As a hobby entrepreneur or “sidepreneur” I have to find time outside of my day job and family commitments to get the work done for my various endeavors like podcasting or writing.

Since I can’t afford to hire someone to do the tasks needed to complete a project I have to be focused and manage my time.

Over the years I’ve found a few ways to be more efficient and get things done without staying up too late.

Learn to say, “No.”

By declining invitations and requests you’ll free up time to do what’s needed not what’s requested. If you do say, “Yes,” schedule it.

Turn off email alerts

Email alerts are a distraction. If you’re not in a service profession that requires you to respond to email, turn off the alerts. It would be even better to close your email app.

Disable notifications on your smartphone

Just like email alerts, all those notifications from social media are ruining your productivity. Turn them off. You’re not missing anything.

Work on one thing at a time

Not one project, one thing. If you have a project that has 7 steps to complete only work on one step at a time. Bonus: Break projects down into quick, simple tasks.

Batch items

When you do get back to email and social media, process and schedule as much as possible. 15 minutes of responding to email and social media is more productive than bouncing back and forth between tasks.

Schedule your work

Make a daily/weekly/monthly appointment to get your side-hustle done. By scheduling the time you’re more likely to get it done. Make sure to set an end time to the appointment so time doesn’t slip away.

Perfection is your enemy

Don’t try to create the perfect podcast or blog. Get things done in the little time you have and ship. I struggle with this the most and it has kept me from completing many projects.

What are some tricks you use to take advantage of all your free time?