Help! I don’t have enough time to work my side hustle! How do I find the energy to work on my passion when I’ve just finished working all day?! I am feeling beat down…
Have you ever had a tough day at the office, came home with great intentions to work on your side hustle, only to dive into a bag of chips a bowl of dip & catch up on Game of Thrones before the new season begins? And not work on your business at all?
This is one of the questions I get all the time, “How do I find the time?”
I think the secret lies in “The Twilight Transition”- when your 9-5 ends for the day & it’s time to begin your side hustle.
How do you get thru this? What is that window of opportunity that you need? Think of getting on the subway, standing in the train platform and missing your train. That is effectively what you are doing. You are standing there, hand in bag of chips & chomping away your stress as your train passes you by!
Why did you go to the train station? To get to work! You have a need, it’s non-negotiable, and you’ve done a lot to get here. You got up on time, got ready & got yourself to the train station. Would you really let that train come into the station and not get on it? If you’ve ever tried to get on a train in Chicago during rush hour, it’s like trying to squeeze one more Cheetoh in a ziplock bag, you find a way to get in there!
This is what you have to translate your transition into, the driving need to squeeze your side hustle into your day. You must get on this train! What is it about your business that makes you want to do it in the first place? What value are you bringing to your client, group, the world? How important is it to you to serve using your expert knowledge?
For me, my drive comes from the memory of sitting in my dingy, dark kitchen with a stack of bills that my husband didn’t even know about, an empty refrigerator and two little kids that I had to feed. I had to find a way to make money as a stay at home mom because my husband managed our finances and I had zero access or visibility or interest in paying the bills.
Fast forward to now, I make my own money, manage it and teach other women how to get & grow their side hustle, take control of their financial lives and have freedom to live their best life.
So, let’s talk about 5 strategies for that critical Twilight Transition time from your day job to your side hustle:
1. Why you are catching that train in the first place? How does it feel? Why are you serving your people with your gifts? When I go thru this exercise I run the gamut of emotions: from sad, frustrated and hopeless (how I felt then) to hopeful, well-taken-care of and excited by my purpose. That gets me going to serve others & want to work on my business!
2. Create a transition plan! What does that critical time from getting home to getting to your desk look like? Here’s mine: park car in garage, walk in the side door, thru messy kitchen, empty Gatorade bottles and bags of chips in the living room, the smell of boys. Take off coat, drop my work bag & begin the clean up. Then collapse on couch with chips & dip & Netflix. Not great, not getting me to my goal of working on my side hustle & not a good role model for my kiddos!
A better plan: park car in garage, crank up a song on my Happy Home playlist like Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off!” Walk in the front door, thru the living room into my cozy office, light a couple of candles, open my laptop and begin my Trello list of to-do’s.
3. Have a map! When you are driving someplace new, do you use GPS? I am a Waze girl! Even if I’m going the same place everyday, I turn on Waze to get me there as fast as possible, and I look at it a lot (so much that I got a cell phone ticket on Lake Shore Drive last week:( Anyway, we need a roadmap to get anywhere new and your business is no different. Do you have a to-do list? is it clear what you need to do today to accomplish your bigger goals? Have a bite-sized list for your Monday – Friday To-Do’s that can easily be completed in the time you have.
For instance, here’s what my Side Hustle Schedule looks like:
Monday 530p-930p – Create this month’s blog topics, write 2 full posts, including research.
Tuesday 530-930p – Coaching Clients
Wednesday 530-930p – Work on new website copy, update calendar, tweak any specials for this month
Thursday 530-930p – Coaching Clients
Friday 530a-730a – Brainstorm Business Ideas – Courses, email funnels, etc
4. Have a treat or a reward for yourself that you only get when you sit down to do your work! A few ideas that I like: when I finish, I’ll take a whirlpool tub soak with a sheet mask:), sometimes I have a piece of Portillo’s chocolate cake, too, watch a Black List episode, shop online ThredUp, Amazon, Sephora (not groceries!), etc. something that feels like it could be a waste of time, but it’s really a luxurious way to spend your downtime.
5. Look forward to a delicious break! if you are sitting for an hour, that’s the limit, take a break that you’ll look forward to and that replenish’s you. Make a cup of tea, have a snack, move your office outside! crank up your play list and dance around to 2 songs, say hi & hug your kids (you may get a funny look if you have teens!) then run away, etc. What not to do: check your phone, your email, etc.
I hope these tips help you change your transition plan from your day job to your side hustle evening:) And if you love to read about Habits and Productivity, here are 2 of my favorite books:
1. Atomic Habits by James Clear
A great book on tiny habits that add up to big success!
2. High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
Research based productivity habits you can adopt today.
Do you have any tips for how to get started, take breaks, rewards, to-do list tools? Please share them in the comments below for a chance to win a free Coach My Biz Digital Planner!
And if you’d like to schedule a 1 on 1 coaching session, please send me an email here: marilyndollarcoach@gmail.com
