Career trash truck driver/aspiring artist here. It's incredibly tough having your hands on the wheel all day, not even having the ability to write ideas down should they come to you.

I've been juggling art and driving for roughly 7 years. There is no secret to being fulltime. Make more in commissions then you have to pay in bills. Simple...!

But not easy.

Before I got burnt out, I'd be up at 1 in the morning to work on any commissions I had. If I didn't have any, I'd just hammer a sketch out that appealed to me as much as I think it would my audience. For years I did this every work day and took weekends off. I can't do this routine anymore since the trash gig's destroyed my internal clock. I just have to recover and readjust.

I still got a little ways to go to get a solid routine down again, but it can be done. In your case a well. Even if it's just one day a week that youre able to set time aside.

Wish you the best of luck!

Thank you for the advice. Yeah that's kind of what I feared though. I had a hard enough time juggling it back when I tried to freelance years ago, but I expected learning how to program would equal a fun job I enjoy doing that is both lucrative, and creative.

I wasn't expecting the software industry to take a nosedive after the pandemic and lead to so many layoffs, or jobs for truly entry level software engineers to be so fucking hard to get. I tire of feeling like I am throwing my resume to the wind, or feeling like I need to do free work for an internship just to get noticed. I don't have the luxury of working for free anymore. I can't rely on my parents until a job offer comes my way (nor would I do that to my parents considering they are getting old and will need that money for their own medical needs).

I have a couple ideas I'm juggling, and I guess I'll see how it pans out. Doing some preliminary dives into game development, but even still having a polished game is great and all. It does jack shit if I release it, and it doesn't sell.

I work at a factory on a CNC machine, processing glass. I do not know if this is a success or not?

If you like it, and want to keep doing it, yes

My problem is I don't want my job anymore. It was supposed to be temporary, and became temporarily permanent.

I should be happy. I should be thankful. I have a full tummy, a nice house, and a family the job pays for

But I'm bored. I don't like doing it, and never really have. I hated working in the service industry I was in before it, and it filled the need to make money in way that was bearable. However, it was never fulfilling to me on a personal level. I'm at the point in my life where I really want to be me, and I feel the job is a bad fit for who I am.

Laziness is normal. All animals don't want to work. Humans are animals too. But if you don't want to work - boredom, hunger, loneliness, death. Overcoming difficulties is entertainment, food, dating, training. You will have to work anyway, there are no other options. But there is a choice of what exactly you will do. We have a lot of choice in Russia, and I do what I like. I produce goods that people need. They make the product that I need. We have an understanding.

That's the thing, its not that I don't want to work. I don't want to continue doing a job that I don't like. I want a creative career, and driving a school bus is not creative.

I would get too bored if I never worked. Though I guess that is also a lie. I would end up just creating art, or learning new things, and applying what I learn, because that is what I do when left on my own. I am always busy with something, but it would be nice to get paid doing something I enjoy being busy with.

You can only get money from those who are willing to pay you. If you only want to be creative, well. Everyone wants to do only what they love. But the world is cruel. Everyone has to work, from bacteria to stars. Everyone first of all needs to survive. And my favorite thing is in my free time

What I am saying is, I have marketable skills. I want to put them to use, to leave my current job of 16 years. I'm done: It does not bring me joy anymore. It also does not have a retirement plan, or any benefits. My current option, if I stay with that company is to work until I die, hope I don't get sick, because I have no choice.

I wanted to be a software developer, but that didn't pan out, and I am tired of wasting my time by trying to get hired when it seems like no company cares about my resume, and am at the point I want to do it myself.

However, I am not an accomplished businessman. I don't know how to start, market myself, run ad campaigns, get business loans, or maintain a budget. Let alone any legal issues regarding copyright protection, taxes, registering yourself as a corporate entity, etc.

All of those things are needed for a successful business.

I never expected it to be an easy transition to freelancing. However, I want to leave, and will hopefully be making enough money to leave within a years time.

Don't think I'm scaring you. I'm warning you. Now there is such a situation in the world that every year there will be less money, and even less goods. Another 2-3 years, and you will not have the desire to just do what you love. You will have a desire to eat. While there is still time - master any specialty that is vitally needed by others. Baking bread, making furniture, repairing cars, I don't know. After 2-3 years, only 0.5% of people will be able to buy drawings. Think about it.