How I Balance Having a Family, Full-time Job and Side Hustle
Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I balance my family, a full-time job and a side hustle. It’s definitely not easy being a full-time working mom and wife while being an aspiring blogger (emphasis on aspiring). First of all, I want to make it clear that it’s far from easy. Being a mom is a full-time job in itself, and working 40 hours a week, while trying to maintain a happy marriage can be exhausting. I feel like because I have less free time than ever before, it’s made me so much more efficient. I know many of you are in similar situations, so I wanted to share some of my favorite tips! In my opinion, balance is key so here are some of the ways I try to juggle it all!
1. Find something that you’re passionate about
If you’re going to have some sort of side hustle, do not do it for the sake of having a side hustle. Do not do it just to make extra money. If either of those things is your motivation, you’re going to burn yourself out very quickly. Having a side hustle in addition to having a child/children, a spouse and/or full-time job is going to be tiring. It’s also going to take away from time that you could be spending with your family, signification other, or friends. Time is precious, so if you are going to devote some of the little extra time you have to something make sure that it’s worth it. Make sure that it’s something that you can’t stop thinking about, that makes you feel fulfilled, that you’re excited to spend time working on.
2. Make sure you have your priorities straight
My to-do lists are always a mile long, but no matter what I have going on my family is always my biggest priority. It’s so easy to let things slip through the crack when you have so much going on. To keep this from happening, you have to decide what your priorities are from the beginning. If you’re clear on your priorities, you won’t waste time on people or things that distract you from what’s actually important. Sometimes my husband has to remind me that I’m spending too much time on social media or the computer. When you get off track, it’s nice to have someone who can remind you to focus on your priorities.
3. Time block
When you have a million things to juggle at once, it’s SO important to time block. If you’re not familiar with time blocking, it’s basically just assigning time slots for each thing that you need to get done in a day. I start by writing out my to-do list for the day. Then, I schedule a time slot for each task (for example: check emails from 9:00-9:30). It’s rare that my schedule goes exactly as planned because well-life, but it forces me to stay on task instead of just wasting 2 hours scrolling through Instagram. When the time frame for a task has ended, you move on to the next thing on the list. I’ve noticed I get so much more done using this method. You can buy an actual time cube
4. Plan ahead
My time is pretty limited these days, so in order to make the most of my “free time” (I use that term loosely), I try to plan ahead as much as possible. I’m all about routines, and to-do lists that help me stay on track throughout the week. I schedule my Instagram posts using the Planoly app, and make sure my captions and hashtags are all ready to go the night before I post. When I’m really on top of it, I’ll have a whole weeks worth of posts schedule ahead of time. I make our lunches, get Gray’s snacks, clothes and toys ready for the sitter the night before so that we have more time in the morning. Since I only have the weekends off, I usually designate Saturday for photos. I batch my content and post photos from that one day throughout the week. After Gray and my husband are asleep, I usually try to work on blog posts or I prepare content for upcoming campaigns. It doesn’t matter what your side hustle is, planning ahead will be a game changer.
5. Find something that helps you unwind
Balancing all of these things can be stressful, and can take a toll on your mentally, physically and emotionally. To be successful at maintaining all of the different aspects of your personal and professional life, you need to find a way to relax. My standards are pretty low when it comes to relaxation, so something as simple as reading, listening to a podcast, getting my eyelashes done, going for a walk alone or even going to the grocery store alone are all ways that I practice self care. It’s so important to find something that you do for yourself-mainly so you don’t go crazy, but also so that you don’t forget to make yourself a priority. Nothing is going to get done if you’re burnt out, so take care of yourself before you get to that point.
I hope these tips were helpful! I’d love to know what some of your favorite tips are!
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About Me
Mother & Blogger
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31 Comments
Nikki Townsend-Hopkins
This is a great post! You’re doing amazing Safi! I don’t work full time as of yet but I can definitely agree that being a mom is already a full time job, so when we add other aspirations in it can make life hectic! But it’s definitely worth it!
admin
Thank you so much mama! So are you!! Enjoy every minute with that sweet boy of yours! 🙂 It definitely does make life hectic, but in a good way!
Erica
Wonderful post, these tips are great for a new blogger like me! The pictures are so adorable…love your outfits! Thank you for sharing!
admin
Thanks so much Erica! I’m glad they were helpful!! Good luck on your new blog!! 🙂
Courtney
This is awesome. I am in the same boat as you are…full time working mom/ side gig/ ministry… life is busy! These are great tips and you already seem like such an established blogger… you’re an inspiration for sure!
Courtney
http://www.thegoldentabby.com
admin
Wow you’re super mom! It’s definitely chaotic at times! I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks so much girl that’s so sweet!! I’ll have to check your blog out!
Jamie Wainman
Amazing Post! I also side hustle and love time blocking it has been such a game changer for how I harmonize my work + life!
admin
Thanks so much!! It really is a game changer!! One of my fav time management techniques!
Amanda Winters
Planoly and time blocking are two of my favorite helpers. It seriously takes a lot to manage it all.
admin
They’re the best! It really is exhausting but worth it!
AndieSparkles
That time cube is very interesting and might actually help me become more productive. Thank you for sharing 🙂
xox
admin
It’s seriously a game changer! You would love it!! Of course babe! 🙂
Kim
great post! love your pictures, you 2 look so cute!
admin
Thanks so much!! 🙂
Alexa
I loved reading this, so helpful! I constantly have to remind myself balance, balance, balance. I will try to put so much on my plate and then get overwhelmed finding ways to unwind and step back has been so helpful for me!
admin
Yess balance is key!! I’m the same way, and sometimes just taking a little break is all I need too!
Shelley
These are awesome ideas! I balancing all thesame things and it can definitely be so overwhelming sometimes.
admin
Thanks so much!! It definitely can be! All of these things have really helped me lately though!
Kaylee
This is such a great reminder! I am constantly reminding myself of this daily. First things first!
admin
I’m so glad it was helpful! Yess exactly!!
Karla | Little Conquest
Oh my! Kudos to you for balancing all this! I can bearly keep my sanity as a sahm. Great tips, they will come useful when I decide to go back to work full time!
admin
Aww thank you mama! I’m actually SO much more productive than I was when I was a sahm mom because my time is so limited now! Thanks I’m glad you liked them!!
Shernette Williams
I love your tips and how determined you are as a mother and woman entrepreneur! Great tips for everyone
admin
Thank you so much babe! I hope they were helpful!
EscapeWriters
Really liked you Time Block tip. As a mom you want to be all in one and never set a limit on each task so much of time juggling between what to do. This leads to a really exhausted situation where you feel guilty and loose a self confidence.
admin
Yess exactly!! Time blocking has made me so much more productive! It’s life changing!
Lacey
Such good ideas. Love the tip of time blocking.
admin
Thanks so much! It’s definitely a game changer!
Chelsae
I’m so impressed by all that you so! I love the first tip, about passion. Without passion everything is so difficult. You’re killing it momma!
Jessica Saldana
Balance is so important! We can easily let one situation or another consume us. Great way to lay out the basics and help others think about what is truly important with a work life balance.
admin
Yess I completely agree! It’s so easy to feel like we have to fail at one aspect to succeed in another, but that doesn’t have to be the case!