Having two jobs has perks sure, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. Balancing multiple roles can feel like an incessant juggling act and amid this hectic dance, it’s easy to overlook the most important aspect: yourself.
You want to take steps to protect yourself; your physical and mental health. Here are 3 helpful tips for looking after yourself even with two jobs.
Customizing Your Schedule
Customizing your schedule means you can hit your peak productivity hours while still fitting in personal stuff so that your work-life balance is smoother and stress levels lower.
So:
- Keep track of when you’re most on the ball—maybe you’re a morning person or more of a night owl
- If you’re buzzing in the morning, get cracking early and save the tough tasks for then. Night person? Adjust your schedule to fit in more evening work hours
- Make sure to block out time for personal stuff like family time, workouts, or hobbies. They’re just as important as work stuff, so treat them that way
Say you’re a morning person and you’re at your sharpest from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Schedule the big tasks, like brainstorming sessions or important calls, for these hours. Keep afternoons for less intense tasks like admin or email catch-up. Then, pencil in your leisure time for the evenings. Aligning your work with your energy levels means you can get more done without feeling wiped out.
Efficient Task Management
Efficient task management helps you stay focused, get more done, and keep your cool when juggling multiple gigs.
You want to:
- Divvy up your day into chunks and assign specific tasks to each chunk
- Get on board with apps like Trello or Asana to keep your tasks organized, set deadlines, and track your progress
- Pass on tasks that someone else could handle. Whether it’s a coworker or a freelancer, delegating frees up your time
Say you’re balancing freelance graphic design gigs with a part-time marketing assistant job. Use time blocking to dedicate mornings to freelancing and afternoons to marketing tasks. Within each block, prioritize based on deadlines. For example, if you have a client presentation due soon, focus more on that during your morning block.
Self-Care Rituals
Self-care rituals are how you keep your batteries charged, stress levels down, and performance up.
So:
- Build habits like exercise, meditation, or reading into your daily or weekly routine
- Draw a line between work time and personal time, and stick to it
- When you’re doing your self-care thing, really be there. Focus on what you’re doing, and let go of work worries for a while
Really, the financial and career growth perks from having two jobs can be great, but you want to be proactive about taking care of yourself. Start with these tips!
