(8) Tips to Balancing your Side Hustle with your Day Job
If you want to earn a bit of extra cash every month, a side hustle is probably the right thing for you. But lots of people have their regular jobs they need to maintain, so fitting in a 9–5 job with a proper side hustle might be hard. And that’s what we are going to be discussing here.
Figuring out the way to balance a full-time job with a side hustle can put some time management skills to the test. If you’re working a full-time job and side hustle at the same time, we’ve got some tips from side hustle experts on the way to do both.
Starting a side hustle can assist you to flex your entrepreneurial muscles, and it’s become an increasingly popular way to make money. But there’s some thought that must enter in beforehand, especially if you’re also working a full-time job.
It’s helpful to understand what your goals are, which side hustles you’re most curious about pursuing, and the time you’ll realistically plan to do it.
There’s no remedy for a way to balance your full-time job with a side hustle. It takes planning and patience to make it all work.
But whether you’re spending a couple of hours each day on your side hustle or simply a couple of hours every week, these strategies can assist you to find a cheerful medium between working for your boss and trying to become your own boss in your spare time.
1. Pick a side hustle you’re happy about
Making a full-time job and side hustle work is often way easier if you’re making money doing something that gets you motivated. Gowtham Kandavel, a senior interface (UX) designer who also runs Thrilla, an internet site for other UX designers, said that’s key to creating a full-time job and side gig work.
“Only if you’re passionate will you be ready to burn the midnight oil without breaking down,” he said.
Kandavel learned that from experience together with his first two side hustles, both of which failed. The problem is that those side hustles didn’t reflect his passions or interests, which hindered his success.
If your goal for starting a side hustle is to eventually turn it into a business, believe you’ll see yourself doing it in the future. Consider your passions and use those to get side hustle ideas so you’re doing something you’re keen on. That way, having a full-time job and side hustle feels less like having two jobs.
2. Set clear boundaries
Being an entrepreneur with a full-time job means you simply have a lot of time. You would like to be clear about what you are and aren’t willing to sacrifice, said Andrew Chen, a product manager at Google who has three side hustles, including running the private finance website Hack Your Wealth.
Altogether, Chen estimates he spends 55 to 60 hours every week performing on his day job and another 15 to 25 hours every week on side hustles. meaning getting enough sleep and having a social life sometimes find yourself on the rear burner.
Chen said it’s important to line boundaries with yourself about how far you’re willing to travel to succeed if you’re trying to possess a full-time job and side hustle.
“That will make it easier to have conversations with family members and friends in a way that makes you feel less guilty,” he said.
3. Have a schedule
A routine is crucial for maintaining a side gig while working full time, said Mayuri Kashyap, a full-time human resources consultant who also runs the travel blog To Someplace New.
“Setting up a weekly and monthly schedule helps me stay on track,” Kashyap said.
That means using her daily two-hour commute on public transportation to tackle small tasks like posting to social media or responding to emails via her smartphone. She also wakes up early to dedicate an hour to her side hustle before work.
Having a group schedule for performing on your side gig can help with maximizing your productivity. If you don’t follow a schedule, try keeping a time log for every week to ascertain where some time goes every day. Then, find out where you’ll carve out overtime for your hustle.
4. Cash in of small pockets of your time
One misconception about the way to balance your full-time job with a side hustle is thinking you’ll only work on either one in big blocks of your time. Albert Lee, a doctor who works 50 to 55 hours every week and runs the house improvement website Home Living Lab, said how you employ small moments of downtime are often even as important.
For example, rather than spending your entire lunch hour on social media, use that point to figure on your hustle.
“These little snippets of time may seem insignificant, but they do add up,” Lee said. “I personally find that if I make full use of them, I can squeeze in about 45 to 60 minutes of good solid work during my day job.”
Again, this is often where keeping a time log can assist you to find those small opportunities in your day. And once you discover them, use the previous tips to make the most out of them.
5. Eliminate distractions
One of the foremost important struggles with the way to balance your full-time job with a side hustle is making the most of the time you’ve got available for your side gig.
Brendan Heffernan, the owner of Dunk or Three, features a 45-hour full-time job working with high school students and a lucrative part-time freelance writing and editing gig. Since he’s also a parent, he maximizes his side hustle hours by eliminating distractions the maximum amount as possible.
“When you’ve got time put aside to figure, you better be working that entire time and not perusing the web or watching YouTube videos,” Heffernan said.
Whether your side hustle before work or after your regular job, make some extent of ablation distractions. Leave your phone in another room, shut off the TV, and think about using a special browser extension like StayFocusd to dam websites or apps that would lead you off task.
6. Look out for your health
When balancing a side gig while working full time, it’s easy to neglect basic self-care. But that’s a guaranteed thanks to finding yourself burned out. You’ve got to make health a priority, so you’ve got enough energy to figure on both.
Chris Panteli spends 50 hours every week running his restaurant while also performing on his personal finance blog, Life Upswing. After being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 32, he’s realized the importance of excellent self-care when maintaining a side hustle and full-time job.
“My key to balancing both is getting an honest night’s sleep and ensuring the standard of sleep is sweet also,” Panteli said.
It’s tempting to spend long hours to grow your side hustle but consider what the trade-off could also be health-wise. If you’re tired, which will hurt your productivity at work, potentially endangering your day job. And once you get home from work, you’ll have zero energy to specialize in your hustle.
7. Put side hustle tasks on autopilot
As an entrepreneur with a full-time job, it’s impossible to try to do everything by yourself. That’s where automation comes in.
Jonathan Sanchez works full time as a programmer while running a side hustle as a real estate investor and founding father of ParentPortfolio. He uses schedulers to stay up with social media posts and email campaigns that drive traffic to his website.
If your side hustle is website or blog-based, you’ll try using similar automation tools approximately that you simply don’t need to be as hands-on at the same time with your business. You’ll also use automation to manage other parts of your life, so you’ve got longer to specialize in your side gig.
For instance, you could set up automatic bill payments, so you don’t have to worry about due dates. Budgeting apps can help with tracking your spending automatically, taking the hassle out of doing it manually.
8. Remember your why
Working full time with a side hustle is often demanding, to mention the smallest amount. It’s important to possess a transparent reason for what you’re doing from day one.
Lucy Reyes may be a supply chain specialist and mom who side hustles with multiple blogs, including her main site, Cheers to Life Blogging. She said staying focused on why you started your side hustle is what is going to keep you motivated to continue performing on it when you’re exhausted or feeling stuck.
If you’ve lost sight of your why take time to remind yourself what your goals for side hustling were once you started. Whether it’s getting out of debt, creating financial security for your family, or having the ability to steer faraway from your day job at some point, use your goals as an anchor for staying grounded and focused.
