Building a Side Income Around a Full-Time Job - The Real Life Version

When I was made redundant from my last job, a role that I loved and people I loved even more, I was terribly nervous about my next move. It was only when I started speaking about it that I was offered a job back in my old industry. The role was comparable to what I was doing before in terms of salary and challenge but it had one core difference – 3 days on and 3 days off on a rolling pattern. That was really attractive for me because of my desire to build my reselling business and create my own brand. Not to mention it gave me quality time to spend with my boys who are in their late teens and who knows how much longer I will have them at home!

I planned to be this machine that did a high flying executive job 3-days per week and then transitioned into this entrepreneur for the other 3 days, building a brand that would generate me a side income that was a bit more than treat money. Boy how wrong I was!!

I’m 3 weeks and 4 rotations in and the shift has been brutal! The 3-days I am on are an 8-8 shift, meaning I have to get up at 05:30 and don’t get home until 9pm (did I mention that previously I worked from home!!). The first 2 rotations I could barely say my own name or put one foot in front of the other. I am normally a fairly high energy, resilient insomniac, so finding myself flagging so desperately on day 3 was unexpected to say the least.

I had to think and plan ahead – breakfast, lunch and dinner 3 days ahead had to be planned within an inch of its life or I didn’t eat; simple. That meant I had to write a shopping list and stick to it and not think on the hoof each day about what we were having for dinner.

The house wasn’t touched or cleaned unless I gave explicit instructions to my not so willing teens (and even then it was a lottery if it happened!)

But the biggest mental adjustment was my 3-days off. I thought I would spring out of bed ready to fight the world, photographing 50 items, writing listings, cleaning the house and taking the boys out for trips. How wrong was I!! Those first 2 rotations I literally spent in recovery mode, rapidly questioning my own judgement and worrying about the tiredness and complete lack of motivation.

I kept questioning how I was ever going to get back on track – would I ever get back on track? I could see the potential that reselling gave me because I have been successfully doing it for 6 months and got some great contacts. But simple things that gave me the buzz for reselling and building my own business were now the things that I dreaded – questions about measurement, the need to show up daily and not to mention orders! How very dare someone place an order – where was I going to find the time to post it!

But, giving up is not an option. Reselling has given me so much more than a side income. It has given me the self-confidence that I can build something of my own and be successful. The income it brings me gives me choices – the ability to take the kids bowling and out for a pizza; planning an impromptu overnight stay to get away from it all; but it also gives me a platform to show my boys work ethic and that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

If I didn’t have it, I would lose a sense of purpose and identity that I have found. Being employed gives me a stable income but this gives me the confidence to believe there may be far more possibilities available to me than I once thought.

That’s what pulls me back, every time.

One evening, I’d been up since 05:30 and got home just before 9pm. I had sold 7 items that day and normally I would be buzzing. Not that day. The one thing that would normally have me elated, filled me with dread. I was tired like I had never experienced tiredness before. I can never just go to bed and sleep or fall asleep on the sofa, but now I was doing both.

Going out to the garage, finding, packing, labelling, piling them up, giving my son instructions on where to take them – things that I would have done on auto-pilot before felt like an intrusion on my time.

And I felt like a failure. Instead of taking small steps forward, I just stopped. My mind had hit a road block and I couldn’t see a way forward. For the first time I was late sending out orders. I couldn’t even think about listing 15 items a day like I had been previously – this new working pattern was meant to give me more freedom, yet it felt like I was walking a tightrope.

In truth, turning up for my full-time job and being engaged and present was as much as I could do. Everything else fell by the wayside.

I used to think that I could just bulldoze through anything, any challenge.

Now I know that isn’t the answer. I need to give myself space and time to adjust and not beat myself up when the version of myself that I am presented with, isn’t the one I first envisaged.

I thought motivation was enough.

Now I think you can still be motivated but you sometimes need to give yourself space to find out how best to channel that motivation.

I thought successful resellers needed to be present each day, posting in volume consistently and to a set pattern.

Now I realise that I am not a full-time reseller – I have the ambition to be full-time in part-time hours, so I need to work towards adjusted targets.

The lesson I am rapidly learning is I need to flex from the version of myself that I thought I would become when I started my new role. I’m not saying that won’t come, but I thought it would happen from day 1.

I’m learning to give myself time, and that it is okay for things to take a different path while things settle.

If I’m exhausted after work, I am not going to grab a pile of clothes to photograph that I can’t be bothered to steam like they need and then not have the energy to put away. Instead, I will send out some offers or create a few simple drafts.

If I get 15 minutes, I’ve worked out that I’m best spending that keeping my photography area clean and tidy and checking my garage where I keep the stock is neat, so when I do have the energy to photograph items or package orders, my zones are clean and clear.

I’ve learned that if I don’t have these systems in place, nothing can begin – in fact, they only implode all the more.

The tasks that don’t bring me money used to take a back seat (the meal prep, cleaning the dining room table, resetting the living room) but they actually clear my mind. If those things are in place then I have more capacity to start my reselling because I have the clear platform to do it.

I used to think a side income was about finding more hours. I'm starting to realise it's more about removing the little bits of friction that stop you using the hours you already have.

I have had to create all sorts of systems over the last few weeks. And these are by no means finished and they will continue evolving.

I have let go of the vision that I can cook and make lunches and dinners for my days on rotation and I have allowed myself to buy the meal deal – I now eat!!

I have invested in a cross-listing tool that allows me to create one listing and publish it across multiple platforms. The old me might have begrudged paying for it, but I’m beginning to see that buying back time can be an investment rather than an unnecessary expense.

I have come to the realisation that, for now at least, I can’t post on the days I work full-time. That doesn’t mean I can’t work towards it, but for now, this is the best I can do and I am still showing up.

I have started using Trello to organise my thoughts and tasks. If something needs doing, it goes on the list so it doesn’t take up space in my head.

And most importantly, I am ensuring I still carve out time for my boys (even if it does mean losing at darts!) It would be so easy to let this go, but it’s so important that I spend quality time with them at a point where I feel my time is restricted so they can see they are still my top priority.

I’m no longer trying to become the imaginary version of myself who works three twelve-hour shifts, photographs fifty items on her first day off, keeps an immaculate house and still has enough energy left for a spontaneous family day out.

Instead, I’m putting the building blocks in place for the life I actually want — while working with the energy, responsibilities and time I genuinely have now.

Success currently means being engaged in my full-time role, making sure my boys still receive the best of me and continuing to take small steps towards a sustainable side income. Some weeks those steps will be visible. Other weeks, success might simply be eating properly, clearing the photography area and making the next week easier.

If you have started a demanding full-time job and are questioning whether you can keep your side income going, stop judging yourself against the version of it that existed before your life changed.

Take it back to basics. Forget the gold-star standard and the Rolls-Royce model for now. Look for the smallest steps you can take while you adjust. Send the offers. Clear the workspace. Organise the packaging. Prepare one draft. Eat the lunch.

Not every action that supports your business will make money that day, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t progress. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is remove one small obstacle so that, when the time and energy are available, you are ready to move.

Practical, not perfect.

One small reset at a time.