How to Work on Your Side Hustle When You Have a Full-Time Job

Having a side hustle is a great way to earn extra money. But, if you side hustle on top of your full-time job, it can easily add up to a lot of work and stress. With some simple planning and changes to how you work, you can work on your side hustle while having a full-time job.

Set Priorities

One of the most important things you can do to balance a side hustle and job is to set priorities. Figure out what you absolutely must do to make your side hustle successful and focus on those things. 

Following the Pareto principle may help you figure out what those priorities should be. The Pareto principle says that you get 80% of your results from 20% of the work. Determine what actually brings in the money in your side hustle. Focus on those activities first. If you have more time, then you can work on the other 20%.

Set aside time for your side hustle

You also need to set aside time to work on your side hustle. Find a time that works for your life. Maybe it’s the morning before anyone else is awake. Or maybe it’s late at night after you’ve taken care of everything else. It doesn’t matter as long as it works for you. Find that time and make sure you work on your side hustle during it. 

But, you can just set aside time. You need to protect it and take full advantage of that time. Treat it like an appointment that you can blow off. If something else comes up (barring very very important things like a sick child), keep that appointment. Work during it. 

Create focus time 

During this time, you need to focus so you can do deep work. It’s easy to do the easy things, like check Pinterest. But these types of things can become time sinks. Instead, use your blocks of time to focus and get your most important work done. Ensure that no one can interrupt you. Put on headphones or close the door if you can. You need to be able to focus to do quality work.

Don’t sit on the couch

When you get home from the end of the day, don’t sit on the couch. Doing so is a great way to get comfortable and lose all motivation to do anything else. Instead, do something productive. This will help you keep up your momentum and get more done. 

You can use this time for whatever you need during that time – exercise, clean up the house, work on your side hustle. The important part is that you don’t sit on the couch until you are actually ready to relax. It’s much harder to get up later. 

Use the small bits of time

Throughout the day, many of us end up with little bits of time that don’t seem long enough to do anything productive. But, you can actually use this time to your advantage. These short time periods are great times to get little bits of work done. 

Maybe you can use your 10 minute break to schedule a few social media posts. Or maybe you can use the time waiting for an appointment to answer an email. Instead of thinking of these small blocks as wanted time, figure out what tasks you can get done in the meantime. You’ll be surprised how much this time adds up to.

Take care of yourself

Burnout is a problem. When you’re balancing a full time job, a side hustle, life responsibilities, maybe family, it’s really easy to start burning the candle at both ends. The problem is that very often, this can lead to decreased productivity at minimum and health problems if it gets worse.

Instead of continuously working, you need to learn to take care of yourself. Make sure you’re getting enough quality sleep. Take breaks while working. Take time to recharge. You can’t neglect yourself or your family. Sooner or later it will catch up to you.

Final thoughts

Being able to work on your side hustle while holding down a full time job is a balancing act. You need to set priorities between work, your family, and your energy. By doing this, you can work towards your side hustle goals.

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash