I had the whole evening planned. My husband and my son were both out for the night, so I had the house to myself. I’d spent most of the day looking forward to finally working on the podcast.
By the time evening rolled around, I didn’t feel like doing anything. I had some dinner, did some housework, and called it quits for the day.
If you’ve ever finally gotten the time you were waiting for and found you had nothing left to give it, you’re not alone. When you’re building something alongside a full-time job, this is going to happen. The question is what you do next. How do you know whether you just need a night off or you’re starting to lose momentum on your side hustle?
Why you’re too tired after work
When you work full time, a lot of your energy goes to your job. You spend the day solving problems, answering questions, and making decisions. By the time you get home, the thing you actually want to work on gets whatever is left. Some nights, there isn’t much.
What makes it worse is how we talk to ourselves about it. You skip one night and start thinking, maybe I’m not disciplined enough for this, or maybe I’m not serious about this. That carries into the next night and makes it even harder to get started.
For me, that night came after weeks of being busy just about every evening. When I finally had a free night, I didn’t have anything left.
Here are three things that help.
1. Honor the feeling
Taking a night off after a busy stretch doesn’t mean you’re giving up. Looking back, needing a mental break was pretty reasonable after weeks of going nonstop. And the next day, I was ready to go.
Try this: The next time you take a night off, decide that’s what you’re doing. Tell yourself, “I’m taking tonight off.” When you choose it, you don’t spend the evening beating yourself up, and you’re far more likely to come back the next day.
2. Pay attention if it drags on
From the couch, a night off and avoiding something look exactly the same. The difference shows up afterward.
When you rest, you come back ready. When you’re avoiding something, one night turns into three, three turns into a week, and every day you don’t touch your project, it gets a little harder to start again. If you give in to that feeling for days, you’ll start to lose momentum.
Try this: If you’ve skipped three or four of the nights you planned to work, stop and ask yourself what’s really going on. Is this still what you want?
Usually the answer is yes. When it is, the problem tends to be one of three things:
You’re worn out and need another night or two to recover.
You don’t know what to do next, so it’s easier not to sit down at all.
The next step is too big to finish in one evening.
Here’s an example. Say you’ve been meaning to work on your website. Every night you plan to do it, and every night you don’t. After a week, you’re frustrated with yourself. But “work on my website” is a big job. If your plan had been “write the headline for my About page,” you could have finished it in 20 minutes any night that week.
Before you decide you don’t want to do this anymore, check whether your next step needs to be clearer, smaller, or both.
Want more small, realistic steps like this? Join the Second Act Newsletter. Once a month, I send one practical step you can fit into a busy week. [NEWSLETTER SIGNUP LINK]
3. Have a 10-minute version ready
You don’t need long work sessions to keep moving. You just need to touch your project often enough that it stays at the top of your mind.
For nights when you’re tired but not completely done, have something small ready to go.
Try this: This week, write down two tasks you could do in about 10 minutes. A few ideas:
Organize some files
Write down a few ideas
Send that one email you’ve been putting off
Then on a low-energy night, you don’t have to think about it. You pick one and do it. Most nights, that’s enough to keep you going.
This matters even more as we head into November and December, when regular weeknights get even busier. I’ll be sharing more soon on keeping your goals going through the holidays.
Quick recap
If you need a night off, take it, and don’t feel guilty about it.
If it keeps happening, figure out whether you’re worn out, unsure what’s next, or facing a step that’s too big.
Keep a 10-minute version ready so one tired night doesn’t turn into an exhausted week.
Simple is sustainable.
Keep your idea moving
If you want simple, realistic ways to keep your idea moving alongside everything else you’re managing, join the Second Act Newsletter. Once a month, I’ll send you one practical step you can actually fit into your busy week.
