Balancing hustle. Does that even exist?

You get home from work full of energy, have managed to accomplish everything on your to-do list (including the gym) and you are ready to work on your side hustle!

 

Those of us who work a 9-5 job and are simultaneously building businesses know a different version of this story. It goes a little like this: You get home from your 9-5, mentally and emotionally drained from a multitude of external factors. All you want to do is change into your sweats, crawl into bed and zone out to your latest Netflix guilty pleasure. Deep down you know you need to work on your side business, but ugh, you are just too worn out plus you have tomorrow! Yea, you will for sure work on it tomorrow! And, the cycle continues.  

This leads you to be sporadic and inconsistent with working on your business which keeps you stuck in the same place year after year. And this is coming from someone who has continued the aforementioned vicious cycle for 2 years and only very recently made the decision to break it. 

Whether you’re trying to ditch the 9-5 grind or trying to balance your passions while working full time, I have a few words for you girl! 

 

Forward Is Forward & Momentum Is Everything 

When you wake up in the morning commit to doing one thing every day that drives your business forward. This can be as simple as reading two articles for research on an upcoming blog topic or as big as writing the blog post itself! 

You’ll be amazed when you look back and see how much the little steps added up. This will help build the momentum you need in order to stay consistent long enough to see the progress and success you crave! 

As you build these little steps into your routine, committing your time to your business will become a force of habit.

 

Calendars & Planners Are Your Best Friend

It doesn’t matter if you use a digital calendar, or an old-fashioned pen and planner. As a modern girl boss, you need to have your affairs in order. Knowing where you’re going and what you need to do each day will relieve so much stress from your daily tasks. 

One thing that helped me to balance my job and business was to designate hustle days and free days in the calendar. This way I could pre-plan my post-job hustle days without feeling overwhelmed and working twenty-four-seven. You still need to take free days to enjoy your time and practice self-care. Not only does downtime help your clear your thoughts, but It can be easy to get lost within your social life and push aside your own obligations if you’re not holding yourself accountable. it’s necessary for your health. 

 

 

Evaluate What Your Biggest Time-Sucks Are 

Ok, this is where you have to get real with yourself. What exactly are you spending your time on that is keeping you from working your biz? One thing that helped me was to limit post-work social happenings on weekdays. If someone wants to hang out with me then they have to wait until the weekend.

An exercise I recommend is auditing your planner/calendar and see what you did each day for the last two weeks. Once your audit is complete, I want you to write down a list of everything you need and want to do after work. How does that compare to what you actually did? How well do these align with your vision and business?

It can be easy to get lost within your social life and push aside your own obligations if you’re not holding yourself accountable. Your audit will help you visualize how you’re spending your time if you haven’t been paying attention. 

 

Give Yourself A Break From The Hustle

If you’re like me after working eight hours, you have the added pleasure of sitting in traffic for about an hour (thankfully my new commute is half that but still traffic is traffic). 

Here is my advice, when you get home from work give yourself an hour to just chill and recharge. Grab a snack and watch just one episode of whatever show you want, or whatever it is you do to relax. Forget about the hustle. Once the episode is done, relax time is over and it’s time to get back to work. If you think you won’t get distracted then you can even let the show play in the background while you work!

 

Be Stronger Than Your Excuses 

Hey girl, this is a friendly reminder that you are in control and that there’s no real need to hustle much. At the end of the day, the outcome is in your control. There are many entrepreneurs who came before us and built businesses in their “spare” time. This should inspire you and prove that it IS possible to do. It’s not easy to do every day but each time you make a conscious decision to act against your excuses is a win against that voice in your head and a day closer to crushing your business goals! 

 

If you leave this article with one thing let it be this, if you’re willing to work hard for someone else’s dream then you need to be willing to do the same for your dreams. 

xoxo, Shadan