How to Balance a Full-time Job and Side Hustle

As much as others try to convince you that you can quit your day job, start a business, and see instant success and results, the fact of the matter is: That’s rarely true. Building a business takes time and dedication. In fact, overnight success only happens in the movies—and in clickbait articles. Launching and growing your business will entail you getting very creative with managing your 40+ hours at work and cultivating your online business. The good news is: It isn’t impossible to balance a full-time job and side hustles so long as you’re ready to commit and shift the way you work.

If you’re a creator whose in the process of building a business while balancing a full-time gig, you’re in the right place. Below, we’ve outlined six ways for you to shift your mindset and workflow so you can enjoy having the best of both worlds.

Striking balance: A guide for full-time and side hustle creators

Batch your content

As fun as creating content can be, the truth is there’s always something that needs to be completed. Whether it’s launching a new course, creating a new post for Instagram, or writing an email newsletter to send, you’ll find yourself in a constant creation cycle that may feel a bit overwhelming at first.

One way to use your time better as a creator is to batch or complete like tasks in one sit-in. For example, instead of jumping around from creating a blog post to a social media post to an email, create your next few blog posts in one sit-in while your brain is still in blogging mode. Apply this concept to other tasks as well. If you find yourself struggling to shift gears from one specific task to the next, batching may be the answer.

Live by a to-do list

Chances are, you’re no stranger to a to-do list. And, you likely know the power that lies in seeing what you need to accomplish. To help you better plan your time between your full-time job and side hustle, make it a habit to create daily to-do lists. And, focus on the tasks that hold the most importance and shouldn’t be put off until later.

Pro-tip: Up your to-do list game up a notch by adding time slots indicating the time blocks you will set for each task. This helps you better stay on task and free of distractions.

Become a weekend warrior

Launching a business while working full-time will take sacrifices. And, one sacrifice may be giving up your weekends to focus on your business. With your nine to five, family life, and many other obligations taking up your time throughout the week, the weekend can be a great time to focus your attention on your business. You may miss a few brunches or movie dates. But, if getting your business off the ground is your ultimate goal, it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Add an hour buffer

Dedicate an hour to your business before and after work. As cliche as it may sound, if you can dedicate 40 hours to your workplace, you should be willing to give your brainchild the same type of attention. Try waking up one hour early and going to bed an hour later. Though it may just be a couple of hours, a small act like this will begin to build a habit of not putting your business on the back burner as many side hustlers tend to do.

Use your work commute wisely

According to the Census Bureau, the average person travels over 27 minutes to work (one way). Though this may not seem like a lot, it’s enough to do small tasks that may have big impacts on your business. These tasks can include:

responding to DMs on Instagram
listening to an educational podcast
planning out your content creation schedule

Instead of catching some extra ZZZs during your work commute, use that time to take a small step towards launching something great. Even small steps can help tilt the scale and utilize your time better while balancing that full-time job and side hustle.

Get cozy with “no”

As exciting as taking on a new project at work or training the new hire may seem, if you’re serious about building your business, you have to say “no” to some opportunities. Saying “no” every now and again doesn’t make you any less dedicated to work. It shows that you’re looking out for your best interest and have boundaries, which will only make you a better entrepreneur.