How to balance a job and grow your business without going insane
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How to balance a job and grow your business without going insane
Are you juggling and trying to balance a job AND a business?
The struggle is REAL….but it doesn’t have to be and I want to help you think differently and more positively about it.
Firstly, If you’ve been with me for a while you’ll know that i’m a big advocate of doing both for as long as you can..just make sure you check your contract and do all your due diligence of course!!
As you will also know, I wish people in the online space would stop the job shaming already. It’s utter bonkers and a big bugbear of mine.
It just makes people feel ‘less than’ and more often than not pushes them to make the mistake of jumping too soon and running the risk of jumping straight into scarcity mode...and no one likes it there and alll sorts of mindset pickles unearth themselves!
Not a whole lot happens there apart from panic and trying to do EVERYTHING by yourself.
No, no my friends there is another way….a better way perhaps? That’s up to you to decide.
We tell ourselves that we’re ‘hustling’ that we’re MEANT to be crazy busy but with a few tweaks it’s all imminently doable...hopefully without the stress and burnout.
I speak from a LOT of experience here! I managed a job,sometimes 2, and a business (sometimes 2) at various points since I was 27 years old (which is a while...ahem!).
Having a job, part time job or just another source of regular income whatever that might be while you’re building, growing and want to invest in yourself and your business is one of the best things you can do in my opinion...especially when there is so much uncertainty, mortgages to get/pay, things to outsource...and you know BREXIT!
The average millionaire has 7 different income streams at any one time.
So we need to stop the judgement. People don’t know everyone’s situations and they certainly don’t know YOURS.
Who are they to tell you having a job and supporting loved ones, or getting out of an old debt, or wanting a particular lifestyle, whatever it is you’re doing, makes you any less of a business owner.
It 100% doesn’t...it makes you sensible, a master of time, hopefully an excellent prioritiser, freaking amazing and a bit of a hero.
You might not even WANT to take your business full time, you might actually enjoy your job, or at least see the benefits it brings you.
It’s YOUR choice and no one else’s what you want for your business and your life.
There are a LOT of benefits to doing both if you approach it with the right mindset, at least to start with. It may not be sustainable forever but while you’re building and investing it can be great and you will give yourself some valuable freedom to make the right choices for YOU.
It gives you TIME to get your mindset right. This is such a BIG part of it, the shift from employee to full time business owner is huge.
Firstly, you haven’t got anyone telling you you’re doing a great job. You don’t have the feedback, that person guiding you letting you know you’re on the right track.
Balancing a job AND a business also allows you to really invest in yourself and your business. It allows you to outsource certain tasks that are time consuming or outside your zone of genius, which will make everything SO much easier when you’re juggling both and by the time you do leave your business will be in a really good position with systems and a team in place.
It allows you to invest in the best training, go to all the events, take things in your own time and build your business how you WANT to, on YOUR terms without worrying about feast and famine mode.
Plus you get a pension and paid holidays which is nice!
It’s almost like you’re a secret superhero bad*** sitting in your Monday morning meetings knowing exactly how awesome you are and how many other people wouldn’t back themselves to do what you’re doing and your job actually becomes your side hustle (and investor!) in your business rather than the other way around.
With rising redundancies, less certainty, less security and far less pay rises the days of a job being the ‘secure’ option are pretty much over, there are now 40% (and rising) of UK workers running a side hustle. Of course we all have various different reasons why we start them.
Extra money, a sense of fulfillment/purpose, extra security, you can’t stand your job (if that’s the case read How to be more positive in your job, so your business can take off!), you might be the sole earner, you might want/need to work around your kids. SO many reasons, each individual to each person’s circumstances.
BUT, it can feel SUPER tough at times. Juggling, multi tasking (If you want to know how I feel about that read Why multitasking is bad, and you don’t have time for it!), you feel like you’re sacrificing time with loved ones, always feel like you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, your brain never switches off, you’ve forgotten how to look after yourself and you can feel downright miserable at times...if you don’t have the tools to make it better
So let’s try and make it a little easier shall we? This is supposed to be rewarding, and dare I say it FUN!?
Here’s a few little tweaks you can make.
Manage your time and stop telling yourself you don’t have enough of it, obvious one to start with but you’d be surprised how many people don’t do it. Find natural pockets of time that would usually be wasted. Earlier mornings, lunch breaks, learning zone on your commute, stay an extra half an hour after.
Weekends the right way. In all likelihood you will be using your weekends BUT it is so, so, SO important to make sure you’re taking a break so make sure you’re scheduling things so you can have AT LEAST one day per week for you. It’s all too easy to ‘fill’ time so be conscious of it. If you use the tips above you might be able to work it so you get your WHOLE weekend after a while. The bottom line is to make sure you’re ALWAYS taking time for you, it’s MORE not LESS important. You can’t pour from an empty cup!
Quit the multi tasking. Constant context switching is no good and will take you longer to achieve the tasks you’re trying to so again, this is where scheduling is your best friend.
Pick formats and build your business model for the future but around what works for you now. Ask yourself if it’s sustainable now and will fit with how you want to work when you’re full time in your business. For example, if you don’t want to be ‘always on’ then it’s probably not ideal to set up a membership site that requires constant attention.
Be aware of stress and burnout. Be hyper aware of what you’re feeling and start to know when you’ve been working too hard and need to take a break.
Prioritise and cut the fluff, what will actually move the needle in either monetary terms or audience growth? That’s where your focus should be.
On that...Outsource anything that’s not inside your zone of genius. You don’t have time for that, stop trying to do it all yourself. Hire a VA or an integrator who can help. How much is your time worth?
Stop following ALL the people. Pick your platform and pick your ‘guru’, cut out all the noise!
Set boundaries with loved ones. Once you’ve worked out your schedule be open and honest with your loved ones and tell them when you need time for your business and that if you can work undisturbed then you’ll have more time to dedicate.
Keep your why and your vision in mind to keep you motivated and this will keep you going through all the tricky times.
Think of your job as your business investor. This will honestly change how you feel about being in a job and will highlight all the opportunities it can give you.
So whether you’re in your job still and the online world has been making you feel less than, or you’ve been thinking about getting a part time job to support you while you grow, than I hope this has made you feel differently because I’m tired of seeing people struggle with the ‘shame’ that comes either way. Get comfortable with where you’re at and you’ll get where you want to be and if you want any help along the way you know where I am.
If you know that now is the time to start changing things for yourself and want to explore this further, have any questions or want some accountability to make sure you’re doing the things you need to then please book in a free discovery call so we can see what needs to happen to get you from where you’re at right now, to the successful business owner you know you can be!!
Fx
