Balancing a side hustle while working full time can be difficult. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed, but you shouldn’t be punished for pursuing a successful career. You can learn to balance both careers while still having a life outside of your work.
Whether you have been juggling two jobs for a while or are just beginning to branch into entrepreneurship, here are 7 tips for balancing a side hustle while working full time.
1. Take Advantage of Your Weekends
The weekends are YOUR time to work on your passion project. Use your weekends to generate new content and put time into your business. Utilize your weekends!
2. Make Your Lunch Breaks Productive
Whether it’s taking a course, listening to a podcast for entrepreneurs, reading a relevant book to your business, or working on your side-hustle, your lunch breaks should be maxed to their full potential.
You don’t have to do this every day, but it is vital to your goals to use your time productively.
3. Plan Ahead
You will be way less stressed about everything you need to get done if you plan ahead. You will save yourself many late nights and the possibility of burnout planning your weeks out hour-by-hour.
4. Get Organized
You must be organized if you plan to balance a full-time job and side hustle. Utilize calendars, planners, color coding, time-blocking, and other organizational tools to help you get (and stay) organized.
I recommend creating a Google account so you can use Google Docs, Google Keep, and Google Calendar.
These are AMAZING organizational and planning tools, and you don’t have to worry about saving your files. You can log onto your Google account from any computer or tablet to access your documents.
Here are the best organizational tools (in my opinion):
- Google Docs: Better than Microsoft Word because your work gets saved automatically. You can create folders and upload pictures, Word documents, Pdfs and more into Google Drive. I write my blog posts in Google Docs before I upload it to WordPress. Google Docs is also a great place to keep your Brand Kit and business inspiration.
- Google Calendar: Organize your days months in advance with this calendar that you can look at on any computer. I go through Google Calendar and fill in times for when my content is going out. You can even create multiple calendars. You can create one calendar for work and another for your side hustle.
- Google Keep: This is basically like your Notes app on crack. You can color code your notes, share them, add pictures, create groups, and more.
- A Desk Calendar: Desk calendars are great because they are right in front of your face at all times. I only mark big events and holidays on the desk calendar so it never gets too messy.
- A Daily Planner: I buy one big 12-month planner every year to organize my life. Look at this planner ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. Use different colored pens for different categories of tasks (blue for your side hustle tasks, pink for work-related tasks, black for appointments, and purple for meetings). Some planners even have note sections, which you can use to meal-prep for the week and save you extra time!
Here are some great planners that I highly recommend:
5. Get Some Sleep
Your brain needs rest. It is not sustainable to go full-speed 24/7. Let yourself rest to renew your energy and lower your stress levels. You will be able to think clearer and make better professional decisions after a good night’s sleep.
6. Take Mental Health Breaks
Juggling two careers can take its toll on your mental and physical health. It’s good for your soul to take a 30-minute break here and there, or schedule yourself a vacation.
Have a spa night on Sundays and reset your focus for the week. Allowing yourself the grace to rest and relax will put you back in a clear headspace to remember your goals. Have a glass of water and stay hydrated.
[RELATED POST: 11 STRESS RELIEF ACTIVITIES TO DECOMPRESS FROM THE OFFICE]
7. Wake Up Earlier
No one really wants to do this, but it is necessary if you have limited time available to yourself and business during the day.
Waking up earlier will give you an extra hour or two in your day (it’s literally giving you the gift of time).
You can use this time to focus on your goals, plan your day, meditate, hit the gym, listen to a motivational podcast, and much more.
Here are some more ideas to establish a productive morning routine fully utilize your mornings.
These were 7 of my best tips for balancing a side hustle while working full time. Having a side hustle when you already have a job can be intimidating, but don’t let that deter you from following your passion!
There are so many ways you can develop a solid routine that will make working two jobs much easier, so keep going!
I hope this helps you!
Xo,
Layton
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Caroline says
If my bed was that beautiful I would certainly get plenty of rest! Love these tips 🙂
Anonymous says
❤️