Side hustlers have a responsibility to balance their side hustles with their regular lives. We live in the jet age where everything seems to be moving so fast. In most cases, life demands can be so overwhelming that you barely have enough time to take a breath of fresh air. So, we understand how difficult it is for you to work out sufficient time for your side hustles.
At the same time, life goes a little smoother with more money. Hence, we also understand your commitment to making extra cash through a side business. However, managing full-time or part-time job with side hustles as side hustlers can seem difficult. Is it even possible? You may ask.
Well, it is, and we have carefully crafted out 7 tips that will help side hustlers manage their time effectively below:
1. Document Daily Goals And Action Plans
Writing down your goals, daily tasks, and action plans will help you keep track of time. We recommend that you write them out before you go to bed. This will help you begin your day with your action steps. Hence, saving you the little time you would have used to start planning.
Writing your daily goals and action steps will also help you prioritize important tasks and improve your ability to focus. This will help you focus on more important tasks, hence, freeing up additional time for you to run your side hustles.
Writing your daily goals and action steps will help you evaluate the time you assume you have versus the time you have.
2. Stay Committed To Your Schedules
You only get the chance to live each day once. So, you need to live every single day to its fullest. As a side hustler looking to make the most of your time, you need to assume complete control of how you spend it. Writing your plans is simply one step in the big picture. However, sticking to your schedule is another crucial part of the jigsaw.
You cannot afford to give others the right to control your time. You have to take charge of it. This way, you will be able to stay focused and committed to your to-do list. You should set definitive boundaries on the way you intend to spend your time and don’t be afraid to tell people that you are busy.
Remove every form of distraction like your phone or TV that may want to encroach into your day. Setting your phone on “silence” and turning off your data will help you save more time and avoid distractions. Reports suggest that an average person spends about 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones each day. Imagine how productive your side hustle will be if you invest that amount of time into it each day.
3. Study Your Circadian Rhythm
Although the circadian rhythm is not often used with businesses, studying it will help you understand the best time to work. In simple terms, your circadian rhythm is the time of the day that your body is more productive, and when it is more relaxed. If you are like me, you are more of a morning person. This implies that you are more energetic and productive in the morning than at night.
Study your circadian rhythm to discover when you are more active, then perform your most important tasks around that time.
4. Do One Thing At A Time
Ever heard anyone say “great leaders often learn to multitask”? That may be true in some sense but definitely not true when it comes to managing your time effectively. This does not imply that you cannot listen to an audiobook while working. Rather, it implies that you should avoid working two tasks or jobs at the same time.
For example, avoid writing a proposal for a client while sorting out a register at the same time. Why? For starters, it will affect your productivity and efficiency. Performing various tasks at the same time exposes you to make more mistakes. Hence, requiring that you spend additional time rectifying and cross-checking them.
We advise that you finish a task on your list first before proceeding to the next one.
5. Delegate Responsibilities
You don’t have to do everything because you can. Productive people learn to delegate responsibilities to others so that they can have sufficient time for important tasks. For instance, you can outsource your laundry so that you have enough time during the day for your side hustle.
Although you most likely would pay for outsourcing, the time it affords you to focus on your side business will influence how successful it becomes.
6. It’s All About Stealing Time For Your Side Hustle
You need to learn to steal time from other tasks to work on your side hustle. This doesn’t imply that you should perform other “non-side-business” tasks incompetently. It only implies that you should find out the tasks you can complete while performing other “not so serious tasks”.
For instance, you can go through that article while on the bus on your way to the office. You can also continue making that research while grabbing a bite during your break. This helps you steal some time out of the initial time scheduled for a particular task. Hence, giving you additional time to run your side hustle.
7. “No” Is A Gentle Word
A lot of people shy from telling others “no” even when it implies they are hurting themselves. However, learning to say no to some clients can help save you a lot of time. You don’t have to accept every gig to run a successful side hustle.
Learning to identify the side gigs to avoid will help create the time you need to improve your skill and the opportunity to accept more profitable deals.
You have to be intentional with how you spend your time if you want to be productive and efficient as a side hustler. Although, we cannot negate the importance of living a balanced life, managing your time effectively will help improve the quality of your life.