New Year’s Side Hustle

Move over losing weight, eating healthier, and getting exercise; there’s a new New Year’s resolution in town and its name is “side hustle”.

Everyone has a side hustle nowadays, don’t they? It is so common now that no one bats an eye if you say you have a side hustle. So when did this craze start? Let’s go to Google Trends.

2017: The Year of the Side Hustle

I like graphs like the one below because it is very clear when the “side hustle” trend started and it was right after New Year’s of 2017. That first week of the year saw a tremendous increase in the amount of people searching for a side hustle, possibly as their New Year’s resolution. Like most resolutions, the trend trailed off around April and May but it did pick back up and has been growing since. The search phrase peaked again during the last week of December of 2017.

Who’s Hustlin’ the Hardest?

The region most interested in side hustles appear to be the  the southeastern part of the United States. Maryland was the state most interested in side hustles but DC, North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana all had interest in the 80’s. Meanwhile, the northern plains / mountain areas ain’t got time for that with Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska not even having enough searches to appear on the map.

Chris Guillebeau’s Side Hustle School

Many of the related searches are around Chris Guillebeau or Side Hustle School or side hustle podcast. Uber and Fivrr have also piqued the interest of these side hustlers.

So with New Year’s around the corner, are you going to start a side hustle? If so, what are you planning to do. I would love to see your ideas in the comments.