How to Make Time for Your Side Hustle:
Starting a Business Edition

Based on my 2015 Reader Survey, 66% of my audience works full time and 28% are planning to start their own business. As an entrepreneur who started his own business while working a full-time job, I know how tough this can be.

Photo Credit: Jeff Sanders

Building a successful business is tough, even if you have all 168 hours every week to work on it.

Taking into account a 40-hour a week job, a family, personal hobbies, personal health, social time, weekly appointments with doctors, churches, car repair shops, and walking your dog, it can be next to impossible to make time for a side business.

But (and this is the big but) — it can be done.

In fact it happens all the time and I plan to shed some light on this ambitious and worthwhile goal.

Define Your Objective and Stick To It

The nature of business is that it is endlessly and wonderfully overwhelming for one simple and amazing reason, there are nearly infinite ways to earn money.

This is likely not surprisingly, nevertheless, it’s imperative that you know exactly why you’re going into business and what you believe to be the BEST way to earn a living in your industry.

Knowing these building blocks provides focus, which is the most important element in this process. Your ability to work ONLY on what matters and NOTHING else is the difference maker between success and failure.

Let me say that one again, but with different words.

When you isolate the most important elements of your business (the vital few that earn you extraordinary profit) and spend nearly all of your time on those elements, you provide yourself with the greatest chance for success.

Starting an Online Business

Most future business owners are seeking opportunities to build online enterprises, which makes sense, and I’m a huge fan.

I recently wrote an article just for those folks who are getting started. It’s called the Beginner’s Guide to Blogging, Podcasting, and Online Business.

If you are preparing to start a blog, podcast, YouTube video channel, webinar system, or any other online enterprise, check out that article and dive in fast.

The online world moves faster than anything and speed is essential. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re already behind schedule if you haven’t clicked that link yet . . .

The Miracle Outside of the 9-to-5

Most bosses won’t be too happy if you spend company time working on your side project, especially if that project involves you making money for someone else.

Your best bet is likely working nights and weekends. Well, let me rephrase that. Your best bet is likely working on your incredible new business at sunrise. (Did you think I would miss that one?)

When you wake up early to work on your business, instead of trying to squeeze out time after a long day at the office, you are significantly more likely to make progress.

In fact, I would bet you would make 5-10 times more progress on your business by working at 5:00 am than slaving away at 9:00 pm. I know this is possible because that’s what I did for my business.

In my case I was working at 5:00 am, noon, 7:00 pm, and on weekends. In fact, I worked on my business in every spare moment, both on the clock and off (don’t worry, my boss was well aware of my shenanigans).

If you are looking for your own 5 AM Miracle, you will find it. It may not be exactly at 5:00 am, but there is always time early in the day for working on your grandest goals.

Don’t worry, 5:00 am hurts for me too. There are many days I would rather sleep in, but you just have to care about your business more than your beauty rest for a little while. Not forever, but for a season.

Common Pitfalls (cough) Excuses (cough)

Despite your best efforts, you will likely run into these commons problems. Fortunately, all entrepreneurs have faced these obstacles at one time or another and all of them are manageable.

1. My family needs me. For most people, including me, family comes first. However, there’s more on the line here than spending another Saturday afternoon at the park. There’s also your legacy on to consider. Your family is watching you. They see you working hard and they want you to succeed. Don’t let spending time with them supersede working hard for them. You can have both, just not all at the same time. Though this is likely the hardest line to tow, it is possible and worth the effort to figure out.
2. My health is important to me. Me too! I was running marathons while building my business and I still make time for exercise. The funny thing is that working out helps build your business. Exercise connects neurons in your brain, boosts energy, and improves creativity — all things you will need as you build your version of Rome one brick at a time.
3. My hours at my day job are unpredictable. Schedules are unpredictable no matter where you work, some are just more chaotic than others. The trick here is to complete a thorough weekly review and maintain a detailed task manager. It’s hard, but not impossible to find time in your schedule. Meetings get cancelled, snow days can close the office, and time can free up unexpectedly. There is always time, you just need to find it, block it off, and guard it like the crown jewels.

Next Week

Next week on the blog I will be sharing the next article in this side hustle series. We will discuss making time for exercise, especially ambitious exercise goals like marathons, ultramarathons, and ultra-ultramarathons.

Okay, the last one isn’t real, but it sounds intense!

Talk to you soon!