Balancing A 9 – 5 Job And A Fashion Career: Top Tips On Striking A Work-Work Balance

For many fashion entrepreneurs, fashion is not all they do, there’s usually also a day job in the picture. Having a day job is not a bad thing, especially for start up business owners, because it provides a form of financial cushion for the business while still meeting the financial needs of the founder.

While its not bad to have a day job, juggling your fashion entrepreneurial endeavours with it can be quite tasking and stressful, especially if you live in a mega city like Lagos, Nigeria. Everyday life might become a hassle because of the stress involved in commute and it’s easy to break down or give up.

We have brought this series to you to ensure that doesn’t happen. Listed below are 4 tips to help you strike a work-work balance.

Read part 2 of the balancing a 9-5 job and a fashion career series here.

1. Time Management: 

As a person who is trying to balance a 9 – 5 with fashion entrepreneurship, learning how to effectively manage your time is paramount. You cannot afford to waste any time. Every time of the day should be used wisely to ensure that you get the most out of each day.

You can’t really afford to waste any time because that time should be used either on your job or on your entrepreneurial endeavors. – Shay Leonora.

We all only have 24 hours per day and a large chunk of your day will be dedicated to your day job. Since this is inevitable, you need to learn to weave in aspects of your fashion business into your day.

You can use your lunch break at your day to job to do some important research, make a call or even do some quick shopping for your fashion business. Little tasks that can be done in short periods of time should be done with every available time you get.

2. Make a List Everyday:

Because you are only human, it’s easy for you to sometimes forget important things you need to do for your business. Lists help you remember tasks you have to accomplish for each day without stress.

Everyday, make a list of things you need to accomplish so whenever you get a break at work, if possible, you can strike out a few things on your list. When you accomplish a task, mark it as done and move on to the next one at the next available time.

3. Always Pay Attention:

Fashion entrepreneurs are creative people and many times, inspiration comes at the least expected times. While at work, you might see an outfit or some other thing that will give you inspiration for your next collection, take note of it and write it down.

Being alert and attentive ensures that you don’t miss an opportunity to find inspiration for an outfit you’re working on or one you might work on later. Stay present and always be in the spirit of your project or passion.

4. Always Carry a Notepad Around:

As the Chinese proverb goes, ‘the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.’ Don’t ever assume that if you get inspiration, information or tips that can help your business, you can just store it in your memory and remember it when you need it

Yes, you might be a very smart person and you might even have graduated top of your class, but depending on your brain to store every inspiration or information you get accurately is playing with fire. Always have a dedicated notepad to jot down inspiration, information or tips you get for your fashion business during the day.

Don’t write these things on just any random notepad or piece of paper you find lying around, write it in a notepad you carry along just for that purpose. When you write in a dedicated notepad, you will not have such issues as forgetting what you wrote that important information in. Another advantage to this is that you’ll have all your thoughts for your fashion business in one place.

You should also read our article on Top 6 Tips For Work Life Balance As A Fashion Entrepreneur.

We know it can sometimes be a hard fit to accomplish, but, we also know you can accomplish whatever you set your mind on to do. The above tips can help you manage both better.

Are there other tips you have applied to achieving a work-work balance for yourself? Please share them with us in the comments section below. Don’t forget to hit the like button if you enjoyed this read 😉.