How to Balance Work Life and Your Side Business

I forgot how much I loved going to Women’s Conferences! It really is such a great time for networking and learning. This year I had the privilege of being a presenter at the Dream Chasher Conference in Oakland California.

My session was about how I manage my 9 to 5 while maintaining my side hustles. Did you know I am the owner and director of McIntyre Model Management? And of course you probably already know I blog, and love to Instagram, AND I am a Mombassador with MommiNation. Yes, that’s a lot. And managing that isn’t easy while momming and wifeing and breathing LOL

3 Things to help you Balance your Work Life and Your Side Business

Here are 3 things I shared with the good folks at the Dream Chasher Conference this spring.

1. Reevaluate your time hogs.
2. Create a Vision for yourself so clear you can’t see anything else.
3. Lower your expectations for perfection.

Evaluate your time hogs

First, let’s be clear! God in all His perfection made each day 24 hours long, so we have to stop saying that there aren’t enough hours in the day. There are exactly as many hours as God intended.

Evaluating your time hogs simply means, write down all the things you do during the day. Did you go to work? Clean the house? And did you binge watch your favorite television show? I bet you can guess which item on that list is your time hog. I balance work life and my side business by being really honest about what things I take time away from my goals and visions then reinvest that time into my businesses.

My 2 largest personal time hogs

• Social Media
• Television

Things I don’t ever consider time hogs

• Spending time with children
• Spending time with spouse
• Self Care (manicures, hair, exercise etc)

Create a Vision for yourself

My vision can be best outlined in my 2019 goals.

1. Be present with my family
2. Save X amount of money (my dollar amount is $100,000. My plan is to buy an Investment property to allow me to… Be more present with my family)

sI say my goals in “I am” statement, for example:

I am present with my family and I am financially independent.

How I Align My Vision and Work Balance

This is how my vision plays out in how I balance work life and my side business. When presented with a new opportunity, I ask myself… Does this allow me to be more present with my family? Will this opportunity help me get closer to my goal of $100,000. Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes the answer is no. But I always run every decision by my two goals.  An example of something I say no to is, if someone asks me to organize the neighborhood bake sale. I know it sounds really harsh to say no at times. Even though contributing to the bake sale is a sweet gesture and could be fun, it doesn’t help me be more present with my family and it doesn’t help me save money towards my goal of financial independence.

Even when opportunities arise with financial gains I still ask myself if the opportunity allows me to stay present with my family. If the answer is no, then even if it will help me to earn money, then I walk away from the opportunity. One great example of this is I had a client with my modeling agency that was more demanding then I could manage with my commitments to my family. They text or emailed me at unconventional hours, they made really demanding last minute requests that caused me to step away from family dinners and family events.

Eventually, even though they were my biggest client, I had to walk away from the opportunity because the opportunity did not align with my vision and didn’t allow to balance my work life and my side business OR my family. If your vision is “money at all costs”… then carry on… but for me… money is a vehicle for more freedom to be with my family.

Lower your Expectations for Perfection

Now that I have made having a vision clear. I want to give you permission to lower your expectations. No business is built in a day. And if you are working on a side business, you will likely build it more slowly than your main business.

You have to allow yourself to be okay with that. It took me 2 years to get a routine to really be committed to my blog business. And it also took ,two years to get my modeling agency off the ground. The key to maintaining a balance in your work life and side business is to realize that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. So continue to take one step forward every day and eventually you will be able to reach your ultimate goals.

My girl Jennifer Hammock is an incredible resource if you are looking for guidance in narrowing down your focus for your side business. I encourage you to attend one of her Dream Chasher conferences or to reach out to her directly for coaching and inspiration.

I love the quote that Rome wasn’t built in day! … I will add…. Neither is a side business! If you really evaluate the time that you are wasting, make a clear vision, and lower your expectations for perfection… you can totally balance your work life and your side business… one step at a time!

Xo- Chantea

Check out my Mom Boss Community