Hustle with Heels Podcast

Ep23. How to Build a Side Hustle When You Feel Like You Have No Time

• Cindy Excell

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You’re working full-time, juggling meetings, kids, home life… and wondering how on earth you’d ever have time to build a side hustle.


I get it, I’ve been there too. That’s why in this episode, I’m sharing the exact 5-step framework I use (and still use) to build and grow a business while working full-time and being a mum of two.


This isn’t about waking up at 5am or trying to squeeze 10 things into your lunch break.


It’s about working with your energy, creating real priorities, and reclaiming your time without the guilt.


If you’ve been telling yourself “I just don’t have time,” this episode will help you shift that. You’ll walk away knowing how to move forward with focus, clarity, and confidence, even in a full season of life.


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 You are already juggling a full-time job, family, and the personal life, and now you are thinking, how on earth am I supposed to build a side hustle, a side business where I barely have time to brace? Well, today we are going to tackle the time problem because as a mom of two very active school aged kids, full-time, working in a also very demanding job in financial services industry.

And have been running my own side hustle business for over four and a half, nearly five years now. I truly believe that the issue isn't time itself, it's how we use it, and by the end of this episode, you will know exactly how to carve out time. Even if you feel that you are the busiest person in the world, so that you can start building a sad hustle that brings you financial freedom.

Welcome to the Hustle With Heels podcast. I'm your host, Cindy Excell, a corporate girl start hustler wife and a mom of two in 2020. I started my first start hustle as an online fitness coach while working in my corporate job as a private wealth manager. Over the years, I have been leading proof that a corporate career and a side hustle can absolutely co-exist in harmony.

Today I'm helping corporate women and early stage entrepreneurs create wealth beyond that nine to five jobs. And build an online business on their terms. On this podcast, I'll share my knowledge, strategies, and the stories that will help you start and grow your start hustle. Whether you are ready to diversify your income streams or are looking to build a start business that aligns with your goals, I'm here to support you every step of the way.

Now, life get started. Hey friend, welcome back to another episode of Hustle with Heels podcast. If you've told yourself that, I just don't have time for a sad hustle. This episode is for you because time is the number one challenge I hear from many, many high achieving corporate professionals and female leaders who want to start but feel stretched to think, and I get it.

I have been full-time in corporate for over 18 years now. Long hours, endless meetings, deadlines, but I also knew that rely on one income strain. Was a risk that I wasn't willing to take anymore. So over the last four and a half, nearly five years of building and growing my start hustle coaching business alongside my corporate career, I was also struggling with managing my time, and I found a way to make the work.

Today I'm going to show you how you can do that too. So grab a coffee, get comfortable, and let's dive in. So I'm gonna show you the five step framework on how to build a side hustle when you are already busy, especially with a full-time job. Step number one, reframe your mindset about time and get into a habit of making time.

So. How many times have you said, I just don't have time. I'm just so busy. Well, we are all guilty of saying that, right? Trust me, I've been there too many, many times feeling completely overwhelmed and convinced that I couldn't possibly squeeze in anything else into my day. But let's get real for a moment.

We all have the exact same 24 hours as Beyonce, Oprah, Tony Robbins, or whoever, your go-to inspirational figure that might be. The real difference isn't the amount of time we have, it's how we choose to use it, prioritize, shape our schedules, not the other way around. I used to believe that I had zero spare minutes to dedicate to my son hustle between a demanding corporate job to very, very energetic kids and the endless tasks of our everyday lives.

Building a business felt like a luxury I really want, but I couldn't afford. Here's the thing, I learned the hard way. If something truly matters, you don't find the time. You make the time. Our life is full of responsibilities and it's so easy for our day to get put into all the directions and into chaos.

Things like you've got a demanding manager or demanding boss expecting results from you yesterday, or kids who always seem bored and asking for your attention. A partner who wants quality time with you and rightly so, and I'm sure you would want the same too. And let's not even mention Netflix calling your name, social media notifications, begging for your attention, all those tempting emails, promotion, promising 20% off that thing, you didn't even know that you want it.

So it is a constant tug of war for your focus. And if you're not careful, your day could quickly spiral into chaos. Here's the thing, you can't stop those demands from coming at you. What you can do is prepare yourself to handle the chaos with intention. The strongest defense against your day turning into a hot mess of other people's priorities is to set fiercely clear priorities of your own.

So take an honest look at your wake. Break the down. Day by day and even hour than hour if you have to. What are you really doing with your time? I bet you will be shocked to see how many hours are actually sleeping away. Things like scrolling on Instagram, watching Netflix episode on a autoplay. All attending meetings that didn't actually require presence.

When I did this little exercise myself, it was eye-opening. Suddenly I had tangible evidence that I actually wasn't as busy as I thought I was just choosing the wrong priorities. So pause here right now and think, or of course, if you are somewhere safe and don't do this. If you are driving post right now and think what is the one thing I genuinely want to achieve today?

Because the truth is, if you don't define your success for the day, somewhere else will, and you will end up taking off everybody else to the least, except your own planning doesn't actually have to mean locking in every minute of your day. And honestly, who can predict that day that clearly anyway. But it does mean that having a solid idea of the big rocks, which are those non-negotiable tasks or actions that you want to accomplish in order to move you forward towards your business goal.

So ask yourself clearly, what is my one big goal for today? And what might distract me from achieving that? And what are the trade offs am I prepared to make? Being intentional about your time is empowering. It keeps you in control in the driver seat of your life rather than being swept along by somebody else.

Plans and the priorities. So my tip for you is that take five intentional minutes every morning or even the night before. That's what I do. I usually plan this. I usually do this the night before to my part, those 1, 2, 3, big and essential tasks for the next day. You don't need a detailed play by play, but you need clarity on your core goals or even just pick one, a realistic sense of potential distractions and a willingness to set no to the less important staff.

And a language shift for you is that stop saying, I don't have time, and start saying, I'm choosing to make time for what truly matters. That subtle shift is very, very powerful when you do that, even though the chaos doesn't disappear, but suddenly you are prepared for it, and that's going to help you take back the control of your day with confidence, and that's gonna put you back in the driver's seat of your life as well.

Step number two, identify your golden hours and make them non-negotiable. I used to get stuck thinking I need those luxury three hours, four hours, window of uninterrupted focus to get anything meaningful done for my side of business. I even convinced myself that if I couldn't block off those huge chunk of time, there was pretty much no point even starting.

But honestly, that's completely rubbish. Here is the real game changer. I discovered my golden hours. So those are the little pockets of time. Hidden throughout your day when you are naturally sharper, more energized and genuinely productive. So for me, it was after my kids went to bed at night. Usually it's be between nine to 10 o'clock, sometimes, you know, lunch, 11 o'clock, depending what I plan for for that day.

So I would use those one or two hours at night during the weekdays and dive into the most important tasks for my side hustle. Those one or two quiet hours became my secret and a non-negotiable time. Maybe your golden hours are completely different, and that's perfectly fine. Some of my clients squeeze in the focused sessions during that lunch break, grabbing the laptop and heading into a quiet cafe for an hour, all corner away from distractions.

Others might find that space spot is in the mornings before the kids and the whole family wake up, and while the house was still very quiet. The point is you don't need to find more time. You just need to uncover those hidden windows that are already scattered throughout your day and. As if they were those compulsory meetings or those client meetings that you have with your daytime job because they are the other appointments with yourself and your dreams.

So an action tip for you from here is take a quick mental scan of your typical day. When do you feel most alert and clearheaded or energized? Is that the first thing in the morning? Is that those one hour before everybody you know, wake up in your family? Or is that midday where everybody else takes lunch?

Or maybe late night after the whole family choir still. So identify one golden hour this week. Schedule that into your calendar and fiercely protect it. Now moving on to step number three, cutting out time waster, and the creative will space in your life. I'm not here to judge. I've been down this rabbit hole of endless Instagram or any other social media, scrolling, binge watching Netflix after an exhausting day, and those seemingly quick supermarket trips that somehow took at least an hour and a half, if not more.

So while you already have a full schedule, you juggling work, parenting, side hustle, and life without any extended family support. Trust me, every single minute counts. I totally get it because that's exactly where I was and still am. As a full-time working mom of two plus building and growing a startup business, and also my husband working full-time, we literally do not have any family support.

Over the years, I've learned a critical skill that changed everything, which is ruthlessly cutting out unnecessary time wasters. To give you a real life example that made a massive difference for me, which is grocery shopping, yet something so ordinary, yet incredible time consuming trips to the supermarket means loading kids into the car, pushing the trolley around those crowded aisles.

And dealing with queues at the checkout, it was training hours, hours of my week, so I switched gears and started ordering basic household essentials. Things like household cleaning products or even toilet paper, et cetera, directly from Amazon. Well, I love Amazon so much, I have to say, with Amazon Prime, which by the way, probably calls around, I don't know, like nine or 10 hours a month.

I now get nearly everything delivered to my door. Often by the very next day, no driving, no dragging kids around, not necessary stress, and those saved hours. Quickly add up. Of course, we still need to go to supermarkets to buy fresh food, you know, vegetables, meat, fruit, et cetera, but it takes a lot less time than it did before.

The key takeaway here isn't just Amazon. It is about getting creative and resourceful to reclaim your time. So think about what you can do in your local area or in your household that you can find the time to save. Maybe for you it is meal prep once a week, or finally canceling those meetings at work.

That could have just been emails or maybe it is setting clear boundaries around social media or learning to set no to invitations or obligations that do not align with your current priorities. So once you start consciously eliminating those even very small time drainers, you'll be shocked at how much breathing space you can create for things that truly matter, like building a startup business you've been dreaming of.

So right now, again, pause and draw down one to three things you will commit to stop doing this week. Which, how quickly those decision can free up precious time. That to give you more space, that allow you to work on your side hustle business. Let's move on to step number four, focus on big impact tasks and the created daily actions with a side hustle and a corporate career.

Most of us are solo partners and we don't have the luxury of spending all our time on our side hustle, and that means every minute we spend working on our business has to truly count. But the truth is, many of us, myself included, often default to tasks that fail easy, comfortable, and enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about doing things enjoyable in your business, but at times there are certain things you must get that done that may not be the most enjoyable things for you, and those are often the tasks that help you move the needle in your business.

I'm talking about those income generating tasks that genuinely bring clients through the door. Again, take myself for example. I absolutely love learning. If you give me choice, I'll spend hours diving into those online courses about content creation, reading those marketing books, or tweaking my website full to perfection.

I just love doing those things. But here is the honest truth. None of those tasks as enjoyable as they are directly put me in front of any potential clients or make me money today. So I have to self-reflect on the effort I have put in in my business versus the result it produce. Then it became very obvious to me.

When I spent so much time doing any of those above, I didn't make much money. But when I do things that feel uncomfortable, like outrage, like directly reaching out to my potential clients, I and directly talking to them, that's when leads come through income start to drop. I have to regularly check in with myself even though it feels uncomfortable.

So every month and every week, I ask myself clearly, what is my number one business goal this month or this week, and what tasks do you directly support me achieving that goal? If my goal is to lend three new coaching clients this month, the highest impact actions or the activities are connecting directly with my potential clients.

Following up on inquiries and actively showing up on course or creating opportunities to have the real conversations with them. Are those my favorite tasks? Honestly, not really. And even if I'm in the sales role for my corporate job and in my own business for nearly five years, I still feel uncomfortable with those tasks, especially when I'm.

Tired and exhausted. I would rather just stay behind the scene. But those tasks are crucial because they lead to the real results and the actual growth. This is extremely important for people who just start out. It is so easy to get busy with all those tasks in your sub business, but they don't produce the income and no income, no business.

When you are juggling a with a demanding corporate role, you simply don't have the luxury of wasting hours on things that won't generate revenue or growth. You have to adopt the CEO mindset and prioritize like a boss for your business because at the end of the day, doing fewer things, but the right things is how you build this, that hustle, that change your life.

And once you are clear on those big impact tasks, the next step are often the crucial path that most people miss. That is you must create a clear weekly and daily action plan to keep yourself accountable. Here's the truth, good intentions aren't enough. You have to back yourself. Big picture goals with consistent focused daily actions.

This is especially important when you have a full-time job, which also demand your attention. And here's how exactly how you do it. Step number one, define your monthly income goal clearly. For example, it could be signed three new clients this month. Step number two, break down your monthly goal into your weekly target.

If you want to stand up three new clients this month, how many conversations you need to have with a prospect this week, break that down. Step number three, identify daily actions required to hit your weekly goal. As example, reach out to five or 10 potential clients daily and follow up with two warm leads each.

And the last step is to block those daily tasks into your calendar like they are mandatory meetings for your corporate job, because they are actually the meetings with your most important client, which is yourself, and use your golden hours to get them done. When you consistently follow this process, you will see your business shift very quickly from feeling stuck or scattered to becoming focused and start generating income.

So once you get disciplined about focusing on those big impact and income generating activities, pairing them with those intentional daily and weekly actions, you'll be surprised at how quickly you will start to see results. And when your side hustle starts paying like a real business, the failing of achievement and financial independence is worth every bit of effort.

Now, moving on to step number five, get into a habit of follow through. Here is something I learned very quickly when I started my entrepreneurial journey. Being your own boss isn't about having a total freedom. It is about having total responsibility because when you are working in corporate. A traditional nine to five, there is always somebody else checking on you, right?

Like your manager, your supervisor, um, even, even your coworkers, sometimes someone who makes sure that you follow through deadline are set. Progress is monitored, and performance review keep you on track. But when you are an entrepreneur, especially a solo partner, this dynamic is completely different.

There is no one to remind you of your deadline. There is no one to check if you are meeting your goals. No one to ask, Hey, did you follow through on what you promised yourself? It is just you. And let's be honest, that can be terrifying, but it is also incredibly empowering because the truth is if you don't hold yourself accountable, no one else will, and your business leaves or dies by your willingness to follow through.

You set the rules, you define the goals, and you create plans and you take actions. You are responsible for executing every single step. This is why building a habit of following through isn't just a good idea. It's absolutely crucial and essential. Think about it this way. Every time you commit to something in your business, whether it is creating content, reaching out to potential clients, or re refunding your offer, you are making a promise to yourself.

And every time you don't follow through, you awaken your own trust and the confidence in your ability to succeed. But the opposite is also true every single time you commit and deliver, no matter how small, you reinforce your self-belief and you build that momentum. And here are a few tips to help you practically get better at the flow through Tip number one.

Clearly define your actions, so don't set any vague goals. Instead of working on my business this week, commit specifically to, I will contact five potential clients this week, or I will publish five LinkedIn posts this week. Clarity is the key to accountability. Tip number two, set your personal deadline and keep them sacred.

Treat your personal deadlines, how you would treat deadlines for your copy. Job. No negotiation, no excuse. Schedule them into your calendar and guide them fiercely. Tip number three, reflect and adjust regularly. At the end of each day and week, take just five minutes to honestly assess yourself and ask yourself, did I follow through today?

Did I follow through this week? Why or why not? And adjust your plan accordingly and recommit. Tip number four, you can also find external accountability when needed. No doubt you are ultimately accountable to yourself, but sometimes an external push can also help. So find a mentor, a accountability partner, or even a community who understands your journey and can gently hold your fate to the fire.

Above all else. Remember this, entrepreneurship isn't just about running a business. It is about a personal growth. The discipline you build by consistently follow through on your commitments will allow not only grow your business, it'll also transform who you are as a person and as a leader, because your success depends entirely on your willingness to show up and to keep your promise to yourself every single day.

So right now, identify one specific action you've been avoiding in your business. Write that down and start building the habit of following through today. Okay, there you have it. The five step framework on how to build a start hustle when you're already busy as a corporate professional and a female leader in your corporate job.

If you just take one thing from today's episode, it's this, you will never find. The time you'll make it. Time is really the real issue. It is how intentionally you choose to use it. So imagine what would change in your life if you commit to just one focused and the purpose for our a day to build yourself business.

And that is seven powerful hours each week and 30 productive hours each month. Right? Just imagine if you spend those hours consistently on tasks that actually matter. What could your business be in three months time? Because messy action always be perfect planning. Always. If today's episode resonates with you, I would absolutely love to hear your biggest takeaway.

Send me a DM on LinkedIn at Cindy Excell. I genuinely love to hear from you, and if you know someone who's constantly saying, I just don't have time, please also share this episode with them. You never know. It could be exactly what they need to hear to start taking action. Until next week, keep taking messy action.

Keep showing up for yourself and then remember you've got this. Thank you so much for listening to the Hustle with Heels podcast. I hope this episode has inspired you to take action towards your sad hustle dream. If you are enjoin this episode. Please take a second to rate and review it. Each review helps me help more corporate women and early stage entrepreneurs just like you.

Don't forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories or on LinkedIn, and check me at Cindy Excell. I will see you next week.