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Comment by tvanantwerp | Hacker News Reader

My wife was musing on her photography hobby the other night. She really enjoys it, and was thinking, "I really wish I could make this my job."

I told her that I'm really happy that photography makes her happy, but that there's no way she'll make much money doing it and she already knows that. It would make life more stressful and ruin the fun she now enjoys. And since I once tried turning a creative hobby into freelance work, she knows I'm telling her the truth from my own experience. I wouldn't want to tell the most important person in my life some BS flattery--if I'm really going to support her, I have to be totally honest.

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I like bicycle stuff quite a bit. Riding bikes, working on bikes, etc. But, it's not my job... I do IT stuff.

This past weekend there was a bunch of bike maintenance to be done. Swapping parts around, cleaning things, fixing stuff... It all kinda came to a head yesterday morning where I very clearly thought "this is fun, but I'm VERY glad this isn't my job -- this is a lot of fiddly work".

It's very common for folks to try to turn their hobbies into a job, only to have that realization too late. I feel fortunate to have had that realization before considering it.

Absolutely. As one of our great American sages recognized, "It's only work if somebody makes you do it"[0].

The corollary being that a hobby can stop being fun when you stop being able to freely put it down when you want to -- when you've barked your knuckles on the chainring for the 33rd time. And it's also pretty clearly backed up by studies that show that autonomy is a strong factor in workplace happiness and effectiveness.

[0]:https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/08/28

In short: "it's only fun when there is no boss".

But I don't buy into that, I believe that you can lose the joy just as much, or more, when you are following the self-employed model.

Working for a boss it's still quite possible (but maybe not easy) to separate work hours from leasure projects in the same fields, but when self-employed, all "off" projects have the potential to become "on" or something in between.

When self-employed, one is one's own boss. That boss may be more ruthless than any boss that would actually hire you.

I've seen this effect in a few self-employed and founder friends.

Yeah, there being another person involved isn't the issue, I think, it's that (ultimately) you either do the work or you don't eat. Which is never the case when it's "just a hobby".

So the golden path in keeping a hobby on the fun side is to select one that is sufficiently expensive to never ever be at risk of seeing a break-even line at the horizon.

/wanders off to browse carbon handlebars

It's a shame to ruin a perfectly good hobby by making it a job.

I had this attitude until my late 20s. Then I realized that I really need a career to set myself up in life. So now I'm a senior programmer.

And my programming hobby? Better than ever! Turns out, having actual professional experience makes things easier and I can just play around with it whenever I want with a lot less stress than if I didn't also do it as a job.

Of course, I also have other hobbies. But making money on my main hobby was great in the long run.

I recall discussing this with some one who had switched to web dev from music - he had a Phd and was a London Session musician who had played on top 10 hits.

At some point it stops being fun - 8 hour days practicing for example he mentioned.

Most professional musicians I've heard from would be thrilled to even spend that much time on music itself, what with all the other annoying business details to manage.

I think that's the story of trying to turn anything hobby-like into a living. You start out as a photographer or an artist, but you end up having to be a general manager and an accountant.

It's the age-old tension between "do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life", and "the best way to ruin your hobby is to make it your job."

I think this was when he was intensively studying for His PHD and was for an extended period.

Your comment reminds me of another from HN a few years ago, "If you love software development, don't do it for a living."

There is also value in keeping your passion as something you enjoy and brings you happiness in your leisure time, rather than turning it into something that brings you stress and pressure full-time.

I think one can make some money by selling photos to photo stock sites. It's a kind of semi-passive income possible when you shoot landscapes or common objects.

It of course is unlikely to become a primary, or significant, source of income. It also unlikely to affect what you do for fun.

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