The Twelfth House
The Twelfth House
TH+: How to ethically work fewer hours at your day job (so you can build what you really care about)
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TH+: How to ethically work fewer hours at your day job (so you can build what you really care about)

everyone wins!
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A practical guide to reclaiming your time and mental energy without compromising your professional integrity

Something interesting is afoot.

I’ve had no fewer than six conversations over the past two weeks about a very particular problem: what to do about having an unproblematic day job.

“What kind of problem is that,” you’re thinking.

It’s kind of a golden handcuffs demi-fine handcuffs situation — you’ve got a gig that pays well enough, provides health insurance, and isn't soul-sucking. It’s probably time-consuming, but in an average 9-to-5 way. You might even kind of enjoy it! You have fun slacking weird memes to your coworkers, and whomst amongst us could say “no” to the free snacks that litter the team kitchen? You probably appreciate knowing you’re good at what you do, and being a valuable member of the team makes you feel good.

But here's the thing: it's not your passion.1

It's not how you want to spend your one wild and precious life. You have a gnawing desire to get something else brewing — a creative project, a business idea, a calling that feels more aligned with who you really are.

While you’re not pulling 80-hour weeks, you’ve found that you don’t have enough space (mental, temporal, emotional, conceptual) to really work on your other project. You’re not interested in pulling bleary-eyed all-nighters to work on your side gig. But you can’t seem to get enough momentum while working in sporadic, frenzied spurts of free time.

Honestly, it’s not about trying harder or having more discipline or drinking more energy drinks so you don’t need as many honk-shoos a night. If all that worked, you wouldn’t have this problem.

You’re stuck between two paths: stay in the realm of financial stability and accept that your side thing will remain a side thing, or quit to make space for what truly matters to you?

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