Top tips for making more time for side projects
I love having lots of little projects on the go, little side projects that take my mind away from work and life. Or as I pointed out in my first post on the blog, I like to call them side quests.
But Sophie, I hear you ask, how do you fit so many side quests in while still continuing on your main quest of work and life?
That’s exactly what I’m going to share with you today.
To be honest with you, I actually had to think for a bit to figure out what it is exactly that helps me fit in everything I want to do. I’ve been juggling lots of projects for a fair few years now so most of it just feels natural. However, I think I’ve unpacked my routines enough to have something useful to you!
Make time
This may seem obvious but if you want to get something done you need to make time for it. There are only so many hours in the day and if you’re currently using all those hours you’ll need to make a few changes to fit new things in.
Whether that’s getting up an hour earlier so you can fit in some side project work before your actual day job. Or, watching one less Netflix episode a night and doing some work instead. Start small, put aside half an hour every day, or every couple of days, whatever works for you.
Routines and planning
If you’ve been reading this blog since the beginning you’ll know all about my love for routine and planning, and organisation in general, but in case you’re new here… Hello, my name is Sophie and I’m organisation mad.
Once you’ve put aside that time to work on your side projects you have to actually work on them, surprising I know… Do this consistently enough that you fall into a routine that makes it feel weird if you don’t work on your side projects that day. Plan in advance what you need to get done each day so you don’t waste that precious half an hour before work planning what you should be doing. I like to sit down and plan what I want to get done that Month at the beginning of the month, and then at the start of each week plan out what parts I’ll be doing that week.
Prioritise the fun stuff
While you may have a million ideas in your head that you want to start on, I recommend putting the fun stuff first. If like me your side projects have to happen after work in the evenings, or on the weekend, you don’t want to be doing the unfun stuff. Yes, it would be awesome to finish that chunky creative textbook you’ve always wanted to read, or complete that e-course about kerning, but is that really what you want to be doing after spending 8 hours at work all day? If your answer is yes then go for it, if it’s no then put it to the side for now. Those plans will always be there, and you’ll only keep putting it off when you next get home after a long day at work so why bother setting yourself up to fail.
Instead, pick those plans you’ve always wanted to do and are really excited about. The plans you daydream about at work. The ones you’ll actually put as much effort as you can into, instead of the ones you’ll be doing halfheartedly just to say you’ve done them.
Multitasking
This will either work for you immensely or not work for you at all, and that’s cool. I personally love to have lots of little things on the go, so if I’m not feeling a certain thing I planned to do that day I can work on something else I still have to do and in the end, it all gets done.
For example, sometimes I’ll get stuck while writing a blog post and instead of sitting there trying to get unstuck I’ll just move onto another article I had planned to write. Usually, while I’m concentrating on that blog post my brain magically thinks of what I was wanting to say in the other post.
Switching between lots of little things keeps my brain awake and raring to go!
Do you have any tips for managing many different side projects? Let me know in the comments, I’m always up for some more ways to improve my working process!
- Sophie
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