> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.freedomblogger.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Find Time for a Side Hustle When You’re Already Busy - URL: https://www.freedomblogger.co.uk/how-to-find-time-for-a-side-hustle-when-youre-already-busy/ - Published: 2026-07-19T18:00:15.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-04T18:39:35.000Z - Author: Paul Schofield - Tags: Side Hustles **Key takeaway: you don't need to find huge amounts of free time to build a side hustle. Small, consistent pockets of focused time can quietly create a very different future.** If you've ever thought about starting a side hustle, you've probably also said these words at some point: "I'd love to, I just don't have the time." It's one of the biggest reasons people never get started, and I completely understand why. Life is busy. Most of us already have a full-time job, a family, a home to look after and bills to pay. There's a dog to walk, meals to cook, friends to see, and somewhere in between all of that we're supposed to exercise, sleep properly and find time to build a better future. It can feel impossible. The good news is this: you probably don't need as much time as you think, and if a side hustle is something you're exploring alongside a busy week, it's worth reading [10 side hustles you can start while working full time](https://www.freedomblogger.co.uk/10-side-hustles-you-can-start-while-working-full-time-from-someone-whos-tried-most-of-them/) once you've worked out where the time is actually going to come from. ## I Never Had Spare Time Either People sometimes assume that anyone with a side hustle must have lots of spare time. That certainly wasn't true for me. Like many people, I've always worked full time, and alongside that I've built side hustles, gone to the gym twice a week, made time for date nights with my wife, walked our rescue dog Mavis, read books and worked on this blog. I've also tried to eat better and sleep better. None of that happened because I suddenly had more hours in the day. It happened because I became much more intentional about how I used the hours I already had. ## The Time Budget Most people create a financial budget. Very few create a time budget, yet time is arguably our most valuable resource. Every week you receive exactly the same amount: 168 hours. Not 167, not 169, always 168. The question isn't whether you have enough time. **The question is where those 168 hours are actually going.** I started looking at my week in the same way I looked at my bank account, treating every hour as an investment rather than just something to spend. That one shift in thinking changed everything. ## The Life Audit Here's a question worth sitting with for a moment: if someone followed you around for the last seven days, what would they say your priorities were? Would they point to family, health and learning, or to your growing efforts to build a better future? Or would they, if they were being honest, point to time spent scrolling your phone, watching television you weren't really invested in, or complaining about not having enough time? Please don't read that as criticism. It's simply about awareness, because awareness is where change begins. Constant busyness has a way of hiding exactly where our time goes, which is one of the reasons I wrote about [the hidden cost of always being busy and how to take back your time](https://www.freedomblogger.co.uk/the-hidden-cost-of-always-being-busy-and-how-to-take-back-your-time/). It's worth a read alongside this one if you recognise yourself in that question. ## My "Why" Became Stronger Than My Excuses There was a time in my life when things were very different. I've experienced financial struggles, career uncertainty and some genuinely difficult periods emotionally. Those experiences taught me something incredibly valuable: I never wanted to find myself back in that position if I could help it. Today, my motivation isn't simply about earning more money. It's about creating more choices, more financial security, more flexibility and more freedom. If any of that resonates, it's also worth reading [why you're working full time and still feel broke](https://www.freedomblogger.co.uk/why-youre-working-full-time-and-still-feel-broke-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/), because the two problems, money and time, are usually more connected than they first appear. When your "why" becomes strong enough, it becomes much easier to protect time for the things that matter. ## The Spare Hour Principle Here's something that changed the way I think about time. Imagine you found just one focused hour, three evenings a week. That's roughly 150 hours over the course of a year. Now ask yourself what you could build in 150 focused hours. A blog, a qualification, a side hustle, a healthier body, a new career, an emergency fund? Probably far more than you imagine. The mistake many people make is believing they need twenty hours a week before they can even begin. They don't. Small, consistent effort nearly always beats occasional bursts of motivation. ## Stop Waiting for the Perfect Time One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that there is no perfect time. There will always be another reason to wait. Life will always be busy, and there will always be birthdays, school holidays, work deadlines, unexpected expenses and family commitments competing for your attention. If you wait until life becomes quiet before starting your side hustle, you may end up waiting forever. The perfect time rarely arrives. The best time is usually now, or at least this week, and one small step is genuinely all it takes to begin. ## Doom Scrolling Is Quietly Stealing Your Future I'm not against social media. Far from it. It can be a brilliant way to learn, stay connected and build relationships. But it can also quietly consume hours without us even noticing. Five minutes becomes twenty, twenty becomes an hour, and an hour becomes several hours across the course of a week. Over a year, that could easily add up to hundreds of hours. Imagine what you could build with those same hours instead: a blog, a second income, a professional qualification, a healthier lifestyle, or simply a stronger financial future. The issue isn't social media itself. It's using it without intention. ## Give Your Phone a Spring Clean One of the simplest changes I made wasn't downloading another productivity app. It was deleting several. I looked at my phone and asked myself one simple question: "Does this app help me build the life I want?" If the answer was no, I removed it, whether that was games I'd stopped enjoying, apps that encouraged endless scrolling, or notifications that were distracting me dozens of times a day. I also chose to step away from most social media. Today I mainly use LinkedIn and X, because they genuinely support my work, my learning and the projects I'm building. I'm not saying everyone should do exactly the same, but I do think it's worth giving your phone a regular spring clean. Every app you remove is one less distraction. Every notification you switch off is one more opportunity to focus on what actually matters. Attention is your greatest asset, and where your attention goes, your time tends to follow. Where your time goes, your future often follows too. ## Never Sacrifice the Things That Matter Most I want to be really clear about one thing. Building a side hustle should never come at the expense of the people and habits that matter most. The date nights, the dog walks, the gym sessions and the better sleep I mentioned earlier didn't get pushed aside to make room for building something new. They stayed exactly where they were. Those things aren't distractions from success. They're part of it. If your side hustle costs you your relationships or your health, it probably isn't sustainable. Instead, look for the time that isn't serving you well in the first place: the hour spent mindlessly scrolling, the evening spent watching television you weren't really interested in, the endless checking of notifications. That's where I found many of my own extra hours. ## You Don't Need More Time, You Need a Better Plan One thing that helped me enormously was time blocking. Instead of hoping I'd "find time," I scheduled it: work, gym, dog walk, date night, blog writing, learning, side hustle, rest. When something is in your diary, it's much more likely to actually happen. We budget our money. Why not budget our time too? The more intentional you become with your calendar, the more progress you'll make, and the less that progress will depend on motivation showing up on the right day. ## This Week's Challenge Don't try to transform your life overnight. Instead, try these five things this week: - Delete one app that no longer adds value to your life. - Turn off notifications you don't need. - Block out one uninterrupted hour for your future. - Spend that hour learning, creating or building something. - Repeat it again next week. That's it. Simple, practical and genuinely achievable. ## Final Thoughts People often tell me they don't have enough time to start a side hustle. Sometimes that's true. Life can be incredibly demanding. But more often than not, the issue isn't a complete lack of time. It's a lack of intention. I've built side hustles around a full-time career, family life, walking the dog, going to the gym and trying to maintain a healthy balance, not because I had more hours than anyone else, but because I decided those hours mattered. Small, consistent actions really do add up. If you can protect just a few focused hours each week, you'd be amazed what you could achieve over the course of a year. ## Before You Go Ask yourself one simple question: what could you stop doing this week to create one extra hour for your future? If someone looked at your calendar over the last month, would they say you're already investing time in that future, or that today is a good day to start? You don't need to find twenty hours. Start with one. Protect it. Use it well. Then do it again next week. ## A Thought to Leave You With "You won't find time for the life you want. You create it, one hour at a time." *Paul Schofield, Freedom Blogger* --- New articles are published every Sunday at 7pm UK time. Subscribe for free and have each one land straight in your inbox. Got a question about this post, or want to share your own story? Get in touch any time at [paul@freedomblogger.co.uk](mailto:paul@freedomblogger.co.uk).