I had a pretty rubbish evening yesterday. Got home from work, made dinner, opened my laptop to work on the business... and closed it again about 40 minutes later.

Not because I was finished. I just couldn't get my brain to cooperate.

This has been happening more often lately. I used to get excited about working on the business after hours. Now I sometimes find myself wishing I could just switch off and watch something without feeling like I should be doing more.

The annoying part is that the business is actually moving forward. Slowly, but it is. I just feel like I'm constantly behind, both at work and with my own thing.

Quitting isn't an option. There's not enough money coming in yet, and I'm not going to gamble my rent on an idea that hasn't proven itself.

For those who built a business while keeping a full-time job, did you just accept that things would take longer? Or did you find a way to make evenings and weekends work without burning out?

Hey there Ben! 🖐

The danger is trying to treat every evening like a full working day. You'll end up resenting the business before it's even had a chance to grow.

I'd pick two or three evenings for actual work and leave the rest alone. Use that time for things that move the business forward, especially talking to potential customers and making sales.

Slow progress is still progress. You don't have to burn yourself out to prove you're serious about it.

Keep it going brother!

The guilt is real. You finish your actual job, open the laptop to work on your business, and suddenly it's midnight hahaha!

But you can't expect yourself to run at 100% all day. Some weeks you'll get loads done, other weeks barely anything. Doesn't mean you're failing.

Do you still enjoy working on the business, or has it started feeling like another job?

On 06/11/2026 at 14:00, Ben Costello said:

I had a pretty rubbish evening yesterday. Got home from work, made dinner, opened my laptop to work on the business... and closed it again about 40 minutes later.

Not because I was finished. I just couldn't get my brain to cooperate.

This has been happening more often lately. I used to get excited about working on the business after hours. Now I sometimes find myself wishing I could just switch off and watch something without feeling like I should be doing more.

The annoying part is that the business is actually moving forward. Slowly, but it is. I just feel like I'm constantly behind, both at work and with my own thing.

Quitting isn't an option. There's not enough money coming in yet, and I'm not going to gamble my rent on an idea that hasn't proven itself.

For those who built a business while keeping a full-time job, did you just accept that things would take longer? Or did you find a way to make evenings and weekends work without burning out?

On 06/11/2026 at 15:16, Daniel Hastings said:

Hey there Ben! 🖐

The danger is trying to treat every evening like a full working day. You'll end up resenting the business before it's even had a chance to grow.

I'd pick two or three evenings for actual work and leave the rest alone. Use that time for things that move the business forward, especially talking to potential customers and making sales.

Slow progress is still progress. You don't have to burn yourself out to prove you're serious about it.

Keep it going brother!

I think Daniel's suggestion makes sense. Trying to squeeze business work into every available evening isn't necessarily productive.

I'd also set one realistic priority for each of those evenings. Otherwise, you can spend three hours being busy without actually moving anything forward.

There's nothing wrong with taking longer to build something if it means you can keep your finances and energy in a healthier place.