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How to focus on your dream despite having a 9-5 job!

A lot of people don't know that I have a full-time PM job and think I'm a full-time founder/maker. In the last 5yrs, I hustled around and found some ways to work on things I love. Here are some which might help you:

  1. Be an early riser:
    Make a habit of waking early in the morning. I wake up at 5AM to work on my side projects and it truly makes a difference. You have all the time you need, like literally 4hrs before you 9-5 kicks in. Trust me, you will become most productive than ever.

  2. Connect with the community virtually or physically after your work hours:
    Nobody is going to stop you after your work hours. You basically have a choice to binge Netflix or meet with fellow makers. Choose the later and start building leverage by building community.

  3. Work on evenings or weekends:
    Plan in a way that you can focus on shipping side projects on weekends. You have time to research, tinker and experiment. I'm not saying sacrifice your personal life but at the same time think about the choices you make. Hard choice easy life.

If you are like me who is hustling to make it happen, you have my deepest respect ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿฝ I would love to know what you are doing in your life!

I strongly believe whining doesnโ€™t take you anywhere. Action does.

Hope this helps you to take action. Share this with a friend or someone who needs to see this. Thanks for reading ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿฝ

  1. 4

    Great tips! It's pretty amazing how much you can accomplish working 1-2 hours a day.

    1. 1

      I know right! I shipped all of my projects in 2020 in those 4hrs every morning.

  2. 3

    For me, Iโ€™d try my best to ensure my 9-5 and passion projects are relevant. I also see what I work for = steps to learn and grow.

    In my day time job, I work for a venture funding investing startups internationally. This key allowed me to connect and scale my network vastly.

    At the same time, Iโ€™m making use of what I learned from my job to help people and eventually converting into multiple passion projects.

  3. 2

    This is a great reminder to spend our time wisely! ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿป

    I've also been waking up early for the last year and it's the most productive I've ever been in my life!

  4. 2

    The early riser helps me being productive. I've got a lot on my plate and waking up early helps.

    1. 1

      Glad you are trying. Good luck with whatever you are doing!

  5. 2

    Nice summary! I'll have to try the "early riser" one, since I usually do the opposite (stay late), but those are my least productive hours.

    1. 1

      Thanks! Sure and trust me it works big time :)

  6. 2

    I definitely agree! More time of the day = more time to get work done.

    I also find that organizing your work correctly also is extremely important for when you do have time to sit down and work on that side project, otherwise you stay stuck.

    1. 1

      Totally. I built and shipped all projects this year by waking up early. The habit made a significant impact on me!

      And yes you need to have systems in place to achieve the goals you set.

  7. 2

    These are great tips!

    I'd love to see a similar set of tips but for a working parent. That'd be interesting :) (I am one and have some ideas, but I haven't launched anything significant yet)

    1. 1

      I'm glad you found value from my experience. I'm not there yet but when I become a parent, I will surely find ways :)

  8. 2

    This tips resonate with me. Some of it I do, some not so consistently.

    1. 1

      Glad it resonated with you. Happy to help if you need more advice. DM me on twitter @5harath

  9. 2

    Some nice insights @sharath39. Thanks for sharing!

    1. 2

      Thanks Gordan! Glad it resonated with you.

  10. 2

    That's inspiring Sharath, thanks for sharing. I wonder you have any tips to keep yourself motivated to sail through long hours, difficult days?

    1. 2

      Thanks Ali. Glad it resonated with you. It is not always easy and like you mentioned there were days where work demanded long hours.

      Despite that, I used to come to my maker projects because I always look forward to them. So I would say work on projects where you solve your own problems, have fun while doing it. That itself is a motivation!

  11. 2

    Nice tips. I wonder if there are communities specifically for people working 9-5 and building outside of work. This may have a "graduation problem" but could also build bonds for life.

    1. 1

      Thanks Dru. I'm curious to find a community where people hustle to get things done while having full-time jobs!

      It would be amazing to have one where people share hacks like can be accountable with each other.

      1. 2

        Wonder what @andrewpierno thinks? He's building a community. Curious to know the filter.

        https://www.indiehackers.com/product/xoxo-vc

        1. 2

          Thanks for pulling me in @dru_riley! So far the majority of people in the groups have full time gigs.

          But I've never thought of that as a selling point!

          @sharath39 let's chat about you joining the next group starting Sept 1.

          So far it's been mostly an accountability group, keeping each other on track to build whatever they're working on.

          1. 1

            yeah a few days ago there was a question "who earns money from your gig" with just the minority of people actually bringing in the bacon. It takes time

            1. 1

              not sure what you mean.

          2. 1

            XOXO.vc looks like ZT1 Dru. Interesting to see it as a productivized community.

            Andrew, sure love to be part of it. We can take this over to twitter I guess. Can you DM me @5harath on twitter?

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