How I Juggle Multiple Side Hustles, a Day Job + Life, Without Burning Out 🤗

The key to unlocking your travel dreams may just be 10 or 20 side hustles away. In today’s post I show you how to juggle multiple side hustles and still succeed at life.

Some time back, I joined a Facebook group for the very first time ever.

And I not only joined the group, I actively participate in it by posting content once in a while.

Crazy, I know :).

One of my posts actually ‘went viral’ raking in 3,000+ likes, more than 1,600 comments, and several hundred shares.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/607262593192742/permalink/625261261392875/

20+ Ways I have funded my travels without using my regular salary

I’m one of those people who’s always been hustling.

It’s in my DNA.

I can’t help it, but I’m also not complaining.

Everything I look at in life I see a potential income stream.

In today’s post, I share with you strategies that I use to juggle the multiple side hustles, a full time job + a life 🙂

But before that, below is a list of the 20+ best side hustles for 2020 I have personally used to make more money and different ways that I have funded without relying on the income from my regular day job:

1. Write and self-publish e-books online
2. Travel blogging 
   • Affiliate marketing
   • Sponsored blog posts
   • Brand mentions
   • Display advertising
3. Getting paid to make YouTube videos. 
4. Selling ‘made in Kenya’ stuff online
5. Modeling
6. Becoming a travel Influencer
7. Rent out extra room in my house on AirBnB and Booking.com 
8. Delivering packages during travel
9. Freelance business plan writer
10. Paid public speaking on matters travel and personal finance
11. Writing for dailies 
12. Destination marketing 
13. Monitoring and evaluation consultancy work
14. Use my bank card to pay for travel expenses and get rewarded
15. Compensation for default aircraft entertainment system 
16. Acting 
17. Compensation for delayed flights
18. Tracing my unclaimed funds from the Unclaimed Funds Authority Agency

The comments on the said post were as varied and as different as day and night.

However, based on the comments, two major schools of thoughts emerged:

• Those who felt inspired and hence wanted to learn how i juggle everything; and
• Those who didn’t believe that one person can have a full time job and 20 different hustles, and that I was lying just to promote my brand.

In defense of the latter group, side hustling is not easy, and it’s not for the fainthearted, so I will not hold it against them.

They probably were just projecting their own fears and limitations anyway.

On the other hand, people in the first group were rather curious as to how I manage the multiple side hustles and thrive at other aspects of my life.

How to juggle several side hustles, a day job + a life and succeed:)

Currently, I run this blog, two Etsy shops, a YouTube channel, in addition to any freelance business plan development, modeling, public speaking, and influencer/destination marketing assignments that occasionally pop up.

Organize your time

“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”― Denis Waitley

The last thing you want to do as you pursue your side hustles is to suffer burn out.

Hence the reason why you need carve out time for your hustle + the rest of your life.

In my case for instance, the daily 8 hours dedicated to my regular job (except when I’m on leave), the 8 hours dedicated to my sleep (between 8 pm and 4 am), and Saturday (whole day rest) are non-negotiable.

That therefore means that every other activity has to fit in to the remaining time.

The greatest benefit of this has been prioritization.

And that is how TV watching automatically dropped out of my life. There’s just no time left to watch it 🙁

Focus your efforts on passive side hustles with passive income streams

As much as possible steer towards side hustle opportunities with passive income earning potential, either immediately or in the near future.

Passive income streams require an upfront investment in time and/or financial resources at the beginning. Thereafter, these income streams slowly build up to a level where they’re able to bring in consistent revenue and maintain themselves, without much effort on your part.

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” – Warren Buffett

Case in point in my list above is numbers 1 to 4.

It definitely takes a lot of time and effort to write a blog article, to research, compile, write and publish an e-book, to shoot and edit a YouTube video, etc.

However, once they’re out, they’re out.

And as long as they remain published, and people read the articles, view the videos, or purchase the e-books, I continue to make money even as I sleep.

For my ‘made in Kenya’ export side hustle, I buy stuff from Kariokor once a month, take pictures of the items, and post them on my online Etsy shop and that’s it. When a customer makes a purchase, they pay me via my PayPal account that is already set up in the system and I receive an alert on my phone. I prepare the shipment and make a request for pick up of the shipment to DHL through their online platform

Make money from what you’re already doing or you’d be doing anyway even if you weren’t getting paid

A classic example in my case is the modeling gigs, public speaking on matters travel and personal finance, and travel influencing.

All the modeling gigs I’ve ever engaged in were either a result of a brand approaching through my Instagram account, or one I stumbled upon during my personal sunrise shooting sessions. As someone who loves taking pictures and basking in the limelight, saying yes to such a proposal has never been rocket science.

Posing for pictures in my bikini or trendy sports wear is something I do even when no one is watching. It therefore just makes sense to be paid doing what I love.

I am also an advocate for democratizing international travel. Thus, I am always keen to share with whoever will listen tips and hacks on how to afford the travel lifestyle, so if someone’s willing to pay me for that, why not!

Outsource what you can

Pay other people to take care of aspects of your side hustles that you either don’t have time for, or you lack expertise in.

Classic examples of this for me are on the AirBnB front for which I sub-contract guest management in my absence; as well as on my ‘made in Kenya’ export side hustle whereby I have a contract with DHL who pickup the stuff from my house, and take care of the shipping + delivery to my customers in the US.

Multi-task whenever possible

Multi-tasking helps you optimize the time slots you’ve allocated to your side hustles.

Aside from the 2 e-books I have published in my name, I have also self-published 7 travel romance Novellas using pseudonyms.

Interestingly, I wrote all the novellas either while on transit at various airports during layovers (I prefer them because they’re usually cheaper that direct flights), or in the plane during long flights.

My favorite pass time during travels is to people watch couples and come up with imaginary stories about their lives. Thus, the characters in the novellas are based on real people I have seen/met during my travels hence making the writing process super fast and easy for me. Creepy but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do 🙂

Leverage technology where appropriate

Leverage available technology to juggle your multiple side hustles.

As pertains to producing content for my blog for instance, I dictate into Windows Speech Recognition which then transcribes my voice into text. With minimal editing, it’s ready for upload onto the blog.

This not only saves me time for other activities, but presents me with opportunities for multi-tasking.

I for instance usually do the blog dictations while engaged in other activities such as walking home from work, house cleaning, or cooking.

Multi-tasking galore:)

Consider side hustle opportunities in areas that you’re already engaged in

This strategy not only helps you leverage on a skill you’re already confident in to make money, but also offers you an opportunity to leverage your existing networks, re-purpose your existing content, and increase your income streams.

In my case for instance, since I’m already blogging and shooting YouTube videos anyway, I leverage these platforms to earn from affiliate marketing, brand mentions as well paid advertising.

Additionally, I do most of the modeling gigs and influencer marketing assignments while on vacation in exotic destinations and end up using the same pictures I used for sponsored posts on my Instagram profile, for my blog, and for my Facebook page.

Some of the stories that feature on my blog are excerpts from my e-books, and vice versa.

On the same front, I have an undergraduate degree in Accounting, and is also a CPA. As a multiple business owner with this background therefore, developing a business plan is kind of a walk in the pack for me as long as I have all the necessary background research.

All my YouTube videos and blogs are based off of stuff I encounter during my travels and my passive income journey. Other content is also in response to reader comments and questions on the blog and my personal social media platforms as well as those that I engage with like the Wanderlust Facebook group which was the genesis of this post.

All my speaking engagements are based on my personal experiences and knowledge on topics such as how to make money traveling the world, passive income opportunities, etc.

In the future, I could create an additional income stream by selling this knowledge to other people who want to follow in my footsteps and use my strategies to do the same thing. This I can do in the form of private Facebook pages, workshops, online courses, or speaking at seminars and conferences.

Leveraging my Instagram profile, blog, and/or YouTube channel as a resume and demonstration of my experience and expertise garnered so far, and get paid to help individuals and/or businesses grow their following.

On the same breath therefore, if you own an AirBnB for instance, you can consider having an honesty shelf at the premises where you sell African curios.

Your Turn

Well, I’m living proof that it IS possible to have several side hustles, and using the above tips, succeed at them all + other aspects of your life.

And the benefits go far beyond the immediate financial boost you can get from taking on additional hustles.

Do you have a side hustle that generates extra cash for you? Share with other readers your experience in the comments!