How to find your balance between your career and your side hustle

Pic: Energepiccum, Pexels

Are you thinking of starting a new side hustle, or struggling to meet the demands of both your full-time job and your side business? In this blog I will give you some tried and tested tips on how to strike a comfortable balance between your career and the passion project you're pursuing on the side.  

1. Plan, Plan, Plan 

Organisation is key to achieving success in any venture, so you need to make sure you're on top of everything. A calendar, either online or a physical notebook, will help you be productive and manage multiple tasks and deadlines. 

Some entrepreneurs like to keep their 'work' and 'passion project' calendars separate to avoid becoming overwhelmed, and some like to just have one calendar so everything is in one place and deadlines are easier to sort out. Figure out which method works best for you and stick with it. Online calendars, diaries, wall-charts and bullet journals are all perfect for keeping organised. 

My top tip: It's important to note that mapping out long term goals is vital for staying on track and remaining motivated! I plan every single meeting and task in a big spreadsheet and always ensure each engagement takes me one step closer to my long term goals. 

2. Set aside time and space for your side venture 

Whether this is a couple hours in the evening twice a week, or one day per weekend, you should have a dedicated schedule for your side hustle. This will help you stay motivated and don't end up crashing on the sofa in the free time you have from your full-time job. 

My top tip: I find it just as important to have a physical space I can work from outside of my home - this can be a local café or a workspace with free Wi-Fi. I avoid working in the places I usually relax because this creates the danger of associating my sofa or bed with 'work', which leads to lack of productivity on one hand, and lack of proper rest on the other. 

3. Look after yourself 

Working a full time job alongside starting a business can be exhausting.There will be some days where you feel stressed, fatigued and unmotivated, so on these days it's important to take a step back and think rationally - do you need a quick break or distraction to get your mojo back, or are you experiencing burnout? 

My top tip: I usually take some time out to exercise, have coffee with a friend, or watching a couple of episodes of my favourite TV show. Doing these activities always helps me regain my energy to get back at it, to keep fighting and remind myself that the temporary stress will be worth it in the end! 

However, if it's the latter and I feel that I'm on the verge of experiencing serious exhaustion and burnout, I take a couple of days or even a week off. This is because I know that I need to be healthy and well to achieve success and reach my goals. 

In conclusion, it's important to do the following: 

• Always have a firm idea of what your goals are, for both your career and your passion project 

• Dedicate set blocks of time for your passion project 

• Keep well and healthy throughout the process – both physically and mentally 

This will go a long way to helping you achieve success. 

Written by: Monique Malcolm-Hay 

Monique Malcolm-Hay is a recently exam-qualified ICAEW Chartered Accountant and is currently working in Restructuring and Refinancing at PwC where she has just started an international secondment to the PwC office in Dubai. Monique is also a mentor and contributes to driving diversity, inclusion and wellbeing within PwC and the ICAEW. She is passionate about providing tips and advice to people who are considering pursuing the accountancy route and also those who are currently completing an accounting qualification. 

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