If you are fortunate enough to have a great career, reasonable benefits, and a fantastic salary that you can’t afford to give up, but also harbor entrepreneurial ambition for something outside of your line of work, you’re not alone. When people have long-standing passions or pursue new ones, they frequently come to the crossroads of giving up the comfort of their 9-to-5 to explore their passions or to shelve their passion for the foreseeable future. But there is a third option where they don’t have to make that difficult decision.
There is a group of people, whom we call hybrid entrepreneurs, who prefer to live between worlds and benefit from the stability of a stable paycheck and health care plan during the day while still focusing on their business goals at night. The path and life of the hybrid entrepreneur is not an easy one. Essentially, you burn the candle at both ends, and while there are lifestyle advantages, including income protection, there are chances that you will burn out relatively quickly.
Here are five ways to prevent burnout as a hybrid entrepreneur for today active businesswomen:
1- Create and stick to the plan
If you’re working on an average 9-to-5 work schedule, it’s necessary to set up a downtime routine. There are days when you get out of work and I just want to crawl into bed for the rest of the night. Some people will take time to work out in the morning before work, and others will make a beeline straight to the gym when they get out. After the gym, you still have to cook dinner and eat, work on your job, maybe socialize and relax before you go to bed, and repeat the process the next day.
Creating a plan will help you create continuity while taking into account the unexpected, whether it’s an emergency phone call from your dad or a spontaneous happy hour gathering with friends. Schedules will vary from hourly detailing what you’re going to do every hour of the day to daily detailing which days you’re going to work on your company and which you’re going to leave for free. It’s important to be careful in your preparation.
2- Set the boundaries between your day job and your company
Some employers may expect you to devote all your time and resources to the company, and they may feel threatened by the fact that you have goals that exist outside the realms of their company, while others will welcome it. It is important to know what your employer’s culture is about extracurricular activities, whether or not your ventures may be considered a conflict of interest, and what your employer’s policy is about reporting your duty as the owner, board member, or officer of another organization.
I heard about someone lately who was late to their own wedding (click here for some wedding tips) because they have work to do and orders to deliver. Trust me you don’t want to be in their shoes. Be sure to anticipate positive and negative encounters with the disclosure and non-disclosure of your extracurricular ventures, and it’s almost impossible to avoid these topics from coming up when you set up your brand.
3- Be disciplined
Once you establish your duel business life as a hybrid entrepreneur. You’ll need to maintain your visibility at the office, and may need to sustain this even after hours for corporate activities. But don’t get caught up in these extra activities as you’ll need to go back to work on your project at night. To ensure that you don’t waste too much time on these activities, you need to stay focused on your goals through consistency and imaginative preparation. Learn to say no to invitations politely. Consistency is the secret to treating your company as a legal activity.
4- Understand your end goal
Working around the clock is not for the faint of heart. It takes sacrifice, discipline, learning how and when to say ‘no’ and effectively balancing several goals. If making money is the only reason behind your aspirations as an entrepreneur, you’re going to eventually crash and burn—harming yourself in the process, your company, and possibly even your day job results.
Understand that you’re going to get less sleep, more tension, and days, weeks, or even months with no results. If your motive or intent is associated with what you do, the fuel you run on is more amplified than any double shot of espresso or energy drink. It’s going to take you through the hard times. By understanding your end goal, you have more clarity as to why you are working so hard and making unpleasant sacrifices.
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5- Set time aside to Rest
It may seem obvious that rest is an essential part of your routine, but there are a lot of entrepreneurs who need to be reminded to take a break. Yes, there will be deadlines that you want to reach and expectations that you have for yourself, and sometimes it just doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in the day. But if you don’t take enough time to relax, your body will give up on you, at times during the most inconvenient time. Worse still, you’re going to spend more time recovering from the self-inflicted. Your well-being should come first whether you’re working for yourself, someone else, or both. And if you need some inspiration click here.
Being a call hybrid entrepreneur is not easy but by following the above tips, your chances of succeeding are greatly improved
