For the past year, I have survived being self-employed. It wasn't easy and it's been a lot of work, but I love it. I'm far from rich or where I want to be in my career, but I have survived and I continue to survive.
Being an entrepreneur can look fun and easy from the outside looking in, but when you have no starting capital because you were raised in a low-income household and you didn't receive a small loan of a million dollars it's a lot of work.
I'm lucky enough that I LOVE being an entrepreneur. I am extremely passionate about building my businesses and my personal brand. If you approach entrepreneurship half-heartedly then you're probably going to quit.
I have been an entrepreneur since I was in primary school. I remember trying to sell scoubidous and comics to my classmates. In secondary school, they forced me to do work experience in Iceland and I quickly realised that being someone else's employee was not the path for me.
These days I work harder than anyone I know with a 9-5 job (for considerably less money) and I wouldn't have it any other way. Even when I'm barely surviving, living on a tiny budget and grinding like my life depended on it (because it does), I am happier than I would ever be working for someone else.
I would love to recommend the entrepreneurial lifestyle to everyone if I could, but the truth is that it's not for everyone. If you prefer freedom over security and stability then you might be a suitable candidate, but I don't want to create any illusions that this life is easy. You will begin by working for free, then working for next to nothing and eventually you might make a reasonable income.
Below you'll find my daily routine. This is how I can manage to release valuable content on many platforms on a daily basis. Sometimes I work for longer, sometimes less. I try to take at least one day off on the weekend but even on that day I generally work. Some things in my daily routine are done at set times but most things are flexible and may be completed out of order. That's why there's a lack of time-stamps.
- 7:30 - 9:30 am: Wake up
- Make and drink coffee - this burst of energy is vital for me!
- Record my first Anchor segment of the day for the Grow On YouTube podcast and reply to any call-ins and questions.
- Start running a bath
- Reply to comments on YouTube, Discord, Twitter, Instagram and reply to emails.
- Do any admin work needed to be done that day. E.g: YouTube video information, adding posts and videos to my social media schedule and posting new videos in my Discord. I also find pictures for blog posts, create thumbnails and publish them around this time.
- Bathe
- Wash dishes
- Eat breakfast
- Meditate for 5 minutes
- Plan and write blog posts
- Post on Instagram - I basically write a mini blog post over there too.
- Start completing tasks on the day’s to-do list
- 2 pm: Eat lunch
- Record the lesson of the day on Anchor for the Grow On YouTube podcast
- Continue completing the tasks on the to-do list
- 6 pm: Cook dinner
- Resume to-do list completion
- 7 pm: Eat dinner
- Record my daily wrap-up on Anchor and publish the Grow On YouTube podcast
- Try to finish every last task on the to-do list
- 8:30 pm: Stop working on the to-do list.
- Chill out: Watch YouTube videos, an episode of a sitcom or play PS4. I usually end up researching and learning about new things that may benefit my businesses.
- 12 am: Go sleep while listening to an informative podcast
If you want just want to get a free digital notebook then I suggest getting Evernote. Evernote is one of my favourite apps and I use it alongside my Filofax to stay on top of my daily tasks and remain productive.
Get one of the BEST tools that I've used to grow my YouTube channel by clicking here!
What does your daily routine look like? Leave a comment down below!
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Originally published at Jay Carteré.