How to juggle a full-time job with a side-project

For many of us, the best way to start indie hacking is to start a side project while remaining gainfully employed. But it's no easy task. You'll likely be tight on time, and you'll be juggling a lot. I've done it, and it was stressful.

It used up my reserves of motivation. Balls were dropped. But I highly recommend it. It's the best way to get started IMO.

If you're going to do it, here's how to do it well. 👇

Find the right job (job reqs for side-gig sanity)

First up, you probably don't want to start a side-project if your full-time job demands 100 hours per week. Pretty obvious.

Work at a place focused on results instead of hours. That way, you can get some side-work in while you're on the job (assuming you can get your main work done well, quickly). Free-range managers will make that easier than micromanagers will. And if it's a work-from-home job (or freelance), all the better.

Working with a manager who can connect you with their network, and who respects your entrepreneurial aspirations is also huge. @indiemoir of TimeAdvisor got lots of good connections for his side-project from his CTO while he worked full-time, and he even got a deal at the end where he phased out over time, allowing him to keep part-time income as he transitioned to full-time work on his side project.

The last thing I'd suggest is to check your contract. Make sure you aren't working at a place that owns everything you create while employed there. And make sure there's no conflict of interest or competition with your product, as that can cause complications.

Lock in a productive schedule (choosing the right one)

Decide when you do your best work. Most of us peak once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Depending on your priorities, those peaks are probably the best time for you to work on your side-project.

If your job has flexible hours, then that's pretty easy to do. Otherwise, you're limited to early morning, lunch, evenings, and weekends. IMO, it's important to take a break for lunch, so that ones out for me. Evenings too — it's really hard to be productive after a full day of work.

Everyone's different, but what worked best for me was 2 hours on the side-project every morning and a few hours on Saturdays. That's 10-14 hours per week, which is a pretty decent chunk of time.

Allison Mui (@allison_m) of Sidekick: After working a full day’s work, I often don’t have the time or mental energy to work on my side-hustle. Flipping the order has allowed me to give my best to my project and make sure I make progress each day.

That said, plenty of night owls get to work after they're done for the day. Felix Wong (@felix12777) of Zlides finishes his day job at 6:30 and starts working on his side-projects (yes, that's plural) at 8:00 PM.

I've even heard of folks spending time with their families after work, then getting to work on a side-gig late. Like, really late.

It's also really important to block your time.

Allison: I work really hard to time-block my day. Right now, I have three priorities: my side hustle, my full-time job, and my health. I split my day into three blocks dedicated to those three priorities. This helps me make sure I spend each day doing what’s important to me.

Choosing the most high-impact things to work on (prioritization methods)

Even with a solid schedule, you'll likely be short on time. It's important to knock out the highest-impact tasks for your side-project first. The less important things will either get done as time-sensitivity makes them more important, or they won't (in which case they probably weren't necessary to begin with).

Most folks eyeball it, but there are better ways to gauge priorities. My personal favorite is the DIE approach that Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) of Baremetrics ($235k/mo) uses. It is essentially a way of measuring Demand, Impact, and Effort.

I've also noticed a lot of indie hackers use the RICE method. Here's an article I wrote with other options if you're interested.

Staying organized (use a tool, any tool)

There's no one way to organize your work, but it's important that it’s organized somehow. With so many things taking up your time and energy, having next steps clearly outlined is a huge help.

Maybe it's a project management platform. Maybe it's a todo list app (I use todoist). Maybe it's a post-it note kanban on the wall. Maybe it's good, old-fashioned pen and paper. Whatever it is, utilize it.

Know what you'll be working on, know the requirements and specs, and know what's up next. And bonus points if features are broken down into small tasks.

Felix: I break down my roadmap and goals so that they're as small as possible. This makes it so I can see my progress and bring things together gradually. For example, if I need to publish four articles a month, I break it down into one paragraph per day, and I convert it into a routine. You don't have to force yourself to write a whole article in a day.

Here's an article with some tools and tips. And here's a recent post from Pavati Dasani(@PavatiDasani) with lots of great discussion on staying organized in the comments. My favorite comment was by @Nareshmeetei, who essentially uses the Pomodoro technique, supported by some helpful tech.

Good planning up front = fewer issues = launching faster.

Work quickly (how to kick it up a notch)

Speaking of time-to-launch, try to juice up your development speed. I just wrote an article about building products faster, if you're interested in learning more. But the short of it is this:

• Choose the right tech stack
• Automate
• Outsource
• Use third-parties
• Keep learning
• Manage yourself effectively
• Improve your mindset and lifestyle

Felix: I have a few automated workflows to help me clear out tedious tasks. It allows me to utilize the little bit of time that I’d otherwise spend on them. For example, I onboard paying customers through Email Octopus and map all email addresses to a CRM on Airtable for engagement drip and upselling. These workflows are usually done with Zapier.

When you're tight on time, you've gotta make the most of every second.

Finding the motivation (incentive, routines, and habits)

Honestly, the biggest struggle for most will be motivation. There are plenty of things that can motivate a person. Money is a big one. Clout too. Purpose. Passion...

Whatever it is that motivates you, keep it top-of-mind. Keep something on your desk to remind you when the going gets tough (photo of your family, framed mission statement, pile of gold coins…).

Allison: I take time every morning to meditate on my mission statement. That alone is meaningful enough to keep me going because it reminds me of my greater purpose. It reminds me that I'm doing this so that I can one day work for myself and earn enough to provide for my family.

Routine can keep you going when motivation fails you. Here's an article I wrote about building effective routines.

Habits are good at this too — one thing that's helpful for me is something called the Seinfeld Method. Essentially, you just make a commitment to working on your side-project at whatever frequency or duration you choose. Then mark it in your calendar every time you do it… and make a game of not breaking the streak. For me at least, not breaking the streak is a powerful incentive.

And of course, it helps to do something you love.

​​Sammy Schuckert (@sammyschuckert) of Lito: People always ask me how I manage it all. But my side hustle is my hobby. It's what I'm really into. Other people are photographers, or they're doing sports, stuff like that. I really enjoy the process of building something that resonates with an audience — seeing things come to life. It's totally fun, it doesn't feel like work.

And get some support! Try coworking groups like @charlierward's remote Ramen Club.

Take care of yourself (the art of not burning out)

I'll keep this short, but burning out is not fun. And it isn't good for your side-project or your job. Even though you're tight on time, prioritize eating well, hydrating, exercising, and sleeping.

And know when to quit your day job. I've been researching this a fair amount so I'll post about it soon, but in short: Validate the product and make sure you've got enough runway first.

Anybody currently holding down a full-time job and a side-project? Let me know how you manage it.