Whether it's accountants doing mates' tax returns in their spare time or teachers selling embroidery via Instagram, everyone seems to have a "side hustle" bubbling away these days.

The term is believed to have entered wider English language sometime in the 1950s — when people used it to describe both legitimate jobs and scams — but its prevalence in everyday language has risen sharply in the past 20 years.

Like an oversized handbag and comically-large coffee was in the early 2000s, the side hustle seems to be the latest "it" accessory, and it's splashed all over social media.

Our quest for meaning

But what's driving this?

"I think it's to do with people wanting more in their life," says Paula Brough, professor of organisational psychology at Griffith University.

"Especially if their substantive role isn't perhaps as fulfilling."

Cameron Turner, a business lecturer who works with budding entrepreneurs at the University of Queensland's Startup Academy, agrees.

"This next generation, they're not content with working 40-, 50-, 60-hour weeks, they want to have some meaning to life.

"They have this feeling that they can make a change and they want to make a change.

"It's about their 'why' — 'what the hell are they here for?'."

Mr Turner says most of the start-up ideas presented to him are about trying to achieve a greater good, such as cleaning plastic from oceans or fighting food waste.

He says people are increasingly looking to do work that is worthwhile and challenging, which helps them learn new skills.

A side hustle can be a way of finding meaning while working at an underwhelming job. ( Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash )

Employment insurance policy

For a lot of people, a monotonous desk job or long hours at the job site is necessary to pay the bills.

They may want to do more enjoyable, creative or fulfilling work but feel trapped in their current situation, especially if cutting back on work to retrain or go to university isn't an option.

"There's a lot more of a need for people to have additional streams of income," says Stephen Dann, senior lecturer in business and economics at the Australian National University.

In an economy with more short-term work and less linear career paths, it's helpful to have a diverse set of skills to offer and extra sources of money to fall back on.

When you consider this, the motivation for some could be keeping financial anxiety at bay.

"If you find a side hustle that you control, where you make the terms and conditions, it's a lot more secure," Dr Dann says.

"For some it's going to be an insurance policy, which makes it easy to transition from 'I've lost my job' to 'I haven't lost my job, it's just that my side hustle is now my main hustle'."

Watching other people's success

When you see other people succeed, going out on your own seems more enticing.

"Take Fifty Shades of Grey, which was slightly modified Twilight fan fiction," Dr Dann says.

Forbes estimates the series' author, E L James, has net worth of $US95 million.

"Not bad for a side hustle that was done for the love of a genre," Dr Dann says.

"When we have success stories like that, there's catnip of 'I could be the next E L James'."

But it's not just steamy romance novelists inspiring others to take up side projects; our social media feeds are full of people we know (but may not have spoken to in a decade) who have their own passion-project success stories.

They use Instagram and Facebook to advertise for business, but it also indirectly infects our minds with the idea that we too could turn a passion into a pile of cash.

Ms Neal says her business requires a lot of discipline. ( Facebook: Neva May Cakes )

'I wouldn't have it any other way'

I reached out to a few side-hustlers from my social media to see what motivates them.

"My drive was definitely the creativity, to learn more, and adapt new skills," dental assistant and cake decorator Vicky Neal says.

"Like any 'caker', I started out making celebration cakes for family and friends."

She was working as a chef when she took up the hobby, refining her skills until she felt ready to launch her own business, Neva May Cakes.

"It's an art that requires many long hours, late nights, a deep cup of coffee, and an exceedingly large amount of patience," Ms Neal says.

"But I wouldn't have it any other way.

"I surprise myself even sometimes when some designs come together so well, and the response from my customers when they see their cake is the greatest reward."

Ms Neal turned her creative outlet into a business. ( Facebook: Neva May Cakes )

From #blessed to burden

Of course, not every side hustle is fulfilling.

Professor Brough says there can be a tipping point where a side hustle becomes less of a passion project and more of a chore.

"People need proper recovery from [their regular] work," she says.

"There can be the feeling that they can't walk away from the additional work.

"That gives the worker less time for other components of their life, like family, sport or self care."

Thank the internet

A cynic would put the rise of the side hustle down to some rather grim reasons — a whole bunch of people being anxious about money in an unpredictable job market and an overwhelming sense of meaninglessness in their lives.

But that's not quite right.

Because, as Dr Dann points out, people have been side hustling for years, it just didn't have the punchy name or the visibility it does today.

"We've always had side hustles," he says.

"It used to be the bake stall at the church fete, these days, it's Etsy."

He says people were always making intricate crochet designs, creating elaborate cosplay outfits or writing steamy fanfiction. But now, thanks to the magic of the internet, people who like those seemingly niche things are connecting with one another.

The reach of social media means more people can find communities that match their interests.

And this means hobbies are becoming easier to commodify.

"The internet allows us to find the markets we want to be part of and the markets that want to hear from us," Dr Dann says.