There has never been a better time to start your own side hustle. Today, it is easier than ever before to start a business thanks to social media and technology. According to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, "New tools are making it easier and cheaper than ever to publish your own book, start your own company and chase your own dream. Never have individuals been more empowered, and we're still just at the start of this trend."
Today's new reality includes more and more people having multiple jobs and wanting to create additional streams of income. Many people are working 40+ hours per week in a full-time job while building a side hustle, simultaneously. Research shows, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor, in 2011 about 7 million Americans worked a second job up from six million in 2009.
Working a full-time job while building your side hustle can be done with the right patience, motivation and scheduling. You can either hustle with flow or work all the time resulting in burnout.
I started my side hustle while working a full time job (working 40+ hours a week); I was dedicating another 15-20 hours a week building my side hustle. I was working all the time which caused me to burnout. I was not taking care of myself at all because I was so busy working. My health started to suffer; I was eating poorly, not getting enough sleep, not exercising and I developed many autoimmune diseases. My relationships with family and friends started to deteriorate. I developed a severe case of depression, anxiety and overwhelm. I was not in a happy place. It took me hitting rock bottom to realize I had to make some major changes within my life.
Once I started to shift a few things in my life and realized that everyday I have a choice, my life completely changed.
I want to share with you the seven changes that I have implemented in my own life in order to avoid burnout, hustle with flow, be the designer of my life and follow my dreams.
1. Create boundaries: When you are sitting on an airplane and they go over the safety regulations in case the plane crashes, they review what to do with the oxygen mask. They instruct you to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping to put it on a child, spouse or the person next to you. Same rule applies in life. You are your own best asset and need to take care of yourself first. To some people this may sound selfish but if you are not protecting your own time, energy and health, then you will not be able to serve and help others at your highest capacity. Where in your life can you start to create boundaries for yourself? For some people saying no more often is very empowering. Maybe setting defined working/office hours will help set a clearer schedule. Spot check where in your life you need to set boundaries in order to protect your time, energy and health.
2. Outsource and ask for help: You can not do it alone. Every successful person has a team helping them. The key here is to hire to your weakness and hire into anything that is not in your zone of genius. In your business, you can find interns, hire experts and outsource any tasks that you do not enjoy. At home, you can find ways to make your life easier by hiring a cleaning lady, hiring a babysitter for a few extra hours and maybe having someone run a few errands for you every other week. The key here is to not take on the superwoman or superman role; you are human and being able to ask and receive help is life changing.
3. Take a day off for no reason: Sometimes we need to be spontaneous. Many of us are living our lives from a to-do list. We can feel like we are constantly planning, running and achieving. Take a day off for no reason to do whatever it is you want to do. Spend a day in the park, have brunch with a friend, sleep in, spend the day watching reruns of your favorite movies. This day is for you to relax, recharge and restore.
4. Spend time with the ones you love: Choose to surround yourself with the people who you love. Life is short and we are not guaranteed a specific amount of time here on earth; so make sure you take time out of your schedule to spend time with the ones you love.
5. Take "me time": When you are working full time and building your business on the side, your time is extremely limited. It is very easy to get caught up in the "what needs to get done" mentality and even easier to forget to take time out for yourself. Taking "me time" can consist of anything that feeds your mind, body and soul. In Arianna Huffington's book Thrive, she states the new definition of success, building and looking after our financial capital is not enough; we need to do everything we can to protect and nurture our human capital.
Arianna is also a big advocate on getting enough sleep, in her new book there is further research of why sleep is so important. While hearing Arianna speak in New York City, she gave the audience a challenge to get more sleep, at least 30 minutes more than what we were currently getting. I took the challenge, I have been getting more sleep and I feel like a completely different person. I recommend you take Arianna's challenge, and see how you feel after getting more sleep.
6. Develop a ritual, spiritual or religious practice: Connecting within is powerful. Surrendering, trusting and letting go after we have done everything in our control puts our minds at ease and allows us to fully trust something higher than us is at work. When we develop a stronger practice we are grounded in truth and remain open to see any possibilities that appear in our lives. Remember nothing happens "to" you, everything happens "for" you. There is a lesson and an opportunity in everything that we experience.
7. Invest time and money into the things you love: Do more of what brings you joy, creativity and pleasure. When you do more of what you love, more joy, happiness and peace will naturally appear in your life. You deserve to be happy and fulfilled. What have you been putting off doing that you always wanted to do? Invest a little time and money in that today.
In the comments below I'd love to know what tip you enjoyed the most and please feel free to share any tips that have helped you in your journey? Looking forward to hearing from you.