Let’s be honest, no matter how eager we are to start generating some extra income, figuring out exactly how to have a side hustle with a full-time job can sometimes feel impossible.
Sure, we’ve got a great idea for a creative and unique side hustle, and also the passion to bring that idea to life. However, after grinding away at our 9 to 5 all day, we don’t seem to have any time or energy to work on our new project.
Even if we do find a few hours here and there, the toll of a full-time job can leave us feeling drained and exhausted, depriving us of the precious energy and attention we need to get our big idea off the ground.
If that sounds familiar to you, we’ve got some good news. No matter how all-consuming your regular job may seem sometimes, it’s still possible to start a successful side-hustle.
5 Best Tips On How to Have a Side Hustle With a Full-Time Job
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1.Do What You Love
There’s no getting around the fact that investing in something you’re truly passionate about is the ultimate key to developing a long-term successful side-hustle while still keeping your regular full-time job ticking over.
Sure, you may have heard of people making a good side income by running a parking lot cleaning business, but if the idea of working late in all weathers to clean a parking lot doesn’t hold much appeal for you, then no amount of money in the world is going to keep you engaged and motivated to keep at it.
If you don’t truly care about what you’re doing, there’s going to come a time when you’re so tired from the 9-5 that investing those extra hours and energy in your side hustle just doesn’t seem worth it.
So start with what you love, or at least what you’re interested in enough to keep doing it day in, day out, even when things get tough as they’re inevitably bound to do.
2.Cut Out or Reduce What No Longer Serves You
Your passion for side hustle may be the thing that drives you and keeps you motivated, but it doesn’t solve the problem that you only have the same 24 hours in your day as everyone else.
Herein lies the biggest challenge when it comes to maintaining both a side hustle and a full-time gig.
Add in all those hours spent at the day job plus your commute and the endless list of day-to-day chores that need taking care of, and that leaves you with very little time left to work on your new venture.
Not that it isn’t possible to free up some time by simply getting rid of -or at least cutting down on- things that no longer serve you or contribute to your long-term goals.
While TV and gaming can be a great way to unwind, you’ll find it helpful to limit the amount of time you spend on those activities or, at the very least, schedule them as a well-earned reward for working on your side hustle.
If there are activities or commitments that you feel obligated to attend to, even if they take up precious time that you could be spending on growing your new business, then learn to get comfortable with saying no.
And if you’re unsure what you can cut out or cut down on?
Pay attention to your average day, or better yet, your average week.
Make a note of all the things you do in that week, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they may be, then go through everything and be ruthless with getting rid of anything that doesn’t help you so that you can free up some time.
3.Make Your Side Hustle a Priority
If starting a profitable side-hustle really is as important to you as you say it is, then it pays to prove it by making it your priority.
Even if, after cutting out as much extra stuff from your life as possible, you’re still only left with an hour a day to work on your new gig, spend that hour first before you do anything else.
That might mean that you have to get up an extra hour earlier in the morning to devote time before the kids get up or before you begin your full-time job, but it’s almost always going to be worth it.
That way, even if the rest of your day goes awry, even if the day job becomes more demanding than normal, and even a myriad of other things crop up that day, you can enjoy the kind of peace of mind and satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve at least done something to take your side hustle to the next level.
4.Focus on What Matters
In his book The One Thing, author Garry Keller urges readers to ask, “what is the one thing I can do which, by doing it, makes everything else easier or unnecessary?”
It’s worth keeping this question at the forefront of your thoughts as you plan how to spend whatever time you’ve managed to carve out for yourself to work on your hustle.
If you only have that precious hour a day to spend on this, it pays to make that hour count.
So what’s the one thing you can do with that hour that will help you make the most progress?
Sure, it might be more fun to start coming up with social media posts, but if spending that hour focussing on improving your product or service offer is going to make the biggest difference, do that.
Alternatively, it might be that your product is good to go, but you love it so much that you’re tempted to spend all of your time tinkering with it when that time would be much better spent building a website, uploading products to Etsy, or otherwise getting out there and generating sales.
5.Outsource What You Can
Finally, if your side hustle checklist is so overwhelming and it seems like there’s just too much to do in the time available to you, never underestimate what a big difference it can make to outsource various tasks.
This is especially true for those tasks that, while essential, are laborious and time-consuming and those tasks that you have limited skills, knowledge, or experience in, such as graphic design or accounting.
This doesn’t have to cost the earth, either. Many tasks can be outsourced fairly cheaply via sites like Fivver while hiring the services of an affordable virtual assistant can often prove to be worth its weight in gold.
How to Have a Side Hustle With a Full-Time Job – A Final Piece of Advice
Following the advice above will help you to carve out some time to work on your project and make significant progress on your side hustle, even if you have limited time available to you.
Still, it’s worth remembering that no matter how rewarding and profitable your side hustle may be, nobody should work 24/7 without taking some time for themselves.
Doing so can easily lead to burnout, and burnout can completely derail your attempts at building a successful side hustle, leaving you with neither the energy nor the motivation to keep going.
With that in mind, be sure to carve out some time that’s just for yourself.
No work, no sales, no hustling, just good quality downtime that helps you rest, replenish your energy, and recharge so that you’re ready to hit the ground running again and turn that side hustle idea into the resounding success you always knew it could be.