Fostering the Side Hustle Without Breaking Down
After a year of working full time in the ad industry, I realized my days had all started to look the same: go to work, go home, put on comfy clothes, watch Netflix, and aimlessly scroll through Instagram until I got sleepy enough to go to bed—then wake up and do it all again the next day. I found myself thinking there had to be more for me to do. I had to get myself a hobby.
So I pulled my trusty (and dusty) yoga mat out of my closet and signed up for a class at a nearby studio. Soon, practicing yoga became my new hobby. Something to look forward to after work. Something to keep me occupied when I was away from the chaos of agency life.
That hobby turned into a hustle when I decided to enroll in yoga teacher training. I wanted to focus my attention on something other than account managers, project managers, and clients, so I poured my heart and soul into learning and teaching yoga. I became a superhero. A copywriter by day, a yoga teacher by night. I was busy all the time! No more Netflix. No more aimless scrolling. There weren’t enough hours in the day. This is what I’d wanted! Right?
The Battle Between Side Hustle & Salary
I learned pretty quickly that although teaching yoga and earning a little extra money is fun, it isn’t always sustainable. If I focus all of my energy on teaching yoga, my creativity as a copywriter starts to dwindle. If I hustle all day at the office, I don’t have much left to give by the time my 7 p.m. yoga class rolls around. Whatever your hustle is, you’ve danced this dance.
You’ve wondered, How much time should I spend on my side gig? How much is too much? Seeking balance between jobs sometimes feels like sacrificing or prioritizing one dream over another. I love being a copywriter, and becoming a yoga teacher was never meant to take away from my dreams of climbing that career ladder. It just changed my view along the route.
How to Maintain Boundaries to Prevent Burnout
Yoga is the practice of balance. But ironically, as soon as I started pouring all my spare energy into teaching, the rest of my life fell out of balance pretty quickly. I was starting to burn out. That’s what happens when we turn our hobbies into hustles … unless we maintain boundaries.
1. Learn to prioritize
I know, I know… we have project managers for this. Knowing how to prioritize our many responsibilities throughout the day is challenging for many of us. What should I focus on first? How much time and energy should I devote to it? Can’t someone just give me a pie chart that tells me how many hours I should devote to copywriting, yoga, self-care, and sleep? Unfortunately, we have to create our own pie charts. We have to spend time deciding what order our various priorities take. If your agency gig is your first priority, then emails inquiring about your side hustle or voicemails from your roommate can wait. If growing your side biz is priority numero uno, then you better get hustling and answer those emails. Make your pie chart.
2. Check in with yourself
Hey, priorities change. As soon as you’ve figured out just how much time you can spend on your side hustle, something will happen at work, at home, or with your friends that will cause you to reprioritize. If, despite your best efforts, you find yourself on the verge of burnout, take a minute to check in with yourself. Assess your priorities. Ask yourself what still feels right and what needs to change. Pivot if necessary. Remember that advocating for yourself is a power move.
3. Practice saying “no”
Once you’ve taken the time to prioritize (and reprioritize) your goals, practice saying “no” to whatever doesn’t help you reach them. As women, many of us find it hard to say “no.” We want to play the peacemaker in our homes, at work, even among our friends—even at the expense of biting off more than we can chew. Fostering your side hustle without breaking down requires you to prioritize yourself — and that means saying “no” to the opportunities that don’t serve you.
Advocating for Yourself is Hard Work. And Worth It.
Developing a side hustle is a way for many of us to channel our spare energy and time into something positive — and earn a little extra cash while doing it. If you have a side hustle, you know the work is never done. Goals change, priorities shift, and maintaining balance gets trickier with every move. Advocating for yourself is hard work. And it’s always worth it.
To avoid breaking down, take the time to establish your priorities, check in with yourself on a regular basis, and be willing to say “no” to the requests that keep you from reaching your goals.