 9-5 may make you a living, but your 5-9 makes you alive” then you’ll need to manage that tension between passion and paycheck.

Because well-chosen passion projects aren’t just “extra” work—they’re essential for creative growth and long-term success.  So … keep on taking those small, consistent steps towards reaching your creative goals.  Stay balanced between the need to put food on the table and loving what you’re working on.

And always remember that paid work builds your bank account. Passion projects build your soul.