If you are looking for a way to get more money while you build something for yourself, then having a side hustle is the way to go.
Side hustles have become even more popular especially with the uncertainties that came with the Covid-19 pandemic. While many employees lost their regular jobs, some others had to put up with a pay cut that reduced their standard of living.
Many people that lost their jobs during the pandemic and had nothing to fall back on hard an extremely difficult time. As things gradually become normal, many people saw the need to have something working for them on the side.
“A survey reveals that since the advent of the internet, millions of 9-to-5 workers have put in extra time and resources towards making money through side hustles”.
Yes, having a side hustle is a wise financial decision, but since it will require you to add new sets of tasks, schedules, and responsibilities to your full-time job or domestic responsibilities – then you would have to find a way to balance things.
Adding a side hustle to your full-time job (9-5 job) or domestic responsibilities like caring for a child) can appear like an insurmountable mountain. Incorporating some level of flexibility and creativity into your already busy schedule can make it easy. How?
To help you easily balance your full-time job with your side hustle, we decided to write this article. This article has all the information you need to balance your 9-5 job with your side hustle(s).
Your side hustle and your full-time job can work easily if you are doing something that motivates you. If you are motivated about what you do, you may not mind staying up all through the night to get things done.
If your side hustle is not something that you are passionate about, you may end up adding to your stress level. The essence of a side hustle is to add more value to your life and not to take away from it.
If you are struggling with your side hustle that it starts to affect your full-time job, then you have to re-think your side hustle choice. It is always important for you to think of something that you can do for a long time when deciding on your choice of a side hustle.
The key to emotionally balancing your side hustle with your 9-5 job is to:
a. Consider the things that you are passionate about doing.
b. Use this passion to generate your side hustle options.
Doing this will ensure you do not just create a side hustle, but you create one that can evolve into a full-time business in the long term. Choose a side hustle that will help you relieve the stress of your full-time job.
This way your side hustle does not feel like another 9-5 job.
Having a side hustle gives a sense of fulfilment that you have something going on for you. Regardless of the satisfaction that your side hustle gives, you should also recognize that you have a full-time job.
Your full-time job is important, that is why you have to set clear boundaries between your full-time job and your side hustle. How can you set boundaries for your full-time job? You can set boundaries for your full-time job by not doing the following things:
a. Not engaging in any of your side hustle tasks during your full-time job working hours.
Carrying out your side hustle task at the office is an unprofessional way to act. Your employer is paying for the time you spend in the office (9-5). Doing anything else that does not relate to or facilitate your work is unethical.
It is also against the company’s policy to use office equipment like a laptop, internet facility, etc. for your side hustles. Performing your side hustle tasks in the office will also affect your productivity because you will be distracted.
b. Not talking too much about your side hustle to your colleagues at work.
Doing your side hustle tasks and talking too much about your side hustle to your colleagues can endanger your full-time job. Your employer might get to know, which puts you at risk of losing your job.
It is also important you set boundaries for your side hustles too. Boundaries like:
a. Finishing your full-time job tasks during working hours.
It could be tempting for you to take office work back home at the end of the day, but doing this will affect your side hustle. If you are working on a project, use the time set for the project to work on it.
b. Taking on extra work.
If you used to take on extra work in addition to your daily task, then you have to stop doing that once you have a side hustle that you are grooming. Taking up extra work will sure eat into the extra time that you are supposed to spend working on your side hustle.
The key to balancing your full-time job with your side hustle is to create a schedule that works for you. This way you can ensure that you remain productive in your full-time job as well as your side hustle.
To make both your full-time job and your side hustle work, you have to schedule the time or the number of hours that you will spend on both of them.
There are 168 hours in a week, your full-time job will consume at least 35 hours from the 168 hours. When you subtract your sleeping hours, commute hours, the time you spend in church, and the hours you spend with loved ones. Then you would realize that you have just a few hours left of free time.
With all these in mind, you have to ensure that you are doing what you are to do at the time that you are doing it. So when scheduling your projects, be sure about the amount of work that you can do with the time that you have to avoid stress.
If you are having a busy week with your full-time job, you can consider taking few jobs or scheduling your side hustle tasks on autopilot. You can use a scheduler to keep up with social media posts and emails.
One of the things that make many people that have both full-time and side hustle struggle is distractions. To balance your full-time job with your side hustle, you have to learn to make the best use of the time you have scheduled for both.
You can only maximize your scheduled time by eliminating distractions that will eat into the time that you are trying to manage.
For example; What can you do when you have loads of tasks that you are to complete at the office. You can deal with distractions by getting started on the tasks during the office hours meant for those tasks and not perusing the internet and watching comedy series on YouTube.
Whether you do your side hustle before your full-time job or after, always make it a point of duty to cut down on the distractions that might sway you off your task.
Spending time on social media when you are supposed to be performing your task will make you have unfinished work at the end of the day. Then these unfinished works will then eat into the time for your side hustle. You can consider leaving your phone on silent, putting off the TV, etc. to eliminate distractions.
It is easy for you to neglect your health when trying to balance your full-time job with your side hustle. If you focus on just your full-time job and your side hustle, you may stand the risk of being burned out. It is good you make your health a priority so that you will have the strength to work on both.
You can set out some time to rest to keep your body healthy. You can also include healthy routines like exercise and a great diet plan to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
It can be tempting for you to spend long hours to grow your side hustle, but always remember that you need to be alive to grow a business. Anything that affects your health will automatically affect your productivity both for your full-time job and for the side hustle.
We have talked about how you can balance your full-time job with your side hustle, but we know that you would still have questions concerning your full-time job and your side hustle. We will answer these questions in this segment.
There are some side hustles that you can add to your full-time job without feeling stressed, and at the same time make good money. Side hustles like:
Teach English online: Sites like VIPKid and GoGoKid pair English-speaking teachers with Chinese students for 25-minute online classes. As a teacher, you can pick time slots at your convenience, and both companies provide the lesson plans. You can earn as much as $22 per hour.
Write for blogs: There are loads of blog owners that need someone to help them write for their blog. Most of the times you are paid based on the number of words. You can also create a profile on a freelance website like Fiverr where writers are paid up to $150 for a 500-word post.
Take up translating gig: If you are fluent in other languages, you can sign-up on websites like ‘Translate’ or ‘Bunny Studio’ to get translation jobs.
Take surveys online: Companies that launch new products usually need people to take a survey so that they can access their new product. You can sign-up and get paid on survey sites like ‘Focus Group’, etc.
Be an influencer: If you have a large following on Instagram, you can make money from it. You can advertise for brands by posting pictures or doing short videos to market their products.
It may be difficult to tell you the specific number of hours you should spend on your side hustle because different people have different situations. You should not spend less than 4-5 hours marketing your side hustle per week.
You can manage time with your side hustle by doing the following:
Yes, it does. Earning a little more than your monthly salary can make a lot of difference at the end of the month, something that you can use to take care of some other responsibilities.
Following these tips and considering the answers to the FAQs will not only expose you to side hustles but will help you balance your full-time job and your side hustle. These tips are also helpful if you are considering a transition from your day job to your business.
Did you enjoy the post? Sign-up here to get access to the latest verified jobs and informative career advice.
Don’t forget to drop a comment in the box below if you have any questions.
I'm interested in teaching online but I'm not qualified as a teacher. I'm also concerned about the timing since I have a 9-5 job.
I really like the advice am getting from my jobmag