It’s only natural that most people strive to keep their personal and professional lives as separate as possible. For those that struggle to enjoy their jobs, compartmentalizing them probably feels like the best strategy for pushing through the monotonous Monday to Friday schedule. Yet if we take a step back, we might find that our hobbies and personal skillsets can merge into our professional lives in a positive way. Instead of drawing a harsh line of separation between our professional duties and leisure activities, we might find that there is a beneficial cause and effect that can happen when we gear our professional jobs around what we genuinely enjoy.
Of course, it goes without saying that not all of us have the luxury or opportunity to go back to school, restructure our professional assignments, or just generally quit our jobs all in the name of hobbies and self-care. What it can mean, however, is that we could begin to view our jobs in a different light by organically incorporating our natural gifts and talents into our professional day to day. A teacher who enjoys media production and video editing, for example, could consider starting a YouTube channel to tutor students in math or English across the world outside of the local classroom. An innovative chef who enjoys writing as much as they love cooking could try their hand at food writing and blogging. A professional dancer with an eye for color palettes and design might enjoy helping other dance studios create a visually aesthetic atmosphere.
There are endless ways for stagnant employees to merge what they love outside of the office with what their professional roles dictate that they must do. Think about ways to pair occupations with various creative outlets and skills; through these ideas, maybe you’ll be prompted to enhance your professional life with what you are already gifted at and enjoy. And although extra money isn’t the sole goal, you might find that you can create an additional side hustle in the process!
