Side hustles, or ways of making extra money outside of your full-time job, can drastically improve our financial situations. By creating an extra source of income, you can pay off debt and save more money faster than you could without a side hustle.
That being said, side hustles aren’t without trade-offs. Perhaps the biggest trade-off is the amount of time you spend working. Being responsible for a full-time job and a side hustle can become draining if you aren’t prepared.
Balance is key, and there are things you can do to make juggling a full-time job and a side hustle easier on yourself.
These 10 tips will help you to balance your obligations while avoiding burnout.
1) Set Small Goals
Having responsibilities and deadlines at both a full-time job and a side hustle can become overwhelming, especially if you’re trying to do everything at once.
If you are like me, creating a long list of things to do can make me so overwhelmed that I end up not accomplishing much at all. So instead of trying to complete everything on your list in 1 week, commit to 3 or 4 small goals that you want to accomplish. You can further split those goals down into daily goals.
2) Set a Schedule
Without a schedule, you might find that you put off doing tasks until the very last minute, and then you become overwhelmed by multiple deadlines. A schedule is important at your full-time job, and it is perhaps even more important for your side hustle.
Committing to a schedule is the key to being successful at both your job and your side hustle. After a long day at work, I want to make every excuse to not do my side hustle. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed trying to do well at both. But once I got my schedule down, not only was I no longer overwhelmed, but I found joy in doing my side hustle again.
3) Wake Up Earlier
I know many people are night owls, and claim that they work best at night. But why not try committing to your side hustle in the morning when you are fresh, void of distractions, and full-of energy?
Waking up earlier has been the biggest savior for finding my own balance between my full-time job and my side hustle. I used to try to blog and freelance write after work, but often found myself coming home tired and not wanting to look at a computer. I started getting up a few hours earlier to work on my freelance projects, and it has made a world of difference.
4) Prioritize Health
With so much time dedicated to your job and a side hustle, it can be easy to forgo your health. You might find yourself staying up late, sleeping less, eating convenience food that isn’t always healthy, or skipping workouts. You also might find that you have a hard time detaching from work, and are in a constant state of stress.
Remember that your health is with you for a lifetime – whether that’s good or bad. It should be your first priority. And, when you prioritize your health, you’ll find that you are more productive at your job and side hustle, and that the balance is actually easier.
5) Automatize and Outsource
If you are balancing a full-time job and a side hustle, you need to understand the value of your time. As much as it can be painful to pay for a service, it could be in your best interest.
There are many ways you can automate and outsource your life to save time, many of which don’t cost much money. If you are a blogger, Hootsuite will become your best friend to help with scheduling social media updates. Shopping from Amazon Prime and having items delivered to you saves trips to the stores. Paying someone a few bucks to do yard work will give you hours back to your week. All of these are just a few examples of how you can save time through autmatizing and outsourcing tasks.
6) Know What You Need to Cut Out
Unfortunately, you may quickly find that you can’t balance it all. There will be things you need to cut out in order to be successful in both your full-time job and your side hustle.
Whether it be television time, social events, volunteer projects, or other, you’ll need to figure out what you can cut out if needed. It’s okay to admit that you can’t do it all, and saying no to things that aren’t as important to you will not only save you time, but it will empower you to take control of your time.
7) Use Weekends to Your Advantage
Some people may find that they want to schedule all work during the week and have weekends free. If you can do that, that’s great! But I typically like to do a little work during the week, but use the weekends to focus on my fun projects.
By putting the fun projects on the weekend, I don’t feel like I’m working, but I am finishing projects that I don’t necessarily have time to do during the week. You’d be surprised by how much you can accomplish by dedicating just a few hours a weekend to your side hustle.
8) Work More Effectively at Your 9-5 Job
Though your 9-5 job hours might be pretty set in stone, think about how you could more effectively use your time there. Even if you have to work until 5:00 every evening, how can you ensure that you are coming home as stress-free as possible so you can shift the focus to your side hustle?
One helpful tip is to take 5 minutes before you leave for the workday to create tomorrow’s to-do list for work. It helps to take the stress out of tomorrow, and you won’t have to continue thinking about work at night.
9) Schedule In Time for Yourself
Time for yourself is probably one of the first things you will find yourself sacrificing in order to balance both a full-time job and a side hustle. And while it’s great to cut out the Netflix binge sessions, you do need intentional time with yourself to recharge.
Time alone doesn’t have to take much room in your schedule. It could be as short as reading a chapter of your favorite book every day, going for a walk, or doing whatever relaxes you.
10) Create a Shut Off Time Each Night
Running a side hustle is essentially running a business. Whether you blog, design, photograph, or own a lawn care business, you’ll find that you are on a computer or smart phone frequently. It can become really challenging to disconnect.
Designate a cut-off time each night where your phone has to be turned off and put away. You might find it difficult to detach, but I promise you, you’ll sleep better, feel more energized, and work better the next morning.
Do you have both a side hustle and a full-time job? How do you balance both? If you don’t have a side hustle, have you considered starting one?
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
Number 4 “Prioritize Health” is very important. Some people ignore their health. I’ve done it before. My doctor told me to stop stressing and to relax a little bit. I’ve been doing that since that appointment. You can’t create a successful business while being sick.
Health is something I’ve been trying to prioritize as well. It’s one of the easiest things to let slide when I am busy, but it really affects my work and happiness when I neglect my health.
I need a post about how to balance a side hustle, full time job, and two kids =) LOL. I definitely need to be more efficient with my time though and need to plan better. Automating and Outsourcing is definitely necessary even if you have to pay when time is limited.
The closest I could help you would be balancing a side hustle, full time job, and two “fur kids.” :) I can only imagine trying to balance all of that well, and give the highest accolades to anyone who is juggling it all at once.
I think knowing what to cut out is one of the biggest things that has helped me. I have been limiting the about of TV that I watch and I have been incredibly more productive. And I don’t even miss watching TV!
Another thing that has helped me be more productive has been to avoid multitasking. Although in my mind it may seem like I am getting more work done, in reality I am getting much less accomplished.
Television is something I’ve been trying to cut out, too. It used to be so easy when I’m at home working on my laptop to have the television on. As much as I convinced myself having the television on while I was working wasn’t a distraction, it really was.
I’m sort of with Andrew – I couldn’t imagine trying to balance a side hustle along with a FT job and kids. That being said, I do a fair number of things to balance working from home to keep my sanity and some semblance of balance. As the years have gone on, I’ve become more purposeful about keeping to a specific schedule, as much as possible. There are so many benefits that come out of that for me that it only makes sense to stick to a schedule and increase efficiency.
A schedule has been necessary for me as well. Without a semi-set schedule, I find that I am overwhelmed and waste a lot of time trying to jump from task to task, never really finding time to relax.
I love this post, I am completely agree with the entire tips…I have 2 side hustle that I’m keeping from years (work inthe cafe during weekend from September until June and dog sitting from monday to friday) now I’m a little bit free so I have time to dedicate to myself but probably soon I’ll be more busy into regoular job and I need to adjust my time a little bit better and schedule could be the key:D
Great tips! I need to be better about creating a schedule for writing posts, instead of just fitting it in when I have a break.
A shut off time is so important too. I’m bad for being on social media at night instead of stepping away from the screen for a bit.