It can be exhausting juggling both a side hustle and a full time job, but it is often a necessary transition process for anyone who wants to become a full-time entrepreneur. Now of course, it could be your plan on combining this forever, but if you are currently in this transition phase I have 5 tips on how you can successfully combine your side hustle and your full-time job.
Let’s dive in!
1. Your drive behind-the-scenes
First up is to get clear on your why — why are you doing this? What drives you to run this business? Is your reasoning sound or are there external pressures to doing what you’re doing?
Make sure that what you’re doing is really what YOU want and not because you’re trying to escape a shitty job, or doing it to please people in your environment. The trick to becoming a successful entrepreneur is loving what you do, if there’s no passion driving your business — it will fizzle out overtime.
What do you want to accomplish? What would you tell your closest friend when you’d explain why you want to start this business?
2. What’s most important?
What are your priorities? It’s something a lot of people really struggle with: what is really important? What will help you or your business grow?
When you’re juggling a million of different things and you have an hour of spare time: what would you spend that hour on? At times like that, it will be important to know what will move the needle.
3. Theme days = productivity boost
When you experience a lot of pressure, your willpower goes down. For example: when someone goes on a strict diet, they’ll splurge while they’re out shopping because they have to show a lot of restraint when it comes to their eating.
So how do you go against this notion of loss of willpower? By breaking your week up in theme days. You assign certain tasks to specific days — for example: for me Mondays are for vision and strategy. I won’t do reviews or take meetings, I’ll crawl into my CEO bubble and spend my time strategizing and looking ahead.
To add to the second tip about your priorities: it’s crucial you learn the difference between urgent and important. Because you might think urgent things need to come first and important tasks should follow.
However, important tasks feed the growth of your business so, in reality, they need to come first. Start the week with matters that are important and that will boost your growth and then later in the week you can focus on the urgent stuff.
And for the love of God, batch tasks that are similar in type, like answering emails or making invoices or creating content.
It will boost your productivity and you’ll get more done by the end of the week.
4. Draw your line in the sand
This fourth tip is all about setting clear boundaries with yourself, your clients and maybe your team. Because ambitious people tend to become workaholics and they never seem to come up for air throughout the week.
It’s crucial you take necessary breaks and that you communicate to your customers where your boundaries lie so they can respect them too. But boundaries start with your own respect toward them.
And actually take time off that will create some extra brain space, because scrolling on your phone for 15 minutes won’t help you in the long run.
Talk to a friend, go for a walk and soak up the energy that gives you.
Setting boundaries and respecting them is a building block to success, so make sure you implement this and don’t shy away from pointing your clients at these boundaries you’ve set.
5. Be conscious about breaks
This is a point I’ve touched on in the previous tip, but taking conscious breaks is pivotal to your productivity.
Therefore it’s crucial to maintain a healthy energy management. What you might think are good breaks maybe aren’t.
Sitting on the couch watching Netflix probably won’t further the amount of energy you have — going outside for a walk or maybe read a book, on the other hand, will help you along.
An element of this tip is also being prepared to ask for help, because doing everything alone is not healthy and it’s also not expected.
You can count on someone else and asking for help isn’t shameful.
Be a little bigger than you were yesterday
The most important part about running your own business is knowing that you’re living life on your own terms. Having that amount of control is all about being able to make money on your own terms and creating the life of your dreams.
And I’d like to end by saying: be a little bigger than you were yesterday.
PS Are you in a phase right now where you’re just a bit lost? You want to get started, but the financial side of things kind of scares you?
Then I’d love to help you through those feelings. This summer, I’m hosting a free Business Summer School over at the FastForward Academy for all Belgian and Dutch entrepreneurs.
So if you are ready to dare bigger and to go all in, or you want us to help you do that, I would love to invite you to our business summer school 👉 fastforwardamy.com/bus
Just an extra heads-up: the Business Summer School will be in Dutch.
If you’re English speaking, no worries, I also have a ton of resources for you and you can find those through fastforwardamy.com/freeresources
Watch this episode on YouTube or listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and search for episode 193 of the Play To Win podcast.
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