Balancing a full time job with freelancing

(Transcribed from the Freelance Fairytales Podcast)

This is a topic that a lot of people bring up across my channels and rightfully so. We all only get 24-hours in a day, and splitting that time up efficiently to launch a freelancing business while maintaining a 9 to 5 can be exhausting. 

I think it’s important to recognize that doubling up is going to be exhausting. I see a lot of people try and sugarcoat it. I’m a get right to the point kind of person and I think in order to approach this in a positive way, it’s best to get it all out there and accept what it’s going to be. 

When starting a freelancing business, whether it’s just one profile on fiverr, or eight profiles across the internet, there is a certain expectation of you showing up for the clients. They are using freelancers in the first place to save themselves time. They are expecting you to be present with them throughout the order, and rightfully so since they are paying for it after all. You cannot just ignore your Fiverr and not look at it for multiple days. Why? The Fiverr algorithm favors accounts that have quick response rates, on time deliveries, and low amounts of cancelations. One of the best ways to keep clients happy is to be present with them, answering their questions as the order goes on. I have found that 99% of my negative client experiences used to occur when I was not communicative enough with them from the start to the completion of the order. 1-star reviews typically happen when there is a breakdown in communication, which is why I can’t stress enough that although you don’t need to put 8-hours per day into fiverr every day, you do still need to be present. That means you need to answer clients first thing in the morning, at least once throughout the day, and again at 6 or 7PM before you sign off for the evening. Even better if you can let them know that you do sign off at 7PM in whatever time zone you are in, so they are not left wondering where you went. A lot of communication on freelancing sites is just common sense stuff you’d be saying out loud if you had your own brick and mortar store.

Now, this is not me saying that doubling up freelancing while working a full time job is not possible. It most certainly is possible. I read stories every single day about people working 60 hour per week jobs that still manage to scale their side hustles. They find t he time because they are passionate about making it work. They are willing to do whatever it takes, and a part of your mindset needs to be in that place. That you’re willing to make short term sacrifices to make freelancing work for you. It might mean working on Sundays for a little while, or waking up at 5AM. It might mean missing out on some things but that’s up to you, weighing what is and is not worth it. If you so badly want to change your life, quit your toxic job, and make this work, then you can make it work. Your intention and your mind is that powerful. But you have to be all in and committed to making it happen.

If you’ve decided that you’re all in and this is absolutely what you want for your life, I generally give people the following advice to making both work at the same time.

Identify Your Time Wasters

First, think about where you waste time in your day. Do you stare at your phone for 45 minutes in bed in the morning before you get up? Do you spend 3 hours on YouTube at work during the day in between projects when your boss isn’t looking? Do you ride a bus into work that takes about 45 minutes each way? Do you spend 3 hours every night on Netflix? These are all disposable time windows that you can be utilizing for your freelancing business instead. Waking up and allocating just 30 or even 45 minutes in the morning to check your freelancing business before you go to work is enough. Then finding just another 1 or 2 hours in the remainder of the day to do t he order is enough as well. And I know every person listening to this has at least 30. Minutes in the evening they spend watching tv that can be given back to this business. And that may put some people on edge, saying well that’s not true, I’m just too busy. I’ve had a lot of people say that to me. And that’s fine, maybe you are - but it just means that freelancing is not a priority of yours. When it becomes a priority, you will sit down and very soberly look at your days and where you have time. Maybe you save your bigger orders to do over the weekends. Obviously you need a window on the weekend to relax still, but the people who are determined to make this work for themselves will put in the time and keep their heads down.

Hustling like this isn’t sustainable forever, and I’m not recommending you do this forever. I suggest trying this for 3-months. Give it 3-months and see where your freelancing business is at. Is it making you 1 or 2k per month? That’s a good indication that you’re going to be able to make this work. Maybe you’ve discovered that you hate freelancing and that’s ok too - at least you did not quit your job yet! But you have to give yourself at least 3-months to make a fair decision. And don’t forget to ask the people in your life for help. If you have kids, ask your partner or neighbors or siblings to help watch them a little more than normal. It’s ok to ask for help - I am really bad about doing this and working on it haha.

Don’t forget to utilize the Fiverr and Upwork apps as well. You can manage your business right from your phone while you have down time at work. You can manage it from lunch or even the bathroom. Nearly every office job is inefficient and I can promise you there is down time to check your apps and see if you have any client messages.

You can make this happen. You have the power to make it happen. I can share the benefits of freelancing all day long, but only you can make the decision to make this the focus of your life. You have to ask yourself how badly you want it. And if you can’t stare yourself in the mirror and say that you want this more than anything, then it’s time to reflect on maybe what it is that you want, or what mental barriers are stopping you from wanting it. It could be a fear of putting yourself out there, or of rejection, or it could be perfectionism. I have podcast topics on all of these things, especially my podcast about self sabotage. Inner work is absolutely apart of making all of this work. Freelancing and working for yourself is more of a spiritual pursuit than anything else.

It Starts with a Belief

Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself. You have to start cheering yourself on. You have to realize you can make anything you want more than anything a reality for yourself. You do have the power, I don’t care who has told you otherwise! You have been granted it from the heavens above.