I've taken second jobs as both a barrista and fitness trainer alongside my full time tech/software engineering jobs.
In both cases they were lower stress and more rewarding. In the case of training, i felt like my work had a real impact on people's lives that I never felt in tech.
My wife and I even dabbled in livestock including raising sheep, pigs and chickens.
Perhaps the fact that the main purpose of my secondary jobs was not money, but getting to know people in my community and connecting with them was what made them lower stress. If I had been reliant on them as a primary source of income they may have taken on all the headaches of my day job.
I've never liked sitting at a computer all day. I went to college for it, got a good job right after college and was never able to make nearly as much money doing anything else.
I'm constantly trying to reduce my possessions and live minimally in the hopes that I can support myself and my family doing something I enjoy even though it will almost certainly be for much less money.
Actually going to the gym is one of the few things I do enjoy in life. I could see myself doing some type of personal training on the side. I'm actually thinking about doing my first bodybuilding show this year.
If you have a decent certification, and are passionate about fitness yourself, then you can probably get a part-time gig at a local training studio or gym. Most facilities offer classes after or before work hours anyways since that's when their clients have time to train.
If you're willing to take the 6 A.M. (or other early or late time slots) then it's a good way to start with only 3-5 hours a week.
As others here have mentioned and linked to relevant articles, there's always a way to find time.
In the barrista job, the coffee shop was across the street from me. I worked nights and weekends.
With the personal training job, I only taught 5 hours a week. With drive time, prep work and consulting with clients after a session, I spent about 8-10 hours total per week on it. I don't do this anymore as it did take too much time away from other pursuits.
That's basically what I'm trying to figure out. I usually get up between 5-7am and I'm done work most of the time by 6 or 7pm. After that I got to the gym for 1-1.5 hours and I'm ready for bed.
What happens if you miss the deadlines? Sometimes, the answer is "really bad things". Sometimes, it's "absolutely nothing". You have to learn how to judge that.
To engineers, missing deadlines sounds like this catastrophic error. This is amplified by our experience in an academic system where deadlines are well-tested and 95+ percent of students can meet them. The truth, however, is that most "deadlines" in business are flexible and more tied to some uninformed speculation on how long something "should" take, not how long it actually will take.
Some deadlines are hard. In law or government, 12:00 means 12:00 and 12:01 can mean missing a contract or losing a job. Governments are often legally forbidden (in the U.S.) from awarding a contract if the proposal comes in one minute after deadline (anti-corruption laws). Others (most, in software) only threaten mild embarrassment. Sometimes, you can tell ahead of time that the deadline will be missed no matter what happens and your job is to deflect blame.
If there's a career benefit (as in a promotion, a raise, or some other hard currency that will advance your reputation) in working 70 hours per week to meet a deadline, then do it. If there isn't, then just stay out of the critical path of blame.
I eliminated a lot of stress when I stopped trying to fix things and make my job, company and projects align with some perfect ideal I had in my head from reading too much "Signal v Noise" and HN.
Are you trying to say that maybe my expectations are not realistic? I often wonder if that's the case. Especially when I get replies that no one like their job. Then I wonder why do people live hating their lives until they eventually die?
In both cases they were lower stress and more rewarding. In the case of training, i felt like my work had a real impact on people's lives that I never felt in tech.
My wife and I even dabbled in livestock including raising sheep, pigs and chickens.
Perhaps the fact that the main purpose of my secondary jobs was not money, but getting to know people in my community and connecting with them was what made them lower stress. If I had been reliant on them as a primary source of income they may have taken on all the headaches of my day job.
I've never liked sitting at a computer all day. I went to college for it, got a good job right after college and was never able to make nearly as much money doing anything else.
I'm constantly trying to reduce my possessions and live minimally in the hopes that I can support myself and my family doing something I enjoy even though it will almost certainly be for much less money.