Q&A: “Too tired to hustle at the end of the day…”

What do you do at the end of your workday? Are you excited to go home and work some more? This is a tough yet common problem. You want to start a side hustle, and you know it will help in the long term, but you're burned out from the day job and everything else you have to do. Today's caller feels the same, so let's give them (and you) a few quick tips.

Am I the only one who's constantly tired? Every day I finish work and have zero desire to "work for myself" for the rest of the day. I just want to put my feet up and watch Netflix. So what's the problem? I don't want to be in this job forever. I know I need to invest in myself, like you always say, but how can I do that when I'm constantly tired?

You're not the only one. We've all been there, some of us more than once. Here's what I'd suggest.

Relax and recharge. It's okay to rest, and you need to. If you let go of the obligation for a day, you often come back stronger and make twice as much progress after a break.

Choose a side hustle that's different from your day job. It's important to use a different kind of energy. Don't be the accountant who does taxes on the side, or the chef who bakes for farmers' markets at night. Those are recipes for burnout.

Plan your limited energy in advance. Decide before the end of the day, when you're tired, where your time will go. You might have only 20 minutes of real energy to spare, but 20 minutes of focused, deliberate work beats an hour of clicking around and reading emails you don't answer. (I do that all the time. It's a bad habit.)

Most of all, make sure you're doing something that gives you energy, not just drains it.

Have a question? Visit SideHustleSchool.com/questions.