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How to Stay Positive When You Have a Dreaded Day Job

- February 15, 2012 | by April -

Are you guilty of complaining about your boring day job that you wish you could quit in order to pursue your creative business full-time?

I’ve been there–not the boring part–my job as a therapist was hardly ever boring. But, I did have plenty of moments when I wanted to be working on my creative business instead of riding the train for an hour to get to work or filling out paperwork.

In this week’s video, I’m giving you some tips to stay positive while trying to build your business on the side. I also let you know how I prepared to take the leap from full-time job with benefits to working for myself full-time.

Do you work at a day job while building your creative business? If so, share your tips for staying positive below in the comments.

P.S. Today’s background is a collage of pretty pictures from magazines. If you’re in a creative rut, try making one yourself. I bet it will inspire you.

36 Comments · Filed Under: Creative Business Development

Comments

  1. Sandy Bowles says

    February 15, 2012 at 9:02 am

    Fun background! I always look forward to see what the next week brings.
    You jump start my week! You inspire me to greater things! Thanks!
    I’m thinking new wood floors!

    Have a great week!

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:00 pm

      I love you mom!

      Reply
  2. Alicia says

    February 15, 2012 at 9:35 am

    great tips, lots to think about! 😉 excellent new background and thank you for showing us your silly moments — always makes me giggle!

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:01 pm

      Thanks! I’m glad you enjoy the silly moments–I think they’re fun to share. I’m definitely not perfect and have lots of mess ups 🙂

      Reply
  3. Lori Moon says

    February 15, 2012 at 9:42 am

    April – you’ve been in my head this week. It is so difficult for me to stay positive because of my dreaded day job…it is especially difficult because the culture at my day job just isn’t me. Thanks for the video!

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:04 pm

      It’s hard to have a day job where the culture doesn’t fit with who you are–I left one job when I was practicing therapy because it just didn’t fit. It took me a while to find a job that was a good a fit, but once I found it, I was glad I spent so much time searching for the right fit. I’m hoping there are some positives that you can focus on!

      Reply
  4. McKella says

    February 15, 2012 at 10:22 am

    I have a day job, and I chose it specifically because 1)It’s a laid-back environment rather than a creativity-draining, stressful environment, 2) I can actually use my English degree and feel good about it (I’m an English tutor for an online high school) and 3) because the hours are set at 11-7:30 with a short lunchbreak, so I have a decent chunk of time in the morning to work on stuff. It’s working out well as long as I don’t sleep in. 🙂

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:04 pm

      This is great McKella–it’s great when you find a good fit. Thank you for sharing your experience.

      Reply
  5. Kristi *aka* BohoBear says

    February 15, 2012 at 11:21 am

    Hey April! First off, I love all your backgrounds!

    I work a full time job, because I HAVE TO. So I’m currently in the amazing situation where I can’t do a lot of marketing, because I am getting plenty of business to keep me busy, but if I had much more coming in I wouldn’t be able to keep up. It’s a pretty amazing problem to have!

    I am super blessed with a great job where I can tweak my site, and blog, and answer convos during my breaks and lunch.

    I’m currently just building my inventory and designs and using the extra $ to pay down our bills so that when I am finally able to save enough I will be able to make the transition into a full time work-from-home biz. Unless a miracle happens, that will still be a few years, but good things take time, so I’m not frustrated about it. Just happily plugging away and building my little empire one day at a time! ((And thankfully, I get to listen to great vlogs like yours while I work!!))

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:08 pm

      Thanks Kristi!

      It’s a good place to be when you have enough work to keep busy. Is there anything you can outsource to get something off your plate to make more time to keep up with more orders? A lot of creative entrepreneurs get stuck in the place where they just don’t have enough time to do more–produce more work product–and they have to figure out how to outsource some things in order to grow.

      Love how you’ve got a plan in place. Thanks for sharing it!

      Reply
      • Kristi *aka* BohoBear says

        February 15, 2012 at 12:23 pm

        I’ve started doing some outsourcing already this year–for instance, I do a lot of printed products, so I *insisted* on making my own business cards last year. Forget that! I’ll let someone else handle that this year!

        Reply
        • April says

          February 15, 2012 at 1:56 pm

          Awesome! It makes a big difference when you can outsource some stuff.

          Reply
  6. Michele says

    February 15, 2012 at 11:37 am

    A funny thing happened last night at the zumba class I went to last night. They played “Eye of the Tiger”, the Rocky theme song, and it struck me that I feel like I’m training for a big fight as I try to build my business up to the “prize” of being able to leave my day job. It’s so cheesy but honestly it really fired me up! Thought you all would get a laugh out of this:-)

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:09 pm

      Hahahaha….I like that Michele! Whatever motivates you, right?!?

      Reply
  7. Nicole Tamarin says

    February 15, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    One of things I do is to try to start the next phase of my creative work before stopping at the end of the night. It is much easier to continue working the next night when the process has already begun. Trying to get my motivation together to literally START something at 8:30pm is just too difficult. I also try to think of my day jobs as freelancing, that way I feel that they are just PART of my total income strategy, even if presently they are the bulk of the money.

    Reply
    • Kristi *aka* BohoBear says

      February 15, 2012 at 12:19 pm

      “I also try to think of my day jobs as freelancing, that way I feel that they are just PART of my total income strategy, even if presently they are the bulk of the money.”

      I LOVE THIS!!

      Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 1:58 pm

      It’s so good to figure out what works best for you and not fight it. For instance, my writing ability decreases as the day progresses. I do my best writing before lunch–so that’s when I schedule writing. It’s good that you’ve figured out that you need to work on a project that you’ve already started instead of trying to start something new in the evening.

      Reply
    • Carrie says

      February 15, 2012 at 5:05 pm

      “One of things I do is to try to start the next phase of my creative work before stopping at the end of the night. It is much easier to continue working the next night when the process has already begun.”

      GREAT tip Nicole!!! I’m the same way -hard for me to start on a new project on a new day, but if I’m already in the middle of something, it’s easier to finish! THANKS!

      Reply
  8. Julianne says

    February 15, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    I love your positive energy in the video! It really brightened up my day as I sit at my dreaded day job, watching the clock. This video came at a perfect time!

    Reply
    • April says

      February 15, 2012 at 3:24 pm

      Hahahahaha…Yay!

      Reply
  9. Kim says

    February 15, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    I have the boring dreaded day job. I actually had quit my previous day job in order to work at my business full time, but without a real plan. It seemed like I was selling a lot, I hated my job, so I quit. It’s a bad idea not to have a plan, although I did make it work for about a year.

    Now my day job is less than full time, it’s not horrible, but it’s boring and no one really “gets” me, but like you said, I get to leave and go work on my business.

    Now I do have a plan in place for my next quitting of my day job so this time it will be a permanent quit! LOL live and learn, right?

    Reply
    • April says

      February 16, 2012 at 7:57 am

      Thanks for sharing Kim! It is so important to have a plan. I think some of us creative entrepreneurs just get sooooooooo excited!

      It sounds like you’re headed down the right path. You’ve got a non-horrible, less than full-time job that allows you to work on your biz. Awesome!

      Reply
  10. Emily says

    February 15, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    Woo! Even my dream day job can be a dreaded day job some days. Great tips, ma’am!

    Reply
    • April says

      February 16, 2012 at 7:57 am

      True! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Carrie says

    February 15, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Stay POSITIVE!!! – Yes, Ma’am!
    I have a part-time job that really doesn’t take much of my time, but I still do dream of quitting it – hopefully at the end of this year! Definitely trying to “plan” for it by meeting certain financial goals and sales goals.

    Reply
    • April says

      February 16, 2012 at 7:58 am

      That’s exciting Carrie! Having financial and sales goals is great regardless of whether you want to quit your job or not–but it’s super important when taking that step.

      Reply
  12. Esther says

    February 15, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    Great video! It really got me thinking. In my day job, I do design and marketing for a small business. Most of the work I do (SEO, social media, design marketing collateral, etc) is pretty much relate to running my own small business too! I can put all those skills I learn at my day job, into my small business. I was getting tired of my day job, but now, I think of it as paid training. That’ll help to keep me going till I can leave (:

    Reply
    • April says

      February 16, 2012 at 8:00 am

      That’s fantastic Esther. It’s great when you can find a day job that actually helps you reinforce or learn skills you need for your business. Like if you’re a knitter, teaching local knitting classes or working at a yarn store would be awesome.

      Reply
  13. Tabassum says

    February 16, 2012 at 7:41 am

    What would I do without your videos?? Such a great dose of sunshine+wisdom 🙂

    There are some great comments here! The thing about my full-time job is that a.) I “have” to work and b.) it’s creatively draining which makes it extremely hard to pull together some sort of creative juices to continue on with my dream job after I finish with my full-time job. I just feel sapped.

    But keeping the goal in mind (like how I want my life to be in one year from now) is helping me to stay on track. Also making sure my full-time job responsibilities are handled on time helps me to keep sane and not get behind on stuff and making time for a creative refuel is so crucial. The real thing that I need to do is make-a-P-L-A-N. I think that’s the key that will get me moving towards my goal a lot quicker.

    Reply
    • April says

      February 16, 2012 at 9:00 am

      Thanks Tabassum!

      You give me a dose of sunshine every week with your comments!

      Yes, keeping that goal in mind is critical! I had to do that to get out of bed at 5am to work on my creative business before leaving for work when I was building my creative business. And, having a plan in place definitely helps to stay focused.

      Reply
  14. Lynn says

    February 17, 2012 at 6:20 am

    wow, this is exactly what i needed to hear this week. i work as a full-time graphic designer and it is very challenging, stressful and totally sucks the energy out of me. the good thing is that i can use my skills for the benefit of my business. i’m also a mom and a homeowner, so there are days when i pass out on the couch at 8:30 and don’t work on my business at all.

    there are a couple of ways that i stay focused. i surround myself with people that love and support me. i joined an etsy team that is amazing and i’ve met some local artist. we meet once a month for coffee to celebrate our successes, brainstorm and of course vent 🙂 it’s so reassuring to know you are not alone and have someone to reach out to when you don’t know what to do or just need someone to listen.

    my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, so my goals are taking longer to reach than i would like. in my heart i know i can do this (and i’ve never felt like this before about anything). i just have to stay focused and also cut myself some slack too when i’m starting to burn out.

    Reply
    • April says

      February 17, 2012 at 8:40 am

      That is a really good thing. Design is a BIG thing that a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with and you’ve got it down!

      Surrounding yourself with supportive people is a must–and Etsy teams can be a great way to add more people to that circle. I think it’s really important to have people in your life who understand what it’s like to do this kind of thing–other people just don’t get it.

      I wish you all the best!

      Reply
  15. JP says

    February 20, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    You must be in my head! I’m just in the research and planning phase of my business, so I’m still in “the dreaded day job.” I’m a legal secretary at a family law firm. It pays well and I’m good at it, but I’m so tired of it! It’s hard to stay positive.

    I’ll have to watch this every day when I’m feeling grumpy and sorry for myself.

    Reply
    • April says

      February 23, 2012 at 2:18 pm

      Watch it every day if you need to! I’ve found that staying positive, brings more positive things my way.

      Reply
  16. Danielle says

    February 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    This was extremely helpful & a good reminder! I have a boring job, but it pays well. I have just started utilizing my time better like during lunch to start planning. Now if only I could get rid of the 2+ hour commute…one thing at a time. 🙂

    Reply
    • April says

      February 23, 2012 at 2:29 pm

      Oh man! I feel ya on the long commute. I used ride the subway to work when I lived in New York and for a year my commute was 1 and 1/2 hours to 2 hours each way. But, I wrote or read most of the time, so I did make good use of the time.

      Reply

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