How I Keep My Side-Hustles Going When I Am on the Road (Or Up in the Air) for Weeks
Juggling multiple balls in the air is challenging while on the move
If you are like me, you will find corporate travel a bi**h.
There is a high potential for traveling across multiple time zones. You risk screwing up your body clock for the first couple of days. And your travel itinerary owns your time. Not you.
Careful, deliberate work planning is required if you have hustles on the side. This is especially so if you are running the 6–9 business alone.
You would not want to lose customers when you are up in the air or on the road.
A Personal Short Story on Corporate Travel— I Was on the Road for 3 Weeks
I wonder if this sounds familiar.
I just touched down in Singapore today. Before, I was spending a good chunk of March overseas. I visited the corporate branches in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan.
It was a corporate pulse-check trip. I was there to observe that the branch offices were operating efficiently, opening prospecting pipelines, and customer complaints were promptly attended to.
I visited call centers, operations centers, service centers, and branch offices with my team. And we commuted from site to site throughout the day, every day. I would be in my hotel room compiling, reviewing, rewriting, and submitting management reports back to Regional Headquarters in Singapore.
My day would start at 6 in the morning and end around 11 in the evening. I barely had any time in between to work on my side hustles.
If This Happens to be You — You Need Honest Assessment of Your Parameter Limits
“Not that smart. Not that hot. Not that nice. Not that funny. That’s me: I’m not that.”
I have a piece of simple advice for people with the same struggles as I did. Figure out the parameters of your work commitment without sacrificing quality.
Let me explain further. For me, my absolute working limit is around 14–15 hours. The beast in me can keep going, with pockets of 30-minute breaks sprinkled throughout the day and 8 hours of sleep.
I bonk the next day if I work for 17 hours and sleep 7 hours today. Not smart. Therefore, I make sure to maintain my equilibrium for work longevity.
You are ready for the next step once you know where your lines are.
Methods and Tips to Cope with Side-Hustles and Day Job Using 14–15 Working Hours Per Day As the Energy Ceiling
Always ask your boss (or administrator) for the travel itinerary 1 month in advance. Request the same from the marketing team if you must travel for corporate events.
Your planning starts when you have the information at your fingertips.
Must-Do # 1 — Pre-Fill Your Calendar With Commute Details
First, identify the dates and time duration of air travel, road commute, and time-zone crossings. Mark out days when you are moving up in the air and on the road.
I do this for 2 reasons.
- I get headaches when I try to work in a coach. So, I do not.
- I work very well up in the air. Therefore, I ensure that I sleep well the night before to work full steam in my passenger seat.
Must-Do # 2 — Pre-Book Your Calendar to Work on Your Side-Hustles
Trust me on this one. Everyone from the branch office and every corporate diamond client wants to meet you when you visit.
They will eat up all available real estate on your calendar.
You must pre-book your time to work on your side hustles at least 3 weeks before your corporate travel. Otherwise, you will start missing your side-hustle delivery deadlines.
I recommend you do this for non-project-based side-hustles. Read below for projects.
Must-Do # 3 — If Your Side-Hustles Involve Project Work
One of my side-hustles involves copywriting project work.
If your side-hustles involve project delivery as mine does, I recommend you finish your work ahead of time. Complete the delivery draft before takeoff.
Why? Because projects require intense concentration and focus. And you will not get them while on the road.
One note of advice: Finish the draft first. Then send it on the communicated deadline.It is easier to work on a completed first draft for subsequent revisions than to produce the first draft on the road.
Must-Do # 4 — If Your Side-Hustles Involve Face-to-Face Contact Time
As a fractional Chief Pitching Officer of an A.I.-based retail solution startup, my main job (there) is to meet and pitch.
That role demands contact time with investors, customers, and industry peers. If only calls are required, I will take them while on the road (since I cannot do any work anyway).
If virtual appearance is necessary, I will take such sessions before starting my workday. My mind is ready to handle sharp questions when I am fresh.
Must-Do # 5 — If You Are Involved in Prospecting and Lead Generation
You will not be able to do this while on the road.
You need to have a system to help you if you are trying to grow your revenue book. I engaged a team of virtual assistants for prospecting, and I use Hubspot for email campaigns and social media posts.
The work continues with or without me. I will extract and study reports from Hubspot to understand the progress of prospecting and lead generation while overseas.
Summary
We burn our candles on both ends when juggling our side hustles on the road.
Understanding our capacity limits keeps the balls up in the air. Of course, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses too.
I cannot work while on the road. I can take calls.
My prime working time is up in the air. So, I ensure that I sleep well the night before.
No boozing. No entertainment. No socializing.
And I designate time to work on my side hustles if I cannot frontload or attend to them when I am back in Singapore.
We can achieve optimal success with our side hustles and our day job. Planning our day with care and in advance is the key.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
