How To Work On A Side Hustle With A Full-time Job

As a startup founder, the early stage of your business may be demanding. You need to invest ample time into the growth and running of the business to ensure its growth and success.

Dedicating the right amount of time and resources to your business regardless of its stage can yield a lot of extra cash. A recent study conducted revealed that 45% of Americans have side jobs. Also, a Bankrate survey showed that 30% of these side-hustlers pay for their living expenses with the income gained from their side-gigs.

However, this may become extremely demanding when you have to combine it with a full-time job. But, with the evolution of technology and the internet, there's never been an easier way and time to start and maintain a side-hustle that generates reasonable income.

You can integrate your side-gig into your schedule and combine it successfully with other key activities in your life. Whether your business is at its seed or early stage, there are various ways you can start, build, maintain, and balance your side-hustle with your full-time job. You can do this without compromising on the quality of your results. Here are few ways you can achieve this:

Plan your Schedule

Every job, work role, company, and worker is different. Various individuals have different working activities and schedules based on their roles at work. As a full-time worker, it is only logical that you have a good knowledge of your work schedule.

If you don’t, you need to study your work schedule to determine how you can integrate your side-gig into your daily work schedule.

Active management of your schedule to maximize your success and results is key to maintaining balance. Depending on your daily work routine, you need to update your schedule with your priorities.

Ensure that you carefully integrate your side-gig into your work routine without interfering with other vital activities in your life. Exercising discipline and selectively identifying your priorities affords you balance and success in your workplace and your side-hustle as a startup founder.

girl wearing grey long-sleeved shirt using macbook pro on brown wooden table

Manage your time adequately

Starting a new side-gig while working your normal 9-5 can be daunting. Though challenging, it is possible provided you can manage your time effectively. Deciding how to start or manage your time may be the hardest part of combining a full-time job and a side-hustle.

For individuals who have compulsory work hours and work as freelancers or have multiple jobs, organization is vital. Every day, you have to set a time for every task while also creating time for you to get some rest. Managing your time well will require you to keep a record of existing projects and future activities.

Keeping a record of ongoing projects, appointments, and deadlines enables you to work out effective plans for your days. It also makes it easy for you to be effective in every activity you have planned for the day, week, and month.

While working your full-time job, ensure to make appropriate use of any spare time you have. You can use your free time to rest or develop the required skill needed to succeed at your side hustle.

Outsource minor tasks

One of the most effective ways to balance things out as a startup founder and side-hustler is to outsource as many minor tasks as possible. With the advancement of technology and the internet, you can manage your workload and leverage its advantages.

Because your side-gig may be at its early stage, you may have no or few employees. Ensure to give out low-priority tasks to your employees if you have some. If you don't, you can use the help of friends, automation tools, and other helpful technology tools to reduce your workload.

person typing on apple cordless keyboard

Get advice from a mentor and join a community of side-hustlers

Working two jobs is tasking, but working a full-time job and combining it with a side hustle is even more tasking. Side-hustles, especially at the early stage, require most of your attention as a startup founder, and only a few people understand this. You need to attend to the details of your business as you may be the one overseeing several of the activities that go on there.

Finding and speaking to a mentor in your niche can help you find easier ways to navigate through the ups and downs of a side-hustle while working full-time. Having a mentor who has succeeded at balancing a side-hustle with a full-time job can grant you access to reliable advice and tips.

You can also search for and join communities of startup founders like you. Joining communities of like-minded side-hustlers can be extremely helpful. Through these communities, you can learn new ways to handle stress and improve your time-management skills.

Consider working as a freelancer

A great way to combine your side hustle with your 9-5 is to work as a freelancer as side hustle. Several freelance platforms exist that you can register with to get jobs.

Take, for example, you work as a marketer with a company on a full-time basis, and you are good at copywriting. Instead of looking for another company to work with as a copywriter, you can register with freelance services like Upwork, Fiverr, Guru, Freelancer, etc.

Several advantages come with working on freelance platforms as a side hustle, and they include:

You can work from the comfort of your home or office with a mobile device and access to the internet.
You can work when you are less busy or away from your 9-5 work.
Every hour worked as a freelancer is an hour paid, and you can work for anyone regardless of geographical barriers.
You have different platforms that you can register with, upload your portfolio, and reach out to prospects who need the services you offer.

How to Work on a Side Hustle with a Full-time Job

Conclusion

Although combining a side-hustle with a full-time job is difficult and highly demanding, there are numerous perks to it. Individuals who can achieve this successfully enjoy the benefits of a side-gig and security of a conventional 9-5 job.

Achieving a balance through careful integration of your side-hustle into your work and life schedule is key to success on both sides. Building a life and business outside of your work may be hard, but it is attainable through consistency, discipline, and good decision-making.

While trying to balance your work, business, and life, be careful not to slip into burnout.