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Balancing a Day Job and Side Projects

tuckerjorhodes

Productivity is a bit of an obsessive pursuit of mine. Trying to figure out ways to optimize my time and schedule to meet goals in both my professional and personal life is something that can keep me up at night (to the detriment of my productivity). Optimizing productivity becomes especially significant when it comes to pursuing side projects. For me right now, that's attempting to build a brand and profitable business around my production company, Peacoat Productions, and developing my first feature film. These take up a lot of brain power and energy to push forward, and at times it can be draining to put time towards these endeavors while working a full time day job. That's why I try to implore a few helpful tips to manage my time (and sanity).

  1. Planning my Weeks. Every Sunday I sit down for an hour and look at my week ahead to wrap my head around when I have time for side projects. I use a calendar feature within Notion to assign out tasks each day to hit. This allows me to not get half way through a week feeling like I haven't accomplished anything, and it also helps me space out my days with tasks appropriately so that I don't feel overwhelmed.

  2. Getting Better Each Day. I try to remind myself that I can't achieve my side hustle goals overnight. I'm not going to make a feature tomorrow or have a profitable business overnight, but what I can do is take small actions each day to get there. By allotting just an hour or two each day to my side hustles, it ensures that I'm making some level of progress towards my goals each day. By trusting this process it allows me to sleep easier at night knowing I'll get where I'm going eventually.

  3. Time Blocks. This somewhat connects back to my previous tip around getting better each day, but the use of time blocks is incredibly important for me managing my different projects. Without specific time blocks set up in my day for different projects, my tasks can tend to bleed into one another. It leads to me feeling overwhelmed and as though I'm only half doing everything on my plate. By establishing clear time blocks for my day job, business growth, film development, fitness, downtime, etc. I allow myself to be fully focused on one project at a time and not have to worry about what else I have on my plate since I know I will get to it during my other time blocks.

  4. Collaborating. I cannot stress enough the importance of collaboration in some fashion when it comes to your side hustles. Whether that be have actual business partners, or people cheering you along as they pursue their own hustles, having people to push forward with in pursuit of your greater aspirations makes the long nights and weekends staying in an easier pill to swallow.

These tips may not be news to most productive people, but it's helpful for me to remind myself of them often. Hopefully they resonate with others who juggle multiple projects, and if you have any tips of your own to share, feel free to reach out. Always looking to share life hacks!

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