3 helpful strategies for solopreneurs juggling a day job

Trying to run your own entrepreneurial business while juggling a full-time job can be stressful. Even if you’re earning more than enough money to make ends meet, you’ll likely find that balancing your time effectively is difficult at the best of times, explains Indiana Lee.

However, if you want to fly solo full-time one day, you’ll need to make the balancing act work — at least for a short period. You can do this by optimizing your work day and using work-from-home tricks that help you achieve peak productivity. 

You may be able to tap into community support when aiming to go solo. Community resources, like libraries and public transport, can be worth their weight in gold when you’re trying to break into the industry and need to make the most of every minute. 

3 tips to balance work and soloism

Creating a schedule

When was the last time you sat down to schedule your week? If, like most people, you haven’t had to use a schedule since school, you may find that you have more free time than you first thought. By creating an hour-by-hour schedule of your day, you can find pockets of time that you previously lost to mindless scrolling or walking down grocery store aisles. 

Creating a schedule is particularly important if you’re a parent. Finding time as a solopreneur parent can feel like an uphill battle at first. By crafting a schedule, you ensure that you take care of your child’s needs while creating some time for yourself. This sets a great example for your kids, too, who will look to you as a role model for the rest of their lives. 

If you’re a visual person, consider creating your schedule on a free online whiteboard. By mapping out your day visually, you can store your ideas and responsibilities in a single place that is easily shareable with colleagues and peers. These whiteboards can be updated in real-time, too, meaning you can add dentist appointments and afterschool clubs to your itinerary with ease. 

Optimising your workflow

Making the most of your workday should be a priority as a busy professional with a serious side hustle. However, you may find that you end up losing hours every week while waiting in meeting rooms or driving to and from work. Rather than letting this slack stand, take proactive steps to optimize your workflow today. If you work remotely, you can learn from the traditional trades and get more out of the WFH lifestyle by making changes like: 

• Sticking to a routine
• Focusing on one project at a time
• Use vision boards and sticky notes to keep track of the bigger picture
• Plan your meals and take your breaks at the same hour every day 
• Set aside some time for communication 

These changes will aid your efforts to achieve peak productivity and innately improve your workflow. Even small changes, like planning your meals in advance, greatly reduce the time you spend staring at the fridge when lunch comes around and ensure you’re able to hit the ground running straight after breakfast. 

If you commute to work, consider switching to public transport to make use of your time in transit. This time can be fully dedicated to your side hustle, as you aren’t on the clock when commuting. Just be sure to keep a reliable mobile connection with you when working from a laptop and double-check your work as it’s easy to become distracted when drafting emails or completing invoices on a train or bus. 

Preserving your health

Leading an entrepreneurial business can be deeply rewarding. You’re getting paid based on the value you add to the world and can make enough extra income for house deposits or holidays. However, all that extra work may add up if you don’t take proactive steps to preserve your health. 

Failing to take time for yourself will increase your chances of falling ill, too. Too much stress suppresses your immune response and increases your chances of a cold, flu, or virus — something you can ill-afford when running your own firm. 

Protect your well-being and improve your productivity by ensuring that you get 7–9 hours of sleep per night. While it’s tempting to forgo sleep and burn the midnight candle while running a side hustle, doing so will undermine your long-term success. This sentiment is echoed by recent research, which shows that inadequate sleep can interfere with your “memory, attention, alertness, judgment, decision-making and overall cognitive abilities”, this, according to researchers, results in “impaired cognitive performance.” 

Getting enough rest can help you find the energy you need to exercise and cook healthy meals, too. This is crucial for your overall wellness and ensures that you are able to reap the rewards of your hard work in years to come. If you’re struggling to preserve your health, consider speaking to your boss about flexible working hours, as they may allow you to shift your schedule to make time for gym classes and long lunches. 

Balancing your core responsibilities with your side hustle can be a real challenge as a solopreneur. Rather than stressing about your lack of free time, make the most of your workdays by scheduling your entire day and finding pockets of time to work on your passion project. This will pay dividends in the long run and will ensure you’re able to take care of your core responsibilities.

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