How to Manage your Side Hustle and your 9-5 with Intention
Jun 23, 2021
This week we are digging deep into the question I get A LOT. How do you really manage your business with your full-time 9-5?
The first question I would ask you before getting into the nitty-gritty details is, do you really enjoy your side-hustle, business, etc? Because there are going to be times where it is going to take a little grit to keep things going and if you don’t enjoy it, it won’t last.
So I would pause there for a second and make sure you are in alignment.
The second question I would ask is, what is your goal with your business? Is it impact? Income? Community? Just for fun? Because depending on that answer, your schedule, work hours, effort, etc. will look different.
I will also say that I will absolutely not tell you to give up your 9-5, Netflix, or work all weekend. Your schedule and your time are up to you on how you spend them. And I absolutely watch Netflix. Specifically Outlander (currently) and The Real Housewives. (my favs are NYC, Beverly Hills, and Orange County).
Ok, back to the subject at hand :) But I guess I just want to say that these are my “real-life” tips. As in I still, work 40+ hours a week AND run a full-time strategy business.
Once you have your goals and vision set, you can start to dig into the logistics of your schedule.
- Set business hours. I can’t be scrolling Instagram while presenting to my boss, so my business hours for my side-hustle are typically in the morning before everyone is up. And then maybe an hour in the evening. I also will plan/strategize for about two hours on the weekend.
- Set boundaries. Let your clients know when you are available. (i.e. it doesn’t have to be 24/7). Don’t answer emails every 10 minutes. Set specific days or times when you have 1:1 calls. That way when something changes on your schedule it is much easier to manage one day as opposed to random appointments.
- Focused time and prioritization will take you so much further than scattered multi-tasking. Smaller chunks of consistent work over time will make a difference. 30 minutes 5 days a week is 2.5 hours of focused time. Add in 2 hours of the weekend and you have 4.5 dedicated hours a week which is 1,642.5 hours. Surely you can make an impact with that, right?
- Remember that your path is different than everyone else’s. Depending on your goals you might love your 9-5 and want to do both forever. On the flip side, maybe you despise your 9-5 and want to replace your income. Make your journey your own.
I hope this helps with your side hustle journey. With many of you going back to the office (as a physical office) I have been trying to share more behind the scenes of what our days look like. If you need help navigating this shoot me a DM! I’ll share what is working for our team, and our family and help you figure out a schedule that works for you!
We are all in this together!
Do you love these tips? Take the Productivity Personality Quiz to get a Netflix-style binge-worthy resource list to help you find your focus and is customized to you! Take the quiz here.
