How to Make Time for Your Side Hustle [Time Management Tips]
Some of us just can’t quit our day jobs. Whether it’s the income, the benefits package, or job security, it’s essential to find that one job you like enough not to leave. That doesn’t mean your passion project needs to take a back seat. But learning how to make time for your side hustle can be challenging in solo play!
What Does Side Hustle Mean Exactly?
In short, a side hustle is a second job. The term side hustle has been around since the early 2000s. But it has recently become more mainstream. Having a side hustle means you’re doing something on the side that’s not part of your full-time job.
It can be something such as babysitting or something more complex like starting your own business.
Therefore, a side hustle is a part-time, freelance job or business that you do on the side of your full-time job. And it’s not necessary to quit your day job to have a side hustle! But it can be a great way to make extra money while doing something you enjoy. That’s why it is also often a passion project.
Why Is Having a Side Hustle a Good Idea?
Let’s face it, 9–5 can be grueling. Particularly if you feel like it’s not paying off. Therefore, one of the benefits of having a side hustle is that you can earn extra income without quitting your full-time job.
Also, side hustles are a good idea as they are a way of learning new skills and having more experience. That could either help you get better at your full-time job or open up new possibilities in another industry.
It’s also an opportunity to grow your professional network. And enable you to test out new business ideas without risking all your savings!
The internet has made it easier to set up and run a profitable side hustle. You don’t need expensive equipment, physical space, or employees — just a computer and a good internet connection!
Time Management Tips for Full-Time Workers
Having a side hustle is great. But time management might be a big problem for many full-time workers. Making it even harder to achieve financial freedom or the success you’re looking for.
So if you are a full-time worker thinking about how to make time for a side hustle, we’ll share tips to manage your time. So that you can be your boss today without leaving your full-time job!
#1: Deep Work
Many forms of work can boost productivity and help you with time management. One is deep work, a concept coined by Cal Newport, author of the book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.
According to Newport, this is a state of maximum concentration. The mind works to its full potential, allowing you to acquire complex knowledge. In addition, the Georgetown University teacher assures that it helps produce quality work.
To achieve deep work, Newport argues that one should work without interruptions, for more or less long periods (between 60–90 minutes) daily.
However, the author clarifies that this work must be differentiated from superficial work. Superficial work doesn’t require high levels of concentration. It can be automated with the help of technological tools. And it can even be performed ‘simultaneously’ with other operational tasks.
#2: To-Do Lists
If you’re seeking to learn how to make time for a side hustle, creating to-do lists is one of the oldest productivity tips. Keeping to-do lists is very useful, especially for professionals who have a lot of things on their plate and must juggle several tasks at a time, such as side hustlers.
Indeed, to-do lists allow you to break down what seem to be overwhelming tasks into manageable pieces. And distribute them over the week or month!
You can always stick to the pen & paper method too!
#3: Use Calendars
🗓 If you have multiple and diverse tasks per day, Google Calendar will be your best friend! This tool allows you to view your calendar from various devices, add reminders automatically from Gmail, and see your schedule in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Calendly is a different option, but also great to manage your time. It allows other people to see your available dates and book a meeting or register for an event. It basically eliminates the need of emailing back and forth with someone to set a meetup.
#4: Make Time for Yourself
Having a full-time job and making time for a side hustle might be draining. Therefore, resting from work is essential to prevent burnout. Or other uncomfortable and unhealthy symptoms. That’s why, although it may seem counterintuitive, we should give both our bodies and brains time to rest and recharge to achieve focus.
Meditating helps you calm your thoughts and create a blank slate where concentration can happen. Calm, with plenty of meditations, allows you to have a productive rest to recharge your mind.
On the other hand, exercising allows your mind to get a break while your body energizes at the same time. You can use tools like Fitbit to achieve this purpose, motivating you to work out and monitoring your health.
#5: Automate
Automating takes time, but it will save you numerous hours once you have the systems set up. Automating can make a big difference, allowing you to concentrate on growth and ditch the time-consuming day-to-day operations.
#6: Join an Accountability Group
If you’re finding it hard to make time for a side hustle, joining an accountability group could be your solution! When motivation and willpower fail, support is essential. That’s when accountability groups come into play to help you manage your time and boost your productivity.
Online accountability groups are communities that help people get motivated and enhance their discipline, two qualities that are crucial to achieving any goal. In terms of exercise and sports, an accountability partner’s role could be compared to that of a trainer or coach: it’s their goal to take your game to the next level.
#7: Develop Smart Workflows
If you’re looking for your side hustle to evolve and learn how to manage your time in the process, you must develop strategies that enable the achievement of your goals and simplify work.
Evaluating, documenting, and formalizing work methods are good techniques to improve efficiency.
Another tip is to set goals in time reduction per task. It will help you recognize failures in the process flows or executors. Similarly, you can define goals per day, which will help evaluate the efficiency of the workflow and each of the processes.
If you’re passionate about something and can turn it into a side hustle, go for it. In the end, side hustles are significant because of the benefits they can have on our personal and professional lives. They can lead to a better, more inspiring career. And allow us to live the life we want to.
But for many, the drawback is that time is finite. That’s why it’s important to make the most of the time you spend on your full-time and your side hustle!
This post was originally published in Unita.co on September 5, 2022.
