7 Self-Care Tips for Those With A Side Hustle And A Full-Time Job

I think a lot of influencers nowadays preach self-care — and honestly, that’s awesome. I love more and more people talking about self-care and prioritizing one’s mental health.

But a lot of times, those influencers suggest self-care activities and one of them being “taking a break.” When content creation is what you’re doing full-time, it’s easier to take a break than if your content creation is a side hustle attached to a full-time job. A lot of times, a side hustle is done at night and on weekends. You may want to work hard to eventually take your side hustle full-time … but you also want to prioritize self-care and your mental health.

But no worries — you’re not the only one, I’m right there with you. I wanted to put together a blog post with self-care tips for those who have a side hustle AND a full-time job.

Schedule your content.

It’s very important to schedule out time. As you schedule out your week and the times when you’ll work on your side hustle, make sure to schedule in your free time! Think about your energy levels. Are you more energized or creative in the mornings? Work on your side hustle in the mornings before work so you can relax in the evenings after your full-time job. Do you need to package a lot of orders at a time? Schedule packaging on the weekends or when you know you have a lot of time to spare.

Be realistic.

Know your energy levels, know your limits. You can’t do everything in one day. When you do schedule out your tasks for the week, don’t try and schedule all of the hard things in one day or two days. Schedule them throughout the week—especially as you look at your full-time job’s calendar; you may have a busy week coming up for your full-time job, so try not to schedule your side hustle during that week.

Know Your Priorities.

With that being said, keep your full-time job a priority. I know that you may want to take your side hustle full-time, but you need to prioritize your full-time job so stay focused in that 9-5 (or whatever hours you have) and work on your side hustle at night.

Learn To Say No.

When you do prioritize your business, you might have to say no to things and/or invites. Before I say, “learn to say no,” I want to encourage you to not do this (I know, it’s weird advice). Don’t isolate yourself—if you are constantly pouring into your side hustle at night, that isn’t healthy either. Find a balance. But also, in order to build a business, saying no is healthy at times. Success doesn’t come overnight and hard work is still required.

Stop Expecting Perfection.

Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good. You can’t put out perfect content or have stellar sales for your business or blog. Are you constantly re-designing your blog or YouTube graphics so that it looks good? Focus on what you love to do, i.e. creating content. Stop expecting perfection and just do what makes you happy.

Build a Support Network.

Make friends in your area of expertise—find a blogger group, small business meeting in your town/city, or network online with other like-minded business owners. Being an entrepreneur can be lonely, especially if you work from home. Reach out to people who have similar projects/side hustles.

Reward Yourself.

You need to treat yourself! Set rewards for yourself like hitting 10K subscribers or followers (or even smaller than that, like 1,000 followers). Treat yourself even without rewards, too. Take yourself out to dinner, read a good book, do some self-care activity that makes you feel good. Overall, your mindset shouldn’t be live to work, but instead, work to live. Treat yourself and prioritize you.