Juggling on the Sides

Sidelines are jobs or work we do outside of our primary line of work.  For regular or contractual workers, our primary work will be the tasks we are employed or contracted to do.

In Amici, we do have people who goes into sidelines (from the company's point of view).  People go into it mostly to augment their income.  Sometimes, people do it to satisfy their cravings and interests, or for experience.  It may even be for free.

There have been micro-businesses selling cellphone load, seasonal hawking of food or apparel, or graphics, computer, or professional services.  It maybe teaching summer classes at our Alma Mater.  It maybe stock market trading or the weekend garage sale or even a trade fair.  It may be the occasional quick double-your-money scheme that is hopefully not going to lighten your wallet instead.  It may also be the same thing we do in our primary work, just that we do it on our breaks.

Logically, nothing should be wrong with trying to earn for our needs.  It's our right to go into business and make money.  We might be able to juggle our time and efforts to get more output for our own bottom line.  However, things can get messy if we are not careful. 

We juggle different things at the same time.  Each has expectations and goals.  What happens if we mix them up?  We might start slacking off our "real" work during our "real" work time so that we can do other performances.  This is a major issue in work ethics.


What if we juggle the same kind of work, only some are for our primary work, and some are on the side?  If we do the sideline outside of work schedule, will there still be a problem?  Unless the employer gave express permission for the sideline outside of work schedule, there's a conflict of interest somewhere here.  Here we maybe competing with our own company.  Competition can go from healthy to downright ugly.  This happens when our company is left unaware of the little competitor inside being paid salary and given marketing support and leads, who may have the means and the nerve to misrepresent the company, mislead customers, or even sabotage company activities.  We must remember that we are associated with our company.  What we do reflect on our company, even if without the company's blessings.


Finally, we might decide to juggle just a little too fast, too much.  We have our limitations, and as we get near that, we strain our focus, our energies, and we sacrifice  performance for mediocrity that does not impress.  When we do sidelines beyond our means, we tend to do poorly on our primary work.  We lose sight of our intended goals, and just see the blurry motion of all the works we put into our own hands.  Soon, we will make a mistake and we are left with a mess on the floor when things just crash and fall apart.