The idea of a side hustle is great: you can earn extra money doing something interesting, while keeping your main job. It may help you get back on top of your finances or pay for something you normally wouldn’t have in your budget.

Of course, this extra income comes with costs. You’ll be trading more of your time for money. And with a main job and a side hustle, your life may have more complexity. Those costs might be worth it, but anytime you have a second-order effect like this, you have to ask yourself whether the costs are really worth it to you, and whether the benefits will be all you imagined.

Before starting something new, I think it helps to take time to reflect. You might consider some of the following questions if you’re thinking of starting your own side hustle.

1. Why do I want this? Get real with yourself and find out what you’re really chasing. Maybe you’re running from something, or maybe you’re bored. It might be that there are easier ways to accomplish your goals than spending more hours on top of your current work.

2. What am I giving up? Starting a side hustle usually means you’re giving up opportunities or just more time towards your current career. Is that what you want, or are you just stuck in a short term mindset? At the very least, you should wrestle with this question. If nothing else it will make you more committed to your side hustle because you’ll realize what you’re giving up.

3. What if it doesn’t work? The naive position is to consider only the best case outcomes – as if the only question is whether you want good things to happen to you or not. Unfortunately, sometimes you work hard and things don’t succeed. How will you feel about the time you “wasted”? How will it make you feel about your main job? Is there a low cost way you could test out your idea to see if it’s worth making an even larger investment of your time on your side hustle?

4. Is there a way to make your main job more interesting? One reason to start a side hustle is that you’re bored or unfulfilled in your main job. But is it a good idea to be taking time away from your most important job, one more likely to pay your bills, and putting it towards something less promising? In fact, anything you do for fun might seem more interesting at first. Are you sure you’ve squeezed all the juice you can out of your main job?

5. Will this create more stress in my life? Understand the potential risks to your health and existing relationships if you take on a side hustle. Instead of thinking only of the upside, acknowledge that you’ll be inducing more complexity into your life, and more things to be concerned about. Not all side hustles are low stress. Are you sure you want to add a new source of stress to your life?

6. Can I set aside money for taxes? Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that every dollar you earn from your side hustle is yours to keep. Your tax obligations depend on your location and circumstances. Set aside part of what comes in, and check the rules that apply to you so a later bill doesn’t catch you off guard.

7. Do I want to spend my free time working? Don’t get too caught up in the trap of thinking that everything you do has to be productive or earning money. Sure, spending your free time trying to earn more money probably seems like a good idea, but you’ll be giving up many other worthwhile things to do in your free time. So make sure you have the proper balance in your life.

8. Do I have the support of my spouse or close friends? Big changes in your life, especially when they affect others, should involve the people closest to you. Otherwise, you risk putting the side hustle ahead of those relationships. So make sure you talk to your spouse before making any big decisions like this. There’s also another benefit to having a good friend who will challenge you to think harder about your goals and not just follow every little whim you have.

9. Will it distract me from my main job? If you’re already working a full-time job, then your side hustle is a second job. Make sure you don’t pick a side hustle that will tempt you to slack off in your main job in order to spend more time on your side hustle. You might think you can get away with it at first, or that you’ll just catch up later, but different types of work have a way of creeping into your life and expanding into the available space. Make sure you’re not robbing Peter to pay Paul.