3 Way Balance: Your Life, Your Job and Your Side Hustle
Life Balance – on a 3-Sided Seesaw
I work full time, run a side hustle and try to keep up with friends, family and the rest of life. It’s a real juggling act – and I don’t even have children or a husband to worry about! Sometimes I feel like I am on a seesaw, only with 3 parts to balance, instead of 2! After falling over from exhaustion a few times, I’ve learned a few things about how to balance it all.
Have clear priorities
Having a side hustle means redefining the role your job, and the hustle, will play in your life. Which is more important to you, writing one more office email or updating your website? Give 100% during working hours, but when the work day is over, switch off the office. No more catching up on emails till 10 PM – there’s hustling to be done! Side benefit? You become far more productive at all of your activities when you know the time is limited.
Focus, focus, focus
Don’t try to balance your seesaw in the middle: throw your weight to one side at a time. Whatever you are doing at a given moment, whether it’s writing a presentation for work, developing your website, or spending time with friends and family, devote 100% of your attention to it. Get the most of that time. Then move on to something else and give that 100%. Multitasking is a myth.
Schedule ‘Me Time’
With so much going on in your life, it’s even more important to rest your brain periodically. Do something that’s just for you: a long walk outside, massage, hot bath – anything to help you relax and chill out. Actually, research shows that giving your brain time off from intense thinking lets it make bigger leaps and solve problems.
Use shortcuts and productivity hacks
Every moment counts, so make the most of every moment. Batch your work for efficiency: pay all your bills in one day. Choose one evening to write your email blasts for the next few weeks. My favorites? The Urgent/Important grid (sometimes called the Eisenhower Box), artificial ‘self meetings’ in my calendar for productive time at work, and most importantly, appointments with myself after work, to get me out of the office and on to my other priorities by 5.30 latest.
Remember the reason
Keep your goal in mind. Is your side hustle letting your artistry flourish? Is your current job keeping food on the table until your side hustle takes off? And is that workout strengthening your bones as well as making you sweat? Remember the bigger reasons for making yourself so busy, and you will feel more in control. And feeling in control helps you feel that you have balance.
Keep it all in perspective
Those of us juggling life, work and side hustle are busy people! Find the right balance between your different activities. With these few simple concepts, you can get all the important things done, and still enjoy your life. And now, time’s up…
Keep hustling and good luck!
You can find more articles on life balance on Ms Career Girl here.
