Most people don’t have the luxury of quitting a full-time job to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. They’re forced to manage a full-time job alongside building their side hustle to pay the bills and keep money coming in.
Unsurprisingly, balancing full-time work with another business often leads to anxiety, stress, and ultimately burnout. If this sounds all too familiar, then here are five tips to help you successfully juggle a full-time job alongside your side hustle.
1. Plan Your Time Carefully
Time is money, which is especially true when balancing a full-time job and another source of income. You may not have much control over the hours you have to put into your full-time job, but you can be flexible with how much you put into your side hustle.
At the beginning of each week, sit down and plan the days ahead. Use time blocking to block out time for your full-time work, and then note when you have the opportunity to work on your side hustle. Keep yourself organized by blocking out time in your Google Calendar, and don’t forget to reserve space for hobbies and self-care.
2. Don’t Blur the Boundaries Between Your Jobs
Stop right now if you’re trying to sneak your side-hustle into your day job! While it’s tempting to try and work on two projects at once, this rarely works out well, and you could risk disciplinary action from your current employer.
Instead, try solo-tasking to increase your productivity and keep the boundaries between your full-time job and your part-time side hustle completely separate. Use individual emails, make different accounts for any shared tools, and don’t get caught using company equipment for personal purposes. In some cases, it can even be beneficial to have a separate work laptop or, at the very least, a different user profile.
3. Remember What You’re in It For
If you’re working hard on a side-hustle, then the chances are you’re hoping that one day it will become your full-time job. When times get tough, and you want to pack it all in, remember why you started and what’s your end goal.
Increase your motivation at work by setting yourself achievable goals and celebrating even the most minor wins, and try revamping your home office to renew your productivity.
4. Shift Priorities Slowly
As your side hustle starts to take off, you’ll need to allocate more time to its growth. Eventually, there’ll come the point when you need to talk to the HR department of your full-time job to see about reducing your hours.
While you may want to jump into your side-hustle right away, it’s best to shift your priorities slowly. Remain focused on your end goal, but keep in mind that building a business is often a slow process, and it’s easier to leave a job than it is to ask for it back.
If you’re struggling to manage your side-hustle alongside your full-time job, then consider outsourcing some of the most time-consuming parts of your business to freelancers. Things such as social media, copywriting, and blogging can be handled externally, making more time for you to focus on what you really want to be doing.
5. Take Time to Recharge
Finally, don’t wait for yourself to crash before taking a day off. Make self-care and rest a priority, and recharge your batteries regularly. Make it a habit to book time off every month, and don’t just pretend to take a break.
Set your out-of-office, change your Slack status, and mute your notifications. There’s no point in taking time off if you’re not letting your brain get proper rest. By making time to recharge, you’ll save yourself time in the long run because it can take a lot longer to recover from a burnout episode.
Preventing Burnout Before It Starts
Managing a full-time job and a side-hustle will be hard work, but it is doable. Remember why you started, keep your lives separate, make time for yourself, and prevent burnout from smoldering before it can spark.
