Balancing a Freelance with Main Employment

Side hustle is a term that’s used to describe a second job that provides another form of income in addition to your main employment. It can mean anything from being a freelance writer or designer to driving for Grab. Working full time is already exhausting as you are dedicating at least 8 - 9 hours on a daily basis. The hours spent on your job is higher when you have a side hustle, so you’d need to figure a way out to succeed in it without sacrificing your main employment. This is where I’ll try to list down a couple of handy trips that would help you to excel.

Keep your roles separate from each other


Image from Create & Cultivate.

No matter what you do, always take preventative steps to ensure that your full-time job and side hustle are not in direct competition with your full-time job. Try to ensure that your boss won’t find out about your second job to avoid giving them a reason to fire you and the risk of breaching the confidentiality of your job position. You should also do the same if it is in a different field to protect your own integrity. You wouldn’t want to be thinking about your side hustle at a time when you should be completing the prescribed tasks associated with your main employment.

Sacrificing your free time

Whether you like it or not, you need to sacrifice a large sum of your free time in dedication and passion for your side hustle. This would include weekends and possibly your social life. With that being said, if you’re careful with your time management, you could still balance your side hustle with your full-time job and social life. I know that it is doable from my personal experience. As my side hustle involves freelance writing, what I usually do is arrive at my workplace earlier than my colleagues and dedicate at least thirty minutes to it. Alternatively, I would keep an eye out for my bosses and colleagues while multitasking between writing and the prescribed tasks.

Prioritizing your health


Image from Entity Health.

You’d be tempted to have a later bedtime or worse, pull all-nighters to dedicate to your side hustle. I can tell you upfront that this is the wrong motto to believe in. It is not worth endangering your health when it is unlikely that you’d be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

As you already have your full-time job to worry about, you wouldn’t want to bite more than you can chew and run the risk of falling ill. It’s better for you to divide your tasks on a miniscule level rather than to lose your sleep and cram everything into one night. With this method, you’re able to feel well enough to focus on your side hustle as well as your full-time job.

Keeping a note of your goals


Image taken from MiGoals.

Before you start with your side hustle, know what you aspire to achieve out of it. It doesn’t matter whether you want the financial independence or a supplementary income. What matters the most is that you conduct your research and groundwork beforehand. This would assist you in avoiding the common pitfalls associated with the field that you intend to break into and focus on the positive side of things instead. Once you’ve done that, remember to write your goals in a diary as a continuous reminder to yourself not to give up. There will be moments in time when you’ll feel that you can’t cope while working a full-time job, but fret not. Don’t be pressured by time and other people’s success. Your sacrifices would eventually be paid off.

Financial investments

It is a common understanding that some side hustles would require you to invest a certain amount of money first. If you’re confident with your chosen field, then start with a reasonable amount that wouldn’t cause you to accrue a massive debt. This would prevent you from incurring large debts that you wouldn’t be able to immediately pay off with your disposable income. Don’t fall for the belief that you’ll receive more in profit if you make large investments as it doesn’t work this way all the time.

It is fully understandable if you are struggling to cope, but don’t worry. Your hard work will come to fruition and your goals will eventually be achieved. With the above tips, I hope that it would help you to succeed with your side hustle.