How to balance a side hustle with a full-time job
Family, full time job, side hustle…OH MY! Ever wonder if there is a magic formula on how to balance a side hustle with a full time job?
Well, you are in the right place! In this article, I am going to show you how to manage it all with intention and efficiency.
Flash back to 9 years ago, sitting in my cubicle dreaming about working from home or coffeeshops, hosting coaching calls from my cute little home office, waking up and having a slow morning drinking tea, playing with my dog, doing yoga.
So dreamy….
But my reality was getting up at 5:30 to have time with my dog before getting dressed for work, and out the door by 7:30 to get to work. Doing the 30 minute drive, sitting in an uncomfortable chair for 8+ hours, having meetings after meetings. Then driving 30 minutes home in traffic, having a few hours to workout, play with the pup and then start it all over again.
Blah!
How was I EVER going to find time to start my business?!
Sound familiar?
Does it feel impossible to start and grow your side business while caring for your family, working full time, and all of the other responsibilities of being an adult?
I get it.
But how about we talk about a way that it IS possible!
First of all, your dream of turning your passion into a purposeful, thriving, and successful business is NOT impossible.
In fact, it won’t take as many hours as you probably believe it should.
We live in a hustle culture. Having to work long hours to be successful. The 8 hour work week gives us this illusion – to get your paycheck you have to work for these long hours.
But have you ever did a time analysis of how many hours it actually takes you to do your job at your full-time job. Most 9-5 jobs, you probably aren’t working consistently the whole 8 hours every single day.
And even if you are, how many of those hours are “busy work” versus revenue driven work?
What I am getting at is that building a side hustle is possible with the hours you have in a your day and week.
Where this is a struggle for entrepreneurs revolves around the type of activities that are taking up your free time. When you are intentional with your hours set aside for your side hustle, you can be extremely efficient.
Your business dream is worth the extra time investment, it is worth your commitment. IT IS doable.
I promise!
In this article we are going to dive into 7 actionable tips that will help you balance your side hustle and your full time in a way that will help you see success in your business!
Let’s jump in!
1. Start with a Clear Vision
The most important and powerful place to start is with your WHY. Knowing what your ultimate goal is with your side hustle is the starting point for your motivation, the design of your business, your timeline, and weighing your priorities in your daily life and business.
Get clear on your why. Are you starting your business for financial freedom, to leave your 9-5 and create a full-time business by a certain date, do more of what you love, have more time freedom with your family, or maybe you just want to keep it as your side hustle as a way to have some extra money and do more with your passion.
Take some time to reflect on this. Grab your journal and jump in.
- If you want financial freedom, this will help you get specific on the amount of money you need as a side hustle and how you need to grow your business. This’ll help you know what offers to focus on right now.
- If you want to leave your main job by a certain date, this will help you stay motivated everyday, be intentional with the time you set aside, and create a plan that is sustainable over time.
- If you want more time with your family, this will help you design a business where you aren’t working 40 hours per week, but design it in a way where you are only working 10-15 hours a week. This will impact what your business looks like.
Your WHY and purpose for your side-hustle is your fuel and your motivation when things feel overwhelming, when you feel overwhelmed, when you feel like procrastinating, or when you feel like you don’t have ample time. It will remind you what you are ultimately working towards.
It will also help you stay aligned with your business plan and approach.
2. Set Realistic Boundaries
When we feel desperate to make our side-hustle work, we can sometimes be unrealistic with our expectations.
I was so desperate to leave my 9-5 for so long, I was setting this expectation that I should be working on my side hustle all the time. It created burnout fast! I was throwing all the spaghetti at the walls. I wasn’t intentional with my time.
I wasn’t realistic in the amount of time I really had, or how much rest I needed, or that I was building a business for time freedom, but was doing the opposite where 90% of my days were either my full-time work or my side-hustle.
If you want to sustain and grow your business, you need to be realistic. Start with dedicating 5-10 hours per week on your side hustle. Choose the times each day and which days you will work on your business and time block that in your calendar.
This could be that you commit to some early mornings, waking up an hour early a few days per week to blog or outline podcast episodes.
Maybe you choose certain evenings for your sales or client calls. Maybe 1-2 hours per week for admin stuff like answering emails, DMs, or updating your website.
Be intentional with those 5-10 hours per week. Keep them super focused on your revenue driven activities.
Maybe you are using Pinterest. Think of pockets of dedicated time you can be designing pins or pinning other peoples pins or repinning your content. Maybe it’s just 10 minutes per day.
I repin pins in the morning while eating my yogurt. For however long it takes me to eat my yogurt, I pin. Then I am done with that task for the day and Pinterest takes it from there!
Maybe you are a blogger, set aside time in your calendar to write a blog post. I used to do this a few days per week the hour before I left for work or the hour after I came home after playing with my dog. I committed to early hours or late nights to make sure I was finding time for my business passion.
I now set aside 2 hours 2 days per week to go to my favorite coffee shop and write my blog posts.
It helps to set aside the same times on specific days for those activities, so that way you can plan everything around those times.
This will also help you start to weed out the things in your life and business you say yes to that are taking up time but not leading you to where you want to be. Your side hustle becomes a priority like your full-time day job and you can start determining what no longer fits in your future dream.
Time blocking will be your friend. Use your calendar to prioritize your side hustle each week.
3. Use Your Strengths as an Introvert
If you are an introvert, it is so important to be strategic with what tasks need more energy than others and finding the proper times for those tasks.
If you want to stay consistent and efficient, it will all come down to understanding and maximizing your energy levels everyday.
First of all, as introverts are extremely focused, creative and great at problem solving, and you want to make sure you are honoring your time and aligning it with your strengths and energetic needs.
On the busy days, when you have been overcommitted at work or home, this is a great time to go inward and do more low-energy creative tasks where you no longer have to engage. So this could be writing your blogs, outlining your podcasts, writing SM content, designing, or planning. Inner work that won’t require you to do more interacting and using more energy. You want to be doing activities that will fuel your energy.
On days that are slower, calmer, didn’t require you to be “on” and interacting with a lot of people and different energies, this is when you’ll have more energy to do things like networking, client meetings, sales calls.
You get to decide when you will be your “best” for different activities.
You actually may decide that the days you are “on” and have to interact with others and are very busy are the days you want to just go all in on sales calls, networking, and high energy tasks, and then the days that are more relaxed, are the days you stay inward and do the more planning, creative work.
You know yourself best, so honor that!
Need more guidance on building your business as an introvert? Check out How to Market Your Business as an Introvert to help you find the business activities that will align with your energy and and feel ease-ful and doable.
4. Prioritize Small, Consistent Actions
My grandfather used to tease me that I have NO patience. And well… he was right!
I am not patient. When I decide I want something, I want it now. Or yesterday.
I was like this when I started my business. I wanted it NOW! I wanted out of my full time job this very minute!
I threw everything into my business. I measured every action by whether it got me to quitting my job instead of whether it moved the needle forward.
I was inconsistent, pivoted often, gave up, and tried different things.
Here is what I will tell you, balancing your side hustle and full time job requires you to embrace steady progress over perfection. Small intentional actions will have a bigger long-term impact on your business than big unaligned actions.
Every hour you put into your business should be INTENTIONAL.
If you are spending 10-15 hours per week on your side hustle, make those count. This is where you want to be strategic with your planning. Bite sized pieces. Start with a 90 day plan. Set your big goals (yet realistic goals) for the next 90 days, then break them down into monthly goals, and weekly and daily actions.
When you map out what 2-3 tasks you need to accomplish each day, it becomes doable, you feel like you are making progress, you know you already mapped it out to the ultimate goal. So when you are trying to juggle a 40 hour a week job with your business, it feels doable to set aside 15 -30 minutes to do small tasks each day. These micro-tasks are designed to get you to where you desire to be.
This could be outlining your blog post for the week during your lunch break on Monday, recording your 20 minute podcast episode on Thursdays before work, drafting your weekly newsletter on Sunday mornings while drinking your coffee. Maybe on Saturday mornings before the kids get up, you take a class on learning something that will help you in our business like learning SEO or how to edit your podcast.
When you approach your side-hustle this strategically, you can see how doable it all is. It is possible and each activity is moving your forward.
Need help mapping out your 90 day plan, grab the BECOMING Quarterly Journal and Planner. This will be a game changer in setting aside time for your side hustle.
5. Build a Routine that Respects Your Energy
Lesson from my own experience – winging it will only create overwhelm, frustration, and inconsistency. And inconsistency in your business strategy leads to inconsistency in your business success.
This is where routines are going to be so valuable to you. You have a lot to balance. And WAITING to find time for your next business task is not going to lead you to the results you desire. Just like you know when you have to be at your full time job, it’s time to have the same mindset around your side-hustle. When are you going to be present for your business?
Schedules are going to help you move the needle forward.
Each of your days and weeks need to have a routine that balances your full time job, your business, and your DOWNTIME to recharge. You can’t keep chugging along. You need to also schedule play time, self-care, and life. After all, your business WHY probably revolves around wanting more time and financial freedom to enjoy life, am I right?
There are countless methods and tools and apps to help with your time management and routines. I have tried them all. Right now I use a mixture of Google Calendar for time blocking each day, and Trello for managing my projects like my podcast and THE JOURNAL articles and any other business projects I’m working on.
You can also set aside time to do something called the pomodoro technique where you set aside time for tasks and do short bursts of tasks in 25-30 minute intervals with 5-10 minute breaks in between your bursts of work. This maximizes your focus time on each task so you can be efficient, not be distracted, and feel like you are being highlly productive when you have limited time.
For the next few months, try different methods to manage your time and business. This will not be a one size fits all situation. Right now in your life a specific method may work for you, but in a few months, you may need to try something new. Its not about how you manage your time, it’s that you are actually doing it.
Commit to creating routines for yourself. Commit for at least 90 days. Keep you eye on the prize – progress in your business and a healthier balance in your life.
Keep in mind that life is going to LIFE. Meaning, life is going to happen and some days and weeks you may be thrown off. That’s ok. You just adjust as you go while also keep your goals as the ultimate destination.
And don’t forget that your self-care, downtime, and playtime are non-negotiables. It has to be part of your routine whatever that looks like – coffee dates, movie nights, reading books, taking a bath, weekly massages, daily exercise, yoga classes. Make sure that those are in your time-blocking too!
Here’s another article that will get you jump started with 7 Powerful Daily Habits for Entrepreneur Success.
6. Delegate and Simplify
You may be wondering: “ but how can I do it all?!”
Here’s the good news, you don’t need to, nor SHOULD you! It is all about keeping it SIMPLE.
My motto in my business is not KISS – Keep It Simple, Sweetie!
When you look at your goals and what it will take to reach them, that is when you ask yourself how you can make them as easy as possible.
This is where outsourcing and automating come into play. Think about the tasks that aren’t your strengths or that you have to do often. Where can you hire someone to do those tasks, or utilize an app or system to automate the process?
If you want a healthier balance between your side hustle and your full time job, you need to maximize your time and focus on the things that matter and that YOU alone need to be doing. All other tasks can be things you get assistance with.
For instance, hiring someone who can format and schedule your emails or blog posts or podcasts or social media posts.
You can use an email system to automate your welcome system when people sign up for your email.
You can utilize Calendly or Acuity to make it easy for potential clients or clients to schedule calls with you.
I use CastMagic to help me with my Title, descriptions, social posts, show notes and more when it comes to my podcast episodes.
One way I recently simplified my business is by using ChatGPT to help me outline THE JOURNAL articles. ChatGPT also helps me write the Titles and Descriptions for my Pinterest pins and the Headlines for the pin images.
ChatGPT also helped me write my THRIVE in 2025 sales page and outline the past two journaling workshops I held.
I know my weaknesses as an entrepreneur and a coach. ChatGPT and the magic of AI help me to stay focused on what I am good at and fill the holes where I struggle. I have limited time and energy, so I outsource those pieces that would expend too much energy or take up too much of my time. Things that don’t come easy for me.
I know I am not great at articulating my messaging. I can write my articles freely and easily, but outlining to start challenges me. Same with my sales pages. I know HOW I help my clients, but articulating it is a challenge to me, and that is where AI comes in.
I’ve hired people to write copy for me, create images for me, create my mindset quiz for me.
That has allowed me to stay in my zone of genius as a writer and a coach.
Most of these things I would have had to push off to when I had an ample amount of time and energy or I would’ve never stepped up and taken action at all.
Don’t be afraid of finding ways to make things easy for you in your business.
It’s about simplifying and creating ease so you continue to enjoy your business, while also balancing your full time job, family, and personal life.
7. Celebrate Small Wins
The most important thing about finding and maintaining a perfect balance between your side hustle and your full time job is to focus on and celebrate your progress. When you keep your eye on how you are moving forward, how far you’ve come and small milestones, you will recognize how it is all working out even if you have limited time to set-aside for your business.
This is how you keep your momentum going and build your confidence as an entrepreneur. Small wins are actually big milestones when you think about where you were 6 months or a year ago. Little things like someone replying to your email, having 5 people listen to our podcast, writing a blog post and hitting publish, are all leading to the expansion of your side-hustle.
These small wins will help you when your confidence wanes, or you have doubts and fears that pop up. When you can see that you’ve done hard things, figured things out, and are consistently taking action, you are slowly taking on the new identity of business owner. You are creating evidence that it is possible for you.
Take some time each week to journal about what you’ve accomplished. Make this a new habit.
When you start to do this consistently, those little moments here and there where you carve our time to focus on your side-hustle will all of a sudden feel SO worth it. You’ll see how those 1 hour here and there are actually making a big impact on your goals.
Conclusion
Balancing your side hustle while working your full time job is totally doable and possible.
All it takes is intentional strategies, a routine, managing your time, and being completely clear on why you want this business in the first place.
Finding the right balance is based on trial and error. It’s finding what is best for you. And you want to find the methods that will allow you to be consistent, that will utilize your energy best, and feel doable with your schedule and time constraints.
It won’t look like anyone else’s structure. It should feel good, doable and ease-ful for you.
Finding balance is NOT about throwing spaghetti at the walls, It’s about having clear boundaries, routines, structures, and plans.
Now it’s time for you to get started!
Here are some great resources to help you get started
- BECOMING Quarterly Journal and Planner
- Daily Habit Tracker for Successful Entrepreneurs
- Aligned Business Planner
- Daily Reflections Journaling Page
If you need help finding your balance and creating a strategy and schedule to help you get started, book a free 30 minute Momentum Call and we will chat about where you need support and direction and create a plan for you.
Next Steps
If you are ready to find a healthy balance between confidently building your side-hustle with ease and managing your full-time job, check out BREAKTHOUGH or sign up for a free 30 minute momentum call today.
It’s time to stop sitting on the sidelines and start seeing the results you desire!
