how to balance a full time job & a side hustle

how to:

balance a full-time job & a side hustle

First things first--let's change up the language. Side hustle reminds me of side chick, and we all know that side chicks aren’t a priority. Nah uh. Your freelance work isn't your side chick. You're not keeping her on the down-low and only hitting her up when it's convenient for you. She's JUST as important as your main gig and should be treated like so. Let's be sure to name her accordingly. I call mine my passion project. (Props to my colleague Billy Piper for inspiring this conversation).

Secondly, let's talk about why you have a passion project in the first place. You likely keep your full-time job for the following reasons: security (paying your bills), consistency (a regular schedule and workflow), and experience (slapping your job title on a resume). Your main gig may even award you some sweet benefits, like health insurance and paid time off. If you're really fortunate, then you might actually enjoy your main gig. You get along with your team, you love what you do, and you're generally pretty damn happy.

And...

Something is still missing. Notice how I wrote AND and not BUT? It's okay for your main job to offer you all of the aforementioned perks AND for you to want more out of your career. That's where your passion project comes in: it’s that deeper thing that you're called to do in this life that, at this point in time, probably doesn't afford you all of the security, consistency, and experience you need to survive. However, it does give you something equally as valuable: a sense of purpose and passion.

If you want that passion project to flourish into your main gig, then don’t quit your daydream! In the meantime, you might need to consider how to balance your full-time job with your passion project. You can absolutely do this--here are 4 tips for how to make it work:

1. Confront Your Feelings

Why are we getting into our feelings? Because emotions are important and provide us valuable data on how we think and behave. Getting clear on our emotions around our passion project will give us insight into the next steps we are willing to take. I encourage you to pause for a moment and jot down the top 5 emotions that come to you when you think about pursuing your passion project…

Got them? Good. Now, consider what role these emotions play in taking action (and inaction). For instance, the emotions I experienced when considering my passion project were excitement, motivation, and curiosity… as well as a large helping of doubt and worry. The first 3 emotions were easy to work with and always propelled me forward. The other 2 consistently held me back. Eventually, I was willing to confront my feelings of doubt and worry and identify their roots. That’s when I learned that it was important to…  

2. Be Transparent

Here is what I was worried about: I recently applied for a new full-time job and could not decide if it was in my best interest to tell my potential employer about my passion project. The story I told myself was that the employer would see my passion project as a competing priority and immediately lose interest in me. However, another part of me saw the value in being transparent about the work I do in my free time. I went with the latter and the potential employer immediately drilled me with questions about my passion project:

“How do you balance both?”

“How much time do you spend on this project?”

“Will it conflict with our proposed work schedule?”

These were all valid questions, and I came prepared with valid answers. I’m proud to share that I landed the gig and my employer even expressed an interest in using my passion project skills to support my team! If I had not confronted my feelings of worry, I would have never talked to my employer about my passion project, which means I would have likely tried to keep it a secret… and that's no fun! Like I said, your passion project isn’t meant to be kept on the hush-hush. So, get real with your emotions so that you can create space to...

3. Get Organized

Repeat after me: you cannot have time if you don’t take time. In other words, you must take the time to build, nourish, and grow your passion project. We all organize differently. What worked for me (Passion Planner & Trello) may not work for everyone else. Regardless of how you organize, you will need to take a hard look at your calendar and figure out what time management means to you.

If you really struggle to take the time for your passion project, then I would empower you to consider what keeps sucking up all of your time. Are you working beyond the 40-hour mark at work? Are your friends, family, or partner demanding a lot of your time? How much time do you actually spend scrolling on Instagram? Identifying where you can take time might mean making some sacrifices. However, it's incredibly important that you don’t...

4. Sacrifice Your Sanity 

I repeat, do not sacrifice your sanity. Here’s an example of a sanity-sacrificing cycle: Convincing yourself that there are not enough hours in the day to balance both a full-time job and passion project, and the only way to make it work is to skip out on sleep, replace your delicious home-cooked meals with hot pockets, bail on your friends, and never leave your room until your passion project is a huge success. I promise you that if you take this route you’ll burn out overnight and your passion project will soon become the bane of your existence.

Bringing a passion project to fruition takes hard work, unwavering dedication, and high energy. Be sure to keep your cup full by nourishing yourself with enough sleep, healthy eats, and whatever else you do to stay sane. If you find yourself in that sanity sacrificing spiral, then it's time to take a break and reevaluate your time management system. There’s no rush. Even if your passion project has lots of competition and you want to be ahead of the game, you must trust that your passion project is uniquely yours and will benefit from being built from the healthiest version of you.

BONUS TIP: Ask for help. You’d be surprised at how many of your friends and colleagues have passion projects and cool hobbies that they work on behind the scenes. Get on your socials and see what people have to say about their passion projects and how they manage them.

If you’re ready to dive heart first into your daydream, and you’re looking for one-on-one support, know that I am your go-to accountability gal! My website is filled with great resources for goal-setting, my Instagram and Facebook have an ongoing stream of additional tips and practices, and I currently have coaching availability for hardworking individuals who are ready to step into their leadership abilities and give their community-based passion project some life! Are you ready? then take action and book your free coaching consultation.