This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Can you take a break from your side hustle without losing momentum? In this episode, we're going to explore how to pause your business the right way and come back even stronger. I think this is a really important topic because your side hustle is supposed to give you freedom. I talk about that a good bit. It's all about freedom, economic empowerment, being able to do more of what is important to you. So those are all good things,
but what happens when you start feeling burned out? That is less of a good thing. In fact, that's something we want to avoid as much as possible. Or if it happens, we want to be able to regroup. And so you might think, well, I just need to take a break, but can I take a break? I've already built this up and people are depending on me. And I also
just don't want to lose momentum or sales or clients, customers, et cetera. It just feels risky. And so then you get in this whole weird situation where the thing that you love is not the thing that you love doing, or you love parts of it, but not all parts of it. So you're just trying to figure out how do you handle this or manage it or how can you in fact take that break. So that is exactly what Lauren, our caller today is struggling with. She does love her side hustle,
but she's also exhausted and doesn't know how to step away without losing everything she's built. So I really appreciate her bravery in giving us this question because it's something that can affect a lot of side hustlers and small business owners and really business owners and entrepreneurs of all kinds of projects and companies. So let's talk about how you can take a break strategically so that your business doesn't just survive. It actually comes back stronger, ideally. I mean, that's the goal, right? Detailed question from Lauren and my answer coming right up.
Hey, Chris, this is Lauren from Brooklyn, New York. I love my side hustle and it's been growing steadily, but lately I'm feeling totally burned out. The problem is I don't know how to step away without losing all my progress. If I take a break, I worry that customers will move on. My audience will stop engaging or I'll have to start from scratch when I come back.
How do I take a break from my side hustle in a way that doesn't hurt my long-term success? All right, Lauren, as I said, well done on raising this issue. You are definitely not the only one. I also understand why it feels overwhelming when you've worked so hard to grow something. The idea of stepping away even temporarily brings up these fears of losing everything. But of course taking a
break doesn't have to mean starting over. So let's consider a way that protects your progress and sets you up for a strong return. First, what does take a break look like? Like not all breaks are the same, right? So ask yourself whether you need a full stop or you completely unplug for a set period or just a slowdown or you reduce your workload but keep some presence. So if you need
a full stop, set a clear timeframe like stepping away for three months and let key customers or followers know, just be transparent about it. Transparency builds trust and having a return date in mind makes it easier to restart. If the slowdown feels better and all things being equal, this might be a better option. You might scale back to fewer hours, limit the types of projects you take on or focus only on the highest impact tasks. This could actually be a good practice for you anyway. The key is to make a conscious decision about it rather than just disappearing
without a plan. Next, is there a way to keep up some kind of presence without actively working? Can you set up some low effort systems to keep people engaged or at least to kind of have that presence, that minimal presence, scheduling content, perhaps using tools like buffer or later, setting up an email responder, auto responder, letting people know when you'll be back, if you sell digital products, consider setting up an automated sales or an email sequence that runs while you're away. And it can be really interesting. I've talked to some people who have taken a break but also taken the time to set up these sequences properly, then they go away and they're still actually making money. And so that sometimes inspires them to like rewire their entire
business and be like, "Well, how can I do this more often so that I keep getting paid when I'm not actively monitoring or providing a lot of support?" Maybe it could be inspirational and lead you to something better than what you have now. But in short, taking a break from the hustle does not mean losing everything you've built, especially if you define that break clearly. Maybe you automate some small things to stay visible, protect your best customers and create a reentry plan. You get to come back refreshed and ready without having to rebuild a new business from scratch. Like you have come a long way. So let us celebrate that while also honoring your need to take a break. That's
my advice for our caller. Listeners, let me know what's going on with you. If I can be helpful anyway, I'm so grateful for you being out there, being part of this community. We've got new episodes out every day, seven days a week, always free. Subscribe, follow wherever you like to listen.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project
