People take side jobs for all sorts of reasons. Often people just need help making ends meet or they need some extra income to tackle an unforeseen expense.
Some people simply use their extra income for vacations or to purchase something they really want outside their normal budget.
Other people want to pursue a side job to improve their skill sets or to do something they really enjoy.
Even so, many people find that life goes much more smoothly when they keep their side job a secret.
1. Establish personal boundaries
Many employers frown upon employees who moonlight. Consequently, you might want to keep your side work a secret for that reason alone. So long as you are not using your company’s resources and your side work isn’t interfering with your performance, you might certainly want to protect your privacy in this regard.
Once employees break down their personal boundaries and allow personal information to seep through to their boss and co-workers, it’s nearly impossible to re-establish boundaries. For instance, there are plenty of good reasons to refrain from ‘friending’ colleagues on sites like Facebook.
By keeping these boundaries between work and your personal life intact, you’ll feel free to live your life as you deem fit without any influence from your employer.
Protecting boundaries while at work is important for many reasons and you’ll discover that maintaining them is worth the effort. Even when colleagues or your boss begins to be inquisitive about how you spend your time, they will get the message that you’re just private and they will have to respect that about you.
Be sure to reciprocate and refrain from asking others personal information too. You’ll avoid a lot of unpleasant questions simply by keeping your side job to yourself.