How to Balance a Full Time Job and a Creative Career
While I wholeheartedly believe that it is possible to make a living running your own creative business, I also realize that it’s hard work and often starts out slow. So it is really common for someone to work a day job while also pursuing their creative passion. We might not show this side of our jobs on social media or talk about it much, but our day jobs fund our life and therefore our creative pursuits too! It is a lot of work to balance two jobs though. Here are three tips to balancing your day job and a creative business.
Define your priorities and your goals! Having a day job is a privilege because there is less financial pressure for our creative business to generate a livable income right away. But it is still important to define what the purpose of your business is. Are you happy to have your creative business pay for just your supplies? Are you trying to quit your day job as soon as possible? Do you plan to quit your day job after you have kids but want to continue making an income through your art? These questions will dictate how much time and energy you put into your creative business, and what you say yes and no to outside of your work hours. We are all in different places in life so your priorities at a given time are allowed to be different and change!
Take time to rest! You essentially are turning your hobby into your second job, so find another hobby or restful activity with zero pressure of monetizing it. Sometimes for me that is still painting something for myself. Other restful activities could be reading, spending time with your pets, or getting coffee with a friend. Your body and soul need to take breaks from working. Not taking time to rest can result in burnout or even sickness!
Bonus Tip: Use your vacation days wisely! It is important to take a break from both your jobs, but if your full time job gives you a certain number of vacation days, you can use those to your creative business’s advantage! Reserve a few vacation days to use for your business. This could be a networking event, workshop, or simply a work day for you. Before I went part time, I was taking a few Fridays off each year to paint at Friday weddings.
Don’t mix your job hours! I’ll admit, I spend a bit too much checking instagram while at work, but it is wise to keep your creative work separate from your day job. Set some time during your lunch hour to check emails, post on social media, or make a call for your creative business. You can also set certain times as your business’ work hours. This might be Saturday morning from 8 to noon and Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7:30. Be strict about these hours like you would your day job!
Bonus Tip: Have a place to write down creative ideas while you are at your day job. If you’re like me, your mind is constantly racing with new ideas for your creative business at all the wrong times. And then as soon as you're off the clock all those ideas seem to disappear. Write down those ideas when they come to you so you don’t forget later and so that you can focus on your job at hand rather than get distracted by your creative dreams.