When you branch out into a side hustle, the feeling can be both freeing and terrifying. Side hustles can be freeing because oftentimes, you’re working for yourself, which is incredibly liberating. However, when you work for yourself, you realize that you need to be in charge of everything, which can be very daunting. Check out these three tenants to keeping on track and making the most out of your side hustle:

1.     Create a holding space. ”Sustaining productivity is a constant struggle. Distress and distractions can erode it, and both impediments abound in people’s working lives.” This is why it is important to create what is known as a “holding environment.” A holding environment is a physical, social, and psychological space for work. If you go to an office every day, that is a more traditional example of a holding environment. However, if you work from home, you need to cultivate that space for yourself. Maybe you have the space to create a home office or you prefer to go work at the library where it is quiet and you can focus without the distractions of home. Maybe you want to start a routine of working at a local coffee shop because you thrive in the middle of the buzz of activity. Whatever works for you, be sure to do it! Your brain will eventually associate these environments with work and you can train yourself to get into a work headspace, thereby increasing your productivity.

2.     Redefine success. By breaking out of the traditional work model, your expectations need to shift as well. According to the Harvard Business Review, “people in the gig economy must pursue a different kind of success — one that comes from finding a balance between predictability and possibility, between viability (the promise of continued work) and vitality (feeling present, authentic, and alive in one’s work). Those we interviewed do so by building holding environments around place, routines, purpose, and people, which help them sustain productivity, endure their anxieties, and even turn those feelings into sources of creativity and growth. ‘There’s a sense of confidence that comes from a career as a self-employed person,’ one consultant told us. ‘You can feel that no matter how bad it gets, I can overcome this. I can change it. I can operate more from a place of choice as opposed to a place of need.’”[1]

3.     Make time to socialize. Seriously, this ends up being a major issue with people who work a side hustle, especially outside of a traditional work environment. Too often, we do not realize how much of our socialization comes from our work environment which, of course, can become problematic if you work for yourself from home. Even introverts should find a way to get out there and make time for friends. Not only will that help you to keep a health work-life balance, but it will (probably) keep you from talking to your coffee maker like it is your only friend.

            What are your favorite ways to create a balance in your new life with a side hustle? Let us know in the comments and on social media!

[1] Wrzesniewski, Gianpiero PetriglieriSusan J. AshfordAmy. “The 4 Things You Need to Thrive in the Gig Economy.” Harvard Business Review, Harvard University, 11 Apr. 2018, hbr.org/2018/03/thriving-in-the-gig-economy.