How to Balance a Full Time Day Job with Freelance Work

Jordan Napper
Jul 21, 2017 · 7 min read

If you are like me and work a full time day job (9–5, 5 days a week) and have always had aspirations of starting your own thing, I am here to tell you that you can balance a job and being freelance — without going insane or burning.

Let me be very clear, it is hard, exhausting and you often question what you are doing with your life but the reward and satisfaction of finding complete fulfilment from your work is absolutely worth it.

Every week I work full time in retail, write a new article for my blogs, draw everyday by working on personal lettering projects, actively post to social media, go to the gym four days a week and maintain my freelance/client work around these tasks.

Basically what I am trying to say here is that if I can balance all that and still find time for rest, relaxation, family time, and time with my partner — you can too.

No conflict of interest

If you are thinking about taking on some freelance work on the side, make sure it is out of the scope of your day job. Otherwise you might have a conflict of interest for the company that you work for.

If you are planning on offering services that are similar to that of the company you are employed by, then you might by in danger of breaking a non-compete contract with the company.

If you work for a great company and have a good relationship with your boss, think about asking them these questions. (If you have a good relationship with your boss then they should be supportive of you and your goals, if not, ask yourself these questions)

1. Are any of my freelance services that same as what the company offers?

2. Will I be using the same client base as the company?

3. Am I going to be using any of my employers intellectual assets for my own business?

If you answered yes to any of those questions then you need to sit down and re-think you your side business. Or if you are unsure about a possible client that has approached you, ask your boss first as a courtesy. I know in the design industry that some employer’s don’t mind designers taking on side clients, but it never hurts to give your boss a heads up. Better safe than sorry.

Priorities

While at your day job, never work on client work. The temptation is strong and I often have to stop myself thinking about client work rather than focusing on what’s in front of me. Try your absolute best to resist the urge of working on your side business during the time you’re paid to be elsewhere.

Doing some quick social media work and replying to emails while you are on lunch is fine, but as soon as you are on the clock (being paid by the company) you need to be all there.

The reason is that if you are working on your side business while at the day job, it can lead to a negative reputation for any future freelance work. Plus, you don’t want to burn bridges with your employer; they can always be a great source of referral work one day in the future.

Baby steps

While maintaining a full time day job and working on freelance work can leave very little time for fun. So it important that you understand your limits, especially since your usual down time (nights and weekends) will be spent working.

You need to be mentally ready for juggling both jobs and staying focused while at each place. I did say this wasn’t easy but no hard work means no reward.

When you first start, take on one project at time and learn how to balance that before moving onto the next one. Doing it slowly rather than jumping right in gives you a slow taste of what it is like to be self employed, you learn how to be self-disciplined, manage your own time better and gain a better understanding of the work and path that lies ahead.

Be selective

The idea behind taking on a full time job and easing ourselves into freelance means that we don’t have the starving artist mentality — which can be dangerous and lead us astray.

The full time day job covers 100% of our bills. Not 50% and we work a second job, not 80% and we make up the rest with freelance — 100% of our bills can be covered by one job.

This allows us to be selective when we are approached by possible clients. We don’t have to beg and fight for every penny; we don’t have to lower our standards just so we can pay our bills. The money is already taken care of, we can focus on doing work we love and are passionate about for clients who will value us and provide great projects to work on.

That is why the day job is so important, it gives us the freedom to take on clients that can give us the opportunity to create our best work each and every time.

It is okay to turn down work; it is okay to only work on one project even though you have had three offers this month. If the possible clients don’t fit within your schedule, skill set or every interaction with them is simply full of red flags, say no. In my experience, clients appreciate the honesty and can see that you want to work to a high standard on all projects. Who knows, they may bring more proposals to you in the future knowing that you won’t mess them around or give them a half-baked product. We aren’t in a position that we have to say yes, because all of our bills are taken care of.

When do you work?

One of the best things about working freelance is that you get to make your own schedule to work to and in most cases, you don’t have to leave the house, which means you don’t have to put pants on.

What this does mean though is that you need to figure out when you are the most productive.

When I first started I thought I worked best of a night. About 6 months post-University, I found that after my lifestyle had changed and nights were no longer working as well as they once had. I still got plenty done in the evenings and into the night, but it started to take a toll on me the morning after. So I trialled working in the mornings and compared my quality of my work out put over the course of a week of mornings vs. nights and it wasn’t even close. I got nearly three times more quality work done of a morning than I did in the evenings.

So now I pretty much strictly work of a morning. I get up sometime 3–4 hours before I have to go to the day job and do the most important three tasks of the day straight away. For example the most important three tasks for today are: write a new blog article, write newsletter blurb and key take away section and set it for publishing on my site.

If each and every day I can accomplish three tasks in the morning then I have had a successful day. I also often put a fourth, smaller, less important task on my do list. The aim of this one is if I have time after the first three then I’ll do that if not I can do it after dinner.

For me its not the same three tasks everyday, some days it write, other days its client work or simply draw.
You need to find out what time of day you work best. I would recommend comparing both mornings and nights for you and see what works.

Stay healthy

This point has taken me way to long to realize the importance of. If you are not healthy then you can’t work. For me, there is no worse feeling around. I love what I do, I really enjoy it and it fulfils me every time I get to do it. So being so exhausted that I can’t even pick up a pencil to draw is a awful way to feel.
You need to look after your long-term health.

Here are some tips that I try and implement every week to help my health and keep my mind on track:

• Don’t eat junk food: eat more fruit and vegetables and stay away from foods high in refined sugar, even if chocolate is life.

• Drink less coffee: I know this one is tricky, especially getting up early. I try to have no more than 2 cups a day. One when I first get up and one half way through the morning.

• Drink less alcohol: Avoid having a drink every evening despite the fact that it helps you relax, read a book instead. Save your partying for the weekend and have a few then.

• Drink more water: this one should be obvious; we do not drink enough water. Drink more!

• Take breaks: if you know you are going to working away for 8–10 hours then you need to take a break. Go for a walk, stretch; go get a drink of water.

• Sleep more: often what is sacrificed when we start working from home but it is so unbelievably important to our health and work. You need at least 7–8 hours of beauty sleep, so if you implement any of these tips make sure it’s this one.

By using these tips, I hope you can achieve a good balance between a full time day job and your freelance work. If your goal is like mine and it is to quit the day job and work full time freelance then here’s hoping these tips will especially help you onto the correct path!

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Jordan Napper

Written by

A lettering artist starting out on his journey, trying to inspire others and grow as a person. Jordannapper.com

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