How To Find Time for Your Side Hustle? My Simple Productivity System
These are some of the replies I get when I ask someone to start working on a side hustle or a hobby. And I get it. Everyone is busy. I started my YouTube Channel while working a 9-5 job. And if you have read my article about how I make YouTube videos, you will probably know how much effort goes into this. And the only reason I could manage to publish 100 videos in 2 years was because I learned to effectively manage my time.
So, in this article, I will explain to you the tools I use and the systems I built that help me to do more in less time.
But before we go there, why should we even need to be productive? What's the whole point of doing many things in a shorter time? For me, Productivity is not just about doing more. It’s about minimizing the time spent doing a task while maximizing the value I generate from it. And I try not to be productive just for the sake of being productive. For example, there are certain creative tasks where I take my time. No shortcuts there. But then, there are certain tasks that are demanding for the brain but can be efficiently outsourced to other tools. And nothing is more important than efficiently managing our tasks.
Task Management
There is always something there to do right. I was the kind of person who used to work with mental task lists. We all know how well that ends. Now, whenever a task pops into my mind, I know, "Okay, this is not gonna happen until I write it down." And the easiest way to do that is to use a pen and paper.
If it works for you, by all means. But for me, a pen-and-paper system always has its limitations. There are a lot of task planners available, that finding the best to-do app was on my to-do list once. Now, I use a combination of Apple Notes and Notion to track my tasks.
For those unfamiliar with Notion, it is a note-taking app that provides several tools to plan and manage our work and life. I do everything in Notion, from content management to writing food recipes; my life runs on Notion. And the heart of Notion is its databases. They are like Excel sheets on steroids.
Here is my task database in Notion.
Now, each task has some properties such as current status, priority, due date, etc. And every new task gets an entry in the database. Each task could also be linked to elements in other databases, such as a video in my content management system. I also have a "Someday list" for "tasks with no particular due dates.
This is again a tip from productivity guru David Allen. For example, if I get a recommendation to read a particular book or visit a particular place, I will add it to my someday list. And when it comes to planning my holiday, I just have a look at this list.
So, when I open my Notion home page, I can see the tasks I have planned for that day, including the someday list. I make sure not to pack too many tasks in a single day.
There is also a week view and a month view, but I just use them to get an overview. And if I can't finish something by the end of the day, I just move it to the next.
But then there is one problem with Notion: it's not that mobile-friendly. So when something new comes up, there is always friction associated with opening Notion and filling those property fields. So that's where my quick capture system with Apple Notes comes into the picture. Every new task goes into the Apple notes first and later gets moved to the task database in Notion at the end of the day.
Another tip I got from David Allen is the importance of wording the tasks properly. You should always start your task with an action verb. For example, "Make payment for the car insurance." or "Write script for the YouTube video about my productivity system." And here, I try to frame it as specifically as possible instead of writing, "Create content for the next YouTube video."
But for tiny little to-do list items, such as sending a birthday card or picking up something from the supermarket on the way home, those things do not go into my Notes or Notion database. I add it to the reminder app on my phone, and the second those are done, I check them off and allow my brain to forget all about them.
But the rest everything first goes into my Apple notes. And that brings us to my quick capture system.
Capture
Again, David Allen is back with more wisdom.
“Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them.”
So, I developed a capture and store system to free up some brain space. I did this earlier with a paid app called Drafts, but recently, I moved it to Apple Notes. I want to keep my productivity system as simple as possible with the apps that are already available on my devices.
Anytime I need to remember something, for example, if I'm reading a blog while on the toilet or on the train and listening to an audiobook. If I want to take notes on something, I'll open Apple Notes and write it down. I simply click the plus icon on my home screen, and I can input the idea or task in less than 10 seconds, and that's all. Or If I can't use my hands, like when driving or working out, I just dictate it to Siri and ask to add it to Apple notes.
And then, at the end of each day, when I sit in front of my laptop, I organize all those ideas and tasks into their corresponding locations: Calendar, Notion, etc., and I delete them from Apple Notes.
I like to do this step on a laptop rather than my phone because I type so much faster on a keyboard, and navigation on the desktop app is usually much easier. So, I know that if something remains in Apple Notes, it's something I haven't yet processed.
Again, the key is to make the capturing step as easy as possible. Because whether you're a business owner or a content creator, ideas often drive our progress. And so we need to capture those ideas then and there when they pop up before we can bring 'em to life. And having a system to take them down at any time means you will not forget that next million-dollar idea. But then, even if I forget some ideas, there are certain things that I do want to forget. And for that, I have my calendar.
Calendar Management
I am very bad at remembering important events, be it birthdays, anniversaries, or anything of that sort. I wish I had someone who could remind me of such dates. And that role is handled by my Apple Calendar. It's the default calendar app on Apple devices. It's nothing fancy, just a simple app that does its job well.
My calendar basically tells me where to be and when. If I make an appointment with my car service center, I ask Siri to create an event in my calendar app or open it directly and add it myself. So, if something else comes up on the same day, I can just look at my calendar and know I am occupied for this time.
Everything goes into the calendar, and this takes an enormous amount of stress off my brain. I also use it as a day planner to intentionally block out time for the things that I want to do. Every night before bed, I plan my next day on my calendar so that every slot is filled. For example, I have blocked 2 hours tomorrow to film my BRolls. But even here, I don't go into minute detail on what I will do. I just reserve 2 hours for content creation. And my Note-taking tool, Notion, is where I will then break that down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Even if I cannot stick to the plan always, reserving such blocks in a day helps me be more intentional about spending my time.
Email Management
If you have an email account, you definitely need an email management system. Because 90% of emails that end up in our inboxes are just plain distractions and don't bring any value. I have multiple accounts for personal and business purposes, but then everything is managed through a single mail app, the Apple Mail. And as you can see, I have no unread emails. I work with a zero-unread inbox policy, something I learned from Thiago Forte, the founder of the second brain.
The idea is that once the email touches your inbox, it needs to go to one of the 3 systems. If the email concerns a future task, it ends up in my task manager. If I need to make notes from it, it goes to the note-taking app. If there is no value in the email, I delete it now and then.
But then, this is easier said than done. What If we get 100 emails a day? The simple answer is I don't. Most emails that clutter our Inboxes are promotional emails or newsletters.
So the moment I get such an email, I scroll down and click on the unsubscribe button. This was a game-changing step for me in terms of email management. Another thing you can do is to set an automation rule to search for the word "unsubscribe" in the incoming email and move it from the inbox into another folder. Also, when I register for a new service or sign up on a website, I use the hide my email feature from Apple so that my personal email doesn't end up with spammers.
My inbox is my private place. I want to keep it that way.
File Management
I do consider myself a very organized person. I believe that there is a place for everything. Both my working desk and laptop desktop are always free of clutter. So, an essential part of my productivity workflow is having a proper file management system. The folders on my Mac are organized into business and personal categories. And then further divided into different subfolders.
For example, If I get a prescription from the doctor, it goes to the medical folder. Travel documents have their own space. Everything related to my YouTube channel is in one place. I have defined folder structures and have created individual folders for each video on the channel. So that it's so easy for me to find a file or a folder that I need. I also back up everything on Apple Cloud, just in case.
There are a lot of people who swear by specific tools and apps, but to be honest, I don't think that really matters. Start small with what you have, keep it simple, and expand based on your needs and use cases. And if you are interested in my task management system in Notion, you can get it for free here.
