How to make yourself get things done, and still have a life! For tired 30 somethings.
Many women and men my age (30 somethings) are attempting to raise a family, create a side income, keep a clean home, have exciting times with their partner, and balance working a day job.
On top of that, people in this age bracket seem to value their physical and mental health strongly. Is there a way to truly get all these things done, keep one’s physical health, keep sane, and not feel wholly depleted at the end of the day?
I don't claim to be an expert; in fact, I'm writing about this because I've been insanely bad at keeping a healthy balance in my life. I tend to focus purely on the hustle elements of my life and let pretty much everything else slide!
I had a ton of fun starting my side hustles, but I ignored things I value, such as health, peace of mind, wellness, cleanliness, and more! It seems that ignoring the things I value creates tension in my life due to the simple fact that I am not truly living my values out.
I think it was living in this unbalanced way that eventually caused me much fatigue. I didn't have the energy to do my side hustles after a couple of months! Hence I am here, teaching myself how to balance my life.
So far, I've learned something pretty interesting!
Sometimes More is Less.
I know this isn't what most people think of when discussing finding ‘balance,’ but let me explain.
I was living in a state of 'worry' in a way. I ignored many great things that would bring me wellness, peace, and energy because I thought I didn't have time for them. I thought I needed to devote all my time to my projects.
I have entirely stopped doing all my side hustles right now to train myself actually to do self-care.
Instead of coming home to work on a blog post, I come home to tidy up, work out, make food, stretch, take my vitamins, clean my face, read, and go to bed early.
And guess what!
I'm able to do all these extra tasks, feel rested and wonderful, and I've noticed there is still plenty of time in the day should I so desire to work on a side hustle. Again, this month I am purposefully not working on a side hustle. But it has been so valuable to realize it doesn't have to be one thing or the other.
We need to keep our self-care to keep up our side hustles. Without both these things, we tend to hit burnout as I did. Hence balance, at least in this scenario, really does mean doing more.
Perhaps this might mean I devote a little less time per day to said side hustles, but I will be able to sustain my pace with greater longevity in the end. I will have better ideas because I will feel better and rested, less anxious, and more joyful. It’s pretty crazy how spending a little more time on yourself, and your wellness affects your overall mood and energy levels.
If you are in a bind like me, feeling extremely tired and unable to keep up with everything you want to be doing, it might be time to retrain your brain about what is possible to do in a day!
If you can, take a month-long break from your side hustling. It will be there when you are done!
The first step to getting everything done in a day.
List out all the things you want to accomplish and choose whether each item is something you can achieve in the morning or night.
Here is an example of all the things I want to accomplish in the morning.
Wash my face and moisturize with all my serums.
Brush my teeth, well!
Put on full-faced light makeup.
Brush and defrizz my hair.
Put on the clothes I picked the night before.
Do my thankfulness journal.
Do my morning devotions and meditation.
Tidy one thing up.
Grab my meal prepped breakfast and lunch.
Head to work!
My evening list entails.
Do an at-home workout or run.
Stretch my whole body.
Tidy 1-2 things in the house.
Take my vitamins.
Wash face fully out of make-up.
Moisturize.
FLOSS!
Evening thankfulness.
Read before bed.
Drink something healthy that isn't coffee or alcohol.
Step 2 - Create More Time In Your Day By Waking Up Earlier!
A girl at my work inspired this whole idea of replanning my day to get more done. She has three kids, she works full time, and she is training for a body-building competition. This woman is the epitome of self-discipline. She wakes up at 4 AM to get a daily workout in before her day starts. She has her healthy meals prepped and ready to bring to work. She does a second workout reasonably late in the evening and then does it again the next day.
I was wondering how she does it all when I realized a huge part of that must be because she creates time for herself by waking up insanely early.
I’m not going to ask you (or myself) to take up that early. However, if you work a regular 9-5, I suggest you wake up at 6 AM from now on.
It’s all about how you fit each thing into your day. It doesn’t matter when you start or finish work as long as you have created enough time in your day to get done what you need. If you’re a night person, you can take the principles I talk about and find a time frame that works better for your body clock (when you are naturally the most productive).
Step 3 - Rejig Your Day with Specific Time-frames per task.
For now, let's pretend I work a typical 9-5.
If you were to begin your day at 6 AM, you would be able to fit a lot in before your workdays start.
Here is my suggested morning routine:
Do a 20-minute homework-out or run outside.
Do 10 minutes of full-body stretching.
Practice mindfulness and thankfulness.
Quick shower (optional)I'm weird and might save it till the end of the day.
Tidy 1-2 things in the kitchen or living room.
Here it is broken down:
6:00 AM - 20 min work out (I like to rotate between weight intensive, HIIT, Yoga, or Jogging)
6:20 AM - 10 min stretches
Steps to success: Spend one night finding many workouts and stretching videos/ Youtubers you like and either subscribe to them or save specific videos to a library. A good workout does not need to belong! It just needs to be challenging enough for you.
6:30 AM - 20 min - Get ready, wash face, brush hair, moisturize, put light make up on, etc
Steps to success: Have your morning routine makeup items in their drawer or laid out nicely on your counter or in a cute makeup bag. The same goes for your morning routine and night routine skincare.
6:50 AM - 15 mins - Tidy 2 things around the house.
Steps to success: Think ahead of what to look for when it comes to a quick clean. Quick sweep to the kitchen, put away dirty dishes, empty dishwasher, pick up toys from the floor, sweep another room, fold laundry, etc.
7:05 - 15 mins - Thankfulness journal, meditation
Steps to success: Choose a journal or app that will help you with this if you are a super beginner like me. I love to use the thankfulness journal and a guided meditation app. There are plenty of free ones to try.
7:20 - 8:30 AM - All this spare time, perhaps you can shower, maybe you need more time to get ready, perhaps you clean something more extensive, perhaps you work on your side hustle, maybe you prep a couple of things for dinner later. Maybe you floss in the morning instead of at night!
Use this time to do things "‘future you” will be thankful you already accomplished.
Things to get done in the evening time (9-5 Example)
Let's say you don't get home until 6 PM, due to traffic, etc.
6 PM - 20-40 mins - Make, eat, and clean dinner.
Pro-Tip: As a dinner time-saver tip, I now make dinners that look more like lunches to save time! I pretty much assemble a fantastic sandwich or wrap or salad and soup, and I'm good to go. These are super quick to make and require little to no clean-up.
6:30/6:40 PM - 10 mins -Take pills and drink a healthy drink (tea, smoothie, etc.)
All you have to do now is:
Wash your face (5 mins)
Moisturize (5 mins)
Pack your lunch and breakfast for tomorrow (5 mins - meal prepped lunch and overnight oats)
Pick out your clothes for tomorrow (5-10 mins)
Brush & Floss (if you haven't yet) (5-10 mins)
Read once you are in bed (aim for 15 minutes or more!)
Take 2 minutes to write out three things you are thankful about that happened today (2 mins)
All these listed items shouldn’t take more than 37minutes, not including reading in bed. This means you’ll have at least 2 hours of free time from 7-9 PM!
You could then choose to do all the above-listed items and be in bed well before 10 PM. Should you decide to do more side hustling, go for it! If you want to relax by yourself or with your family and unwind by being completely unproductive, do that! Just make sure you complete whatever small evening practices you listed for yourself.
You've cleaned, worked out, stretched, practiced thankfulness, tidied your home, taken care of yourself, and you're good to go.
I hope you’ll see that by putting all your needs first, you’ll begin to feel healthier, happier, and empowered to realize you can do whatever you want!
Tips for Maximizing Your Side Hustle Time
Whether you decide to work on your side hustle in the AM or PM, these principles will help you stay focused and productive.
Here a few guidelines to help you create a sustainable practice.
Choose what days you will work on your side hustle.
Do you want to commit three days a week to working on your side hustle? Great! If so, choose what days and have it written down somewhere.
Choose how long per day you will work on your side hustle.
For me, I’ve decided if I do 30 minutes of writing, editing, brainstorming, or picture editing three times a week; I will celebrate that as a win. By deciding on a timeframe, I feel focused and determined during these 30 minutes. It also feels doable because it’s only 30 minutes. Then if I go over 30 minutes because I’m feeling inspired, awesome!
List out the tasks you should focus on to keep your side hustle going.
For instance, for blogging, I have written that I need to write, brainstorm, read other blogs for inspiration, edit photos, create visuals, and research keywords. When I sit down to work on my blog, I know exactly what tasks I need to be working on.
Key Take-Aways on How to Make Yourself Get things Done.
Sometimes more is less! You will be shocked to see how much you can do in a day, you will feel better about your health and body, you will feel more rested, you will realize you do have time to do more, and you will feel better about your ability to achieve the things you want to.
Spend time taking care of yourself.
Wake up earlier to create more time in your day.
Create time frames for each task you value.
Give yourself specific tasks, time-frames, and days to work on your side hustle most efficiently.
It’s genuinely that simple. I’ve seen a huge difference ever since taking these methods on.
I hope you find you can get everything done in a day, and still have a life!
