Trust me, I get it.
Making time for your side project can be extremely difficult. We all have so many important activities competing for our limited amount of time outside of work each week.
Full-time job, family, socializing, commute, exercise, meal prep, hobbies, relaxation, having fun, the list goes on.
Here’s where I need your help…
I’m one of those crazy ass morning people.
Not afraid to wake up at 4:30am to get started on my side projects (like this blog).
However, in the years I’ve been running this blog, speaking with readers like you and working with students in my courses, I’ve learned that 4:30am isn’t for everyone. Not like that took a rocket scientist to figure out.
Some of us are just wired differently. So the time of day that’s best for me to work on my side hustle, may not be as great for you.
On the other hand, many people simply lack proper motivation—and therefore come up with excuses for why they don’t have time instead of being a force of change that has the power to create the time.
…
That’s why I’m doing a little experiment…
I want to know, what time of day do you work on your side project?
Over on Twitter, the consensus looks like evenings and nights after work…
Is that true?
Last week, I heard from several of you.
Like Michael, one of my course students who prefers working on his blog after work during the evenings—why? He’s not a morning person. Outside of the hours he spends at his full-time gig, the evenings are when he works best, so he embraces that.
Paula gets her side hustle time in during the mornings before work.
And Ian manages to (somehow) squeeze in time for his side hustle in the mornings, during lunch AND evenings after work. What!
I’ve heard back from dozens of readers, but I need more data for this experiment.
I want to hear from you.
…
Share with me in the comments below answering these two questions.
1. What time of day do you work on your side project?
- Mornings before work?
- Evenings after work?
- Late nights?
- During lunchtime?
- Weekends only?
(Bonus points for listing specific hour ranges, like 8pm—10pm or 6am—9am).
And
2. Why?
Is it out of necessity from your work schedule?
Because of family commitments?
Is that the time of day you’re mentally at your best?
…
Comment below telling me what time of day you work on your side projects and why.
I’ll include you in my upcoming study and you’ll be the first to get updates on our findings!
89 replies to “What time do you work on your side project?”
I work on my side hustle heavily on weekends, focusing on doing at least 6 of hours of work from early morning until early afternoon. That leaves time later to unwind and enjoy with family.
During the weekdays, I work on the train ride into work as well as on the way back. At home, about an 1 or 2 tops after dinner.
I wake up early and work on my side project from 7-10am, when I am the sharpest.
Mostly either early in the mornings when I wake up 0600 to 0700 and late night before I sleep. But mostly you are find me doing it during the day. This is an earlier that I need to focus on and create a schedule
I work mostly over lunch hour since thats the time i am free and im currently on a fulltime job working 8:00- 5:00.
I work on my side hustle generally in the evenings and on the weekend. I go to school during the week which is boring in comparison to what I’m trying to create, so putting time towards it during the week often means stealing time away from my studies.
I work 60% of week ends and also work after office work 4:30 pm in case there are some urgent side work that needs my urgent and important action.
However, I dedicate full one off day for my side work. I am currently thinking exit strategy of full day employee and start my own business to feel more freedom on my job and living style.
At breaks and when I get home in the evening. I do this because I work. From 7:30 am to 5 or 6:30 pm hard to get things done
I typically work on my side projects in the late morning and late at night.
I work on my side project mostly in the afternoon as am not so busy then.
On a daily basis, I work from 8am to 5pm and then jog for one hour. I start work on my side business from 6pm to 10 pm and always wake up at 4am to resume work with my side business before heading to my job.
I usually work on my personal stuff between 6-8am. I find I am more focused then, there are fewer distractions (from the rest of the world) and it helps me feel like I’ve accomplished something big before my day has already begun.
I am a student and i am developing my side business project. Generally i do my side project at night 10pm to 12am. But some times i distructed by the school assignments. So some times i even spend a week without touching my hustle project.
I work in corporate law and have a blog on the side for my creative outlet. Lately I’ve been trying to ramp it up and so, I work on drafting posts typically from 6-7 am before getting ready for work. I value this time greatly (quiet and you’re left feeling oh-so-accomplished). I also work on the fiddly bits of my blog’s design, and all the social media applications related to get my blog noticed from 7-9 pm if I’m lucky. Sometimes until 10 pm—because there’s just so much to do and so many rabbit holes to fall down into!
I usually work on my projects through evening from 7pm to 2am in the morning here in India. Love to work for long hours during night. Thank you.
Hello Ryan
I handle my side hustle while commuting to the office between 6am and 7:30am and when it’s light at work 5-6pm. I also wake up early say 3:30am sometimes when I need to brainstorm ideas.
Great question! Right now because of my work schedule and my lack of really good internet. I’m only able to work on my side aspiration on the weekend, early in the morning before 8 am.
Its quiet. I can concentrate. The rest of the family is usually still sleeping. And my internet is set up to be “free” before 8 am.
The downside is if I miss a weekend, then it’s a whole other week before I get a chance to work on it again.
I usually work on my side project after office hours(8:00pm – 11:00 pm) and saturday (9:00 am to 12:00 pm). Sunday is my rest day! 🙂
My work schedule is not the 9-5 so I get to work on my business in chunks of time on my off days. As a nurse, I work three, 12 hour shifts a week.
That leaves one day for rest and catching up on household chores and 2.5-3 days to work on my business. I do about 12-18 hours of work each week on my business when in full swing. I could always use extra motivation though to stick with that schedule.
I normally work on my side business from ~0700-0900 break then from ~1000 to 1200 break and again from ~1400-1600. I don’t do evenings. And when I’m feeling super motivated, I’ll work on it a little bit in the mornings before work (0430-0530).
Great post-Ryan! I usually work at night time. When I am free from Work tension or stress. At night I can think freely and can take my time to develop or to add something innovative to my website. In Morning hours the time is limited and I can not do much because of the upcoming work Loads. So for me, Night time is the best.
I really prefer to work on my projects at night, they seem to work better.