Tired After 9-5? How to Work on Your Business Having a Day Job
Morning progress, priority truth, and your day job advantage.
You drag yourself home after work. Brain fried. Body exhausted. You collapse on the couch and tell yourself you’ll work on your business tomorrow, today is for rest.
Tomorrow never comes.
Sound familiar?
2 quick ideas for today:
Morning for progress.
9-5 as a launchpad.
Morning for progress
If you’re waiting until after work to build your business, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
After eight hours of giving your best energy to someone else’s dream, you have little left for your own.
The most effective way I found to fight this is sacrificing an hour in the evening, getting up an hour earlier, and doing the single most important thing first thing after waking up.
That way, even when you won’t do anything else after getting home, the needle is moved.
You don’t need four-hour work blocks to build a successful business. You need consistency in small doses and on the right actions. That means: actions that have a high leverage-to-time ratio.
One hour on a full battery beats three distracted hours. Every. Single. Time.
And if only your work allows you, use:
Priority problem.
“I don’t have time” is the biggest lie you tell yourself.
It’s not true that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. You don’t have a maid, a private chef, and tons of other people who can save you time for money.
But it’s not that you don’t have time at all.
Ever looked back at TV series you watched, books you read and games you played and wondered “how I found time for that?”
Was it because you were less busy back then, or was it because that was a priority?
Maybe something you think is your priority isn’t in reality. If it were, your time spent would reflect that.
I watched 8 seasons of Dexter this year, that’s about 84 hours. I’ve found time for that. At the same time, I’ve been marinating “important” tasks on my to-do list.
Apparently, they weren’t that important. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
If your teeth hurt, you get it fixed as soon as possible because the pain is unbearable. If the pain of living your current life isn’t, maybe it isn’t that bad.
The life you want to build is competing for your attention rather than your time.
It’s competing against Netflix, social media, and whatever else fills the gaps.
It’s not that you are physically unable to do things you need to do after getting home, it’s hard to start because “I’ve already worked 8 hours.” You did. Not for yourself, though.
What are you willing to stop doing?
Choose consciously.
9-5 as a launchpad, not a final destination
Stop viewing your day job as an obstacle to your entrepreneurial dreams.
Your 9-5 provides stability, a steady income, and reduced financial pressure while you build.
This is a massive advantage that full-time entrepreneurs don’t have. You can take calculated risks, test ideas, take your time.
Your day job is funding your business education and gives you a field to experiment.
You can’t start a business with no time or no money. 9-5 is an okish spot that balances those 2.
Plus, your workplace gives you access to potential customers, mentors, and even future business partners. Build relationships, steal tricks that work.
Overwhelmed? Refresh your life position.
Any suggestions? Give me feedback here:
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So true! "Doing the single most important thing first thing after waking up" is something I've been trying as well (I wrote about it in a recent post), and it's been such a helpful reminder of my priorities and goals! Just discovered your publication and enjoying the content :)