How To Find The Time For Your Side Hustle

In one of my previous articles I talked about why should consider starting a side hustle and in that article, I mentioned a lot of great reasons why you should do this.

More than anything it can help you greatly improve your finances and save extra money.  In fact, to date, I’ve earned over $35,000 with my side hustle and it has done a lot to improve my life.

However, the next question that you may also be wondering is how to find the time for your side hustle. This was a big question for me when I was getting started and with 3 kids, a wife, and a job, it can get a bit overwhelming.

So in this article, I’m going to share my past six and a half years of experience what I’m doing to find time for my side hustle, and how you can do the same.

Determine How Much Time You Want To Dedicate

The first question you need to consider is how much time you want to dedicate to your side hustle.  Some people say you need to put in 10 to 20 hours a week but I disagree.

I know it can be exciting to get started on a new side business and make money but I will tell you from my experience the honeymoon phase of your business will be short-lived.

I suggest you start by dedicating one-half hour a day at first. Starting with a half hour per day allows you to get used to giving up that time.  It also helps to build consistency as well.

I’ve found consistency to be the key to a long term business.  If you work a few hours one day and none the next few weeks you won’t be able to build any momentum and momentum is the key to getting things off the ground.

For example, I find when I blog consistently and put a new article out every week I tend to see more traffic and consistent visitors to my site.  On the other hand if I only post every few weeks at most I won’t see as much traffic.

Once you are consistently working a half hour a day then bump it up to an hour a day.  Most people think that you can’t get much done with seven hours a week but as I will show you in this article you can actually get more done than you think.

What Time Of Day Works Best For You

Now that you’ve determined the amount of time you should put towards your new side hustle your next question to think about is when is the best time for you to work on it.

When it comes down to it the time of day is really up to you and your preferences.  I’ve personally tried several different ways from getting up early in the morning, to my lunch breaks, to late in the evenings.

So in this section I am going to share my thoughts on each of these 3 options.

Mornings

A lot of people say that they have no time but why not wake up one hour earlier everyday.  One extra hour in the morning would give you plenty of time to work on your side hustle.

I tried mornings for a while but found that it’s hard for me to concentrate in the early hours.  I’ve actually been considering the idea of giving it a try again but doing it a bit differently.

Instead of waking up early and trying to work immediately I’ve considered doing a half hour of exercise.  This would allow me the time to wake up more and also accomplish more in a day.

The other great thing about the mornings is that I don’t have to worry about my kids or wife bothering me.  It seems crazy but when you have to give up 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there it can really cut into your time, but doing your work in the mornings you don’t have to worry the distractions.

Finally, the last great thing about working on your side hustle in the morning is that it gives you that jump start that your morning needs to kick off your day right.  I’ve noticed that getting up early in the morning and getting things done right away makes me feel much more productive.

Lunch

Another option to consider is doing your side hustle work on your lunch hour, if this is possible.  I use to write a lot of my content and send emails on my lunch hours and sometimes I still do.

However I’ve found it close to impossible to get my work done on my lunch hour due to my current job.  Rather I’ve found my lunch hours better for tying up loose ends with my side hustle during the day such as sending out emails.

Evenings

I find evenings to be my most productive time for my business.  Typically, I start at 9 pm and work for 60 minutes.  I prefer this time because by 9 pm my kids are in bed and this gives me enough time get things done.

The only problem I find with working on stuff in the evening is that I’m a lot more exhausted and I have less energy.  This is also when I have the most time in the day to work on things and this has worked the best for me so far.

However I’ve found that just because this is where I have the most time to get things done I’ve also found this is not my most productive time, and this has lead me to look at other alternatives which I am still working on.

When is your preferred time to work on your side hustle?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Use The Pomodoro Technique

Once you have determined how much time and when you want to work on your side hustle the next step is to increase the productivity of that time so you can get the most out of it.

In the past when I would work on stuff I would just set my evening aside and go do it.  The problem came when little things here and there would distract me from what I should really be doing.

Things like social media, family interruptions , and the odd email would constantly pull my attention in all different directions.  In most cases what I thought I would get done in an evening usually never got done.

To eliminate these distractions I have employed the use of the Pomodoro Technique.  You can read more about this technique here, but basically it works by setting a timer for 25 minutes and focusing on one thing.

Doing this forces you to put all of your attention on that one thing and get it done before the timer goes off.  Once the timer goes off you take a 5 minute break and then go for another 25 minutes.

Once you do 4 of these 30 minute cycles you take a 15 or 20 minute break.  The key to this technique is to focus on one specific thing in each 25 minute session and before you know it you’ll get more done than you realize.

I also use the Pomodoro Technique to do other things as well such as read books and exercise.  What’s great is that you can incorporate this into many different areas of your life an get more out of it.  It doesn’t just have to be for your side hustle.

Make It Your Priority

Finally, one excuse I seem to see so many people make about doing there side hustle is that they don’t have enough time in the day.  Well let me ask you this, how is it that you don’t have much time in the day but you still manage to watch TV almost everyday.

I’m not saying this to get down on you but rather to just say that it’s not really a time issue your having but rather a priority issue.  Yup that’s right, you have not made doing your side hustle a main priority yet and until you do it will always remain that way.

A good example of this for me was when I started my first blog.  I had thoughts for months about starting this blog.  I had all the normal thoughts most people have from doubt, to not having the time for it and then one day I said screw it.

I can sit here for the next year and come up with all the reasons in the world why this may or may not work but until I just go and do it I’ll never know.  So that day I made my mind up that I was starting my blog that day and I did it.

I’ll be honest I really sucked at blogging when I first started in 2008 but I just kept trying and learning as I went and now things are going great.  You see fear and time are all part of the game, everyone has those thoughts.  You just have to be the person who says I’m going to do it.

To end this article here is a great quote that really sums up what I mean…

I would much rather live a life of “oh wells” than a life full of “what if’s” – Pat Flynn

So what life are you living?

Get Started With Your Side Hustle Now

When it comes down to it finding the time to start your side hustle it really up to you.  Do you want to wait another day wishing and dreaming or do you want to get started now?

So what’s holding you back from starting your side hustle today?  Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.

Cheers!