Having a
side hustle is a fantastic way to supplement your income while also developing skills and experience is a field that you enjoy. But understandably, it can sometimes get a little overwhelming, having to juggle what seems like a gazillion little tasks for your regular job and side gig.
If you’re feeling this way, or are trying to prevent getting overwhelmed, perhaps these tips can help you clear your headspace and better approach your work.
1. Organize your note-keeping
So you have a million little things to tackle — why not start by organizing everything? It may sound counter-intuitive (the temptation to go ahead and actually do things is there), but
organization is the first step to keeping your work manageable and effective.
For most kinds of work, you’ll be taking notes all the time. There are to-do items, ideas, feedback — plenty of things you might want to collect in one place for later use. To make sure
that you don’t fumble through your thoughts or notes, trying to find the one you need, you can organize them. With apps like Trello or Asana, you can color-code your projects to distinguish
between your side hustle and your day job, and then you can have separate cards or folders for the projects within each. (And since the apps are available on your phone, you can jot down
notes wherever!)
Organizing your notes doesn’t only help you reduce the amount of time spent looking for things, it can also help you notice which projects need to be prioritized, and which can wait a while
longer. Putting your notes into order is like putting your thoughts into order so that everything can go as smoothly as possible.
2. Track the time you use for freelance work
Another way for you to better organize your life is to own your schedule, which you can start doing by tracking your time. Many freelance writers and editors enjoy doing this, especially
since some of the work can be charged using an hourly rate. Tracking time thus helps them
determine a suitable rate to charge for their work — especially when they’ve improved in their craft and can work faster. Knowing your own speed will help you adjust your hourly rate to avoid underselling yourself.
On top of that, you can also track non-billable hours (like when you answer emails, sort out the invoices, or manage your finances), which can also be factored into your prices. It’s often forgotten, but tasks indirectly related to the goods or services you offer are still part of the job, and should be paid for!
On the less financial side of things, a ticking clock (even when it isn’t counting down to anything) can be a great way to give yourself an extra nudge so that you’re focused on your work.
Moreover, a
good time tracker provides you with summaries that allows you to analyze your own work habits. Some trackers can even see what app you’re using, so they’ll catch you when you switch to checking Twitter or Facebook for a while. Noticing habits like this can help you cull them so that you avoid wasting your own time!
3. Work in batches
And talking about distractions, I have to admit that sometimes even work can be distracting. As in, have you ever found your mind straying from the task at hand to check on something else,
like your inbox or blog or
professional social media account? You’ll scroll around for a minute or so and get back, though sometimes something else catches your eye, and you’re off the track for a good half an hour, trying to complete random minor tasks while forgetting about the one you set out to do in the first place.
To avoid this, you can work in batches. All those little tasks that can potentially be distracting, group them all together and complete them in one go. You can do most of your emails at the
start of the day and after lunch, for example (unless you’re waiting for a time-sensitive reply).
Things like maintaining your professional social media activities through comments can also be done in a specific session to keep the task from eating up a huge block of time.
If you organize your work this way, you can tell yourself to dedicate your attention to whatever you’re trying to complete right now, rather than let your mind wander off. You also avoid having to switch gears back and forth all the time between one task and another this way!
4. Standardize documents like invoices
This may be an obvious tip, but it’s useful enough that I think it warrants repeating! It can save you so much time to create templates for your
proposals, your
invoices, and even your contracts that you can adjust to each customer.
One tip I’d like to add is to personalize your document formats a little, so that you build your brand image as you sort out the paperwork. Even something as simple as adding a logo or
keeping the color scheme consistent with that of your website, for example, can give your professional image a boost.
You can also consider pre-formatting some of your emails, things that you have to repeat a lot.
Of course, leave space in there to personalize your correspondences — no one likes to feel like they’re just one of a million, especially not a client. But if there is a good amount of information to cover in the email and you’re afraid you’d forget something, it doesn’t hurt to write up a spot-
on version of the email first and then adjust it later.
Alternatively, if you find yourself answering the same questions again and again, consider putting together an FAQ document to send to all potential clients that resolves common queries.
5. Take your breaks seriously
Last but not least, let’s talk about your off time! Managing a side business while working on another job is no small feat, and it’s unsustainable to be going on at full throttle all the time. To hustle is a common mentality, but unless you take great care to hustle in a healthy way, you may at some point find yourself exhausted and burnt out — and it’s much harder to get back to
productivity once you’ve fallen down that trap.
With that in mind, my final productivity tip to you is to sit back and relax a little every day. Take some time from your schedule and reserve it for self-care — it’s a
common habit of successful people! Instead of worrying about wasting time or what not, focus on the activity you’re doing and take your mind off of work.
You can, for example, add in a meditation session in the morning, or take time out to cook yourself a nice dinner at night. It will do wonders if you can truly enjoy your time off and let your brain recharge!
From
time management to relaxation, there’s hopefully something here to help you out while managing your side hustle, whatever issue you’re facing. Good luck!
