maximize your income while avoiding burnout

Forever on the go, the topic of burnout has hit headlines for many professions. From doctors working 36 hour shifts to businessmen with a cellphone glued to their ear, no group is immune. 

They say list off all the things you'd like to prioritize in your life - fitness, friends, family, sleep, work - and then pick 2. With a lifestyle like that, seeing articles headlining "How to Actively Invest Your Money" and "3 Easy Steps to Get Fit" probably fall on deaf ears, on the couch, exhausted after a very long day at work.

We all go through cycles. like New Years resolutions, when we try to boost our productivity, even in our down hours.

As we work all day and night, we work ourselves on a fast track to burnout. Exhaustion, nervous break downs, and an overall reduction in productivity and even work means lost income - the very opposite of what we're all trying do. (Make money). 

This post is about maximizing your earnings without contributing to burnout - how? By spending 1 hour of your day focused on it. Let's get started.

spend time on your most lucrative option

Make a list of different ways you could earn extra money, and then rank them critically. What's your best bet? Your most lucrative option? 

Can you leverage someone you already do to make it work even better?

Do you already invest, casually checking in on your portfolio each quarter? Learning the best ways to invest your money means your money can work even harder for you. 

Do you love blogging, Twitter or social media in general? Make that time work twice as hard by earning cash while you do it. In the video below, Allison Lindstrom shares how she earned her first $200 doing what she loves.

make a plan to boost productivity

Optimizing productivity usually involves planning, so that hour doesn't dwindle away while you try to figure out what to work on. 

If you watch the news over your morning coffee, switch to the finance channel and plan where you'll put your money next time you log on.

Let's say you're going to leverage your blog to make some extra money. When an idea pops in your head during the day,  jot down those blog ideas to reference later on. Instead of spending the hour thinking up ideas, you'll have some ready to go. 

tag an hour onto your working day

So this tip seems to run counter to the idea of avoiding burnout, right? First I told you to work less, and now I'm telling you to work an extra hour?

If you're going to spend an extra hour of the day working for yourself - strategically investing your money or writing for your blog - choose the best time of day for you. Early mornings before work, on your lunch hour, or in the evening, figure out what works for you. You may find heading straight to your laptop when you get home helps keep your momentum going, but if you're more of a night owl, you may prefer to unwind before you jump back into it.