How to Find Time for a Side Hustle: 5 Strategies for Success

Finding time to work on a side hustle from home can be challenging. For anyone trying to juggle studying, working a 9-5 job, or mumming, it may seem impossible to find time for a side hustle.

Life is always busy and there will always be things demanding your attention.

However, with some tried and tested strategies there is a way to create balance with your studies and get ahead in the side hustle game. Read on as we explore some of our tactics.

 

1./ Keep Your Procedures and Scheduling Efficient

The problem with running a side hustle while studying is that both usually require a lot of time and commitment, and there are only so many hours in a day. Therefore, the first step is to become a master at scheduling. Of course, a fantastic and effective schedule isn’t much use if it isn’t followed, so once your day looks efficient, try your best to stick to it.

If the tasks that need to be done seem overwhelming, break them into smaller chunks and plan for those more manageable tasks.

This step can be tricky if you have just started your studies since you might not know how much time is required. Therefore, it is essential to be flexible and adjust your scheduling accordingly. That way, you’ll manage to find time for your side hustle.

 

2./ Outsource Simple Tasks

When trying to find time for your side hustle, it may seem impossible with your never-ending to-do list. And although it may be hard to let go of the control over your work and hand it on to someone else, this is only a mindset. Start with outsourcing simple tasks that you find are taking up too much of your time.

These days, we are so fortunate to have access to all types of skills across the world. This makes growing your side hustle so easy as outsourcing is so accessible.

People who believe that things can only be done right if they are the ones doing them struggle to balance a side hustle while studying.

By doing this you are holding yourself from growing in areas that are going to give you the most return. The key is determining what needs your attention the most and then outsourcing the tasks someone else can do successfully.

The same applies when trying to master tasks you aren’t familiar with. Skills such as professional website design, designing graphics, or writing content, can be great tasks to outsource. Rather than wasting time trying to do it yourself, find a professional in this area to do the hard work for you! That way, you can spend more time doing what you love, growing your side hustle.

 

3./ Remind Yourself WHY You are Doing Your Side Hustle

Life will always be busy, and it’s easy to want to relax and take time out after a long or challenging day. While it’s a good idea to have a balance, it’s important to stay motivated and still find time for your side hustle.

That is why it is crucial to remind yourself why you are doing it in the first place. Take the time to envision where you will be when your studies are done, and your side hustles have been successful. Create your vision, then place it somewhere you can see it each day. This can be as simple as an image or one sentence that reminds you of why you get up every day and go the extra mile. Whenever you feel down, refer to this to keep you motivated and positive.

It is also important to celebrate the little victories along the way. If you did well in a test or landing a sale, take the time to feel happy or treat yourself. These little victories are all steps on the road to success.

 

4./ Do What You Can, When You Can

Successful side hustlers have mastered the art of being proactive when it matters. It is common to think, “I’ve 15 minutes free between my next meeting or class. I might as well scroll on Instagram”. This might seem harmless, but it is a mindset that should be avoided. These are the small actions you can take which make a big difference when trying to find time for side hustles.

Don’t think that you have to find time to set aside for 2 hours of work. You can fill these spaces of time with productive actions! Reply to some clients or write a quick product description, you will be amazed at what you can achieve in a short space of time.

Even if it seems that there isn’t much time, if you have successfully broken your tasks for the day into smaller pieces, you might be able to finish a mini task in that time or at least do a part of it. When you reach the point where even a few minutes seem like valuable time to be efficient, you know you are on the right path to reaching the perfect balance.

 

5./ Prioritise Important Tasks

One of the biggest reasons people are intimidated to start side hustles while studying is that both require effort and time. It can be overwhelming to imagine yourself trying to achieve success in both areas. However, instead of feeling overwhelmed, practice the essential art of prioritising. By doing this, you’ll be able to focus entirely on what needs to be done right now, anytime today or later in the week. 

Now, if I have a list of tasks that seem to be endless, how do I start prioritising?? Luckily, we’ve got the answer. Here are the steps that will ensure efficient and effective prioritising:

 

Consolidate your Tasks

Successful people often speak of the bigger picture. There’s a reason for that. It allows us to take a step back and access all of the information at once.

If you have a busy schedule with many pressing tasks, the first thing you should do is consolidate your tasks in one space so that you can see the bigger picture.

If you enjoy working digitally, find an app that can help you do that. Slack or Zapier are great options, but many more apps can help you create a master to-do list. However, if you are like me, you may prefer paper or Post-it notes which are just as effective.

 

Analyse the Information

Once you have the bigger picture, you must analyse what you see. You can do this by following the 4D system:

1. Do: I need to do this right now.
2. Defer: I can do this later today or even tomorrow.
3. Delegate: This is a task that can be outsourced.
4. Delete: This task isn’t needed for my success.

Successful people like to use prioritisation matrices to make their tasks more visual. Kanban apps are excellent tools that can help users prioritize their tasks quickly and efficiently. The apps are user-friendly and visually pleasing. They even include drag-and-drop functions to adjust your priorities if they change.

 

Make a Mini To-Do-List for Today

Once you have completed your 4 Ds process, you can look at the most pressing and add those to your list of things that need to be done today. A good way to help work out your order is by asking yourself, “What task would I like to get done the most, if I could only complete one task today?” 

Successful side hustlers believe so strongly in this task system that they will even list their tasks according to how pressing they are. That is a great idea because it allows them to focus entirely on the task at hand without having to weigh up the importance of what needs to be done first.

 

Focus on the Most Important Tasks

Naturally, we might feel overwhelmed when there is so much to do. However, stress decreases our efficiency. Therefore, once you have created your to-do list for today, focus on the most pressing and important task, and don’t let your mind wander to how much you still need to do.

Every task is a check off from that list. Learning to prioritise tasks can take time, but it is a vital skill to have, especially when trying to find time for side hustles. Trust me, you will be delighted to have once you’ve mastered it!

 

Are you Ready to Start Finding Time for your Side Hustle?

Finding time for your side hustle from home can certainly be done with a little focus, determination, and grit. Having a side hustle can be very fulfilling and rewarding when your hard work pays off and begins to generate income.

By following our strategies for success daily, you will be amazed at how easy it is to find time for your side hustle, while studying! And you will find that tasks that once seemed intimidating would have become a walk in the park. Be ready to welcome a more efficient and successful version of yourself.