Channel Your Inner Night Owl & Kick Start That Side Hustle

Morning people are amazing. I envy them, in fact. If given the choice, I imagine I’d opt to be an early bird over a night owl, given that you accomplish so much before the average person has even poured the creamer into their first cup of coffee. There’s something to be said about starting the day off highly productive and hosting a sense of achievement before the day can run away from you.

Unfortunately, that’s just not my M.O. Never has been. When it came time for those inevitable college cram sessions and term papers, I always knew it was best if I stayed up until I was finished, and to never believe a roommate who suggested I sleep first, and wake up early to finish instead.

I thought maybe things would change as I got older. To some degree, they have, and to another degree they still could. But for the most part, it’s still the quiet, still nights that put my creative energy into overdrive and drift me over to the computer rather than over into bed.

Finally, instead of tossing and turning in bed, thinking about all of the things I want to do, should have done, or would love to do “one day”, it was time to put thoughts into actions.

My half dozen notebooks with scribbles of incomplete thoughts have been strewn about my home, and amongst my purses and suitcases for weeks on end. Instead of fooling myself into believing I’d sit on the patio, writing with my coffee in hand while the sun rises on Sunday morning, I’m being honest with myself and cutting the excuses.

So here we are on Saturday night, awake at 2:00am. But not because of a crazy night out-on-the-town. It’s because the “two hours” I committed to research a side hustle quickly evolved to seven hours. And I love it!

Not every side hustle will take hours on end, and not every side hustle is a one-time project. But what they have in common is the fact that you’ve got to have passion or purpose if you want to have any successful side hustle. Your purpose might be the extra cash, and that’s reason enough. Or you might be like me, and have a purpose to add on to your never-ending list of development projects, despite your only opportunities being weeknights after 8:00pm or your all-too-brief weekends. If you want it enough, you may need to change something in your routine to get it. If you’re not ready to, then that’s okay. But just like I had to admit to myself, you can’t think it into existence!

What is the reason you side-hustle? How can you schedule small pieces into your day, maybe changing up your current routine, to make it happen? What excuses have been standing in your way?