If you’ve followed me long enough, you know I LOVE to stay busy. I’ve always involved myself in extracurriculars, leadership roles, and so much more when it comes to being a pre-med student, however, I’ve recently discovered a new creative side to myself. When I began my Instagram journey roughly one year ago, I never thought I’d be where I am now. School and my goals of becoming a physician will always be my first priority, but a side hustle during the process never hurt anyone, right? Before I created my first laptop decal, (picture shown below), a good friend once told me, “Christina, you do realize you can brand yourself right?” I thought about my mission statement, what my name really meant. “Milestones In Medicine” – living and documenting the milestones I’ve gone through to be a part of medicine. That was the majority of my inspiration for my first sticker.

The million dollar question: How do you have time to be a full time student while branding/building a side hustle/business? I’m taking 18 credits this semester, fulfilling 3 research projects (1 of which is a clinical trial), involving myself in different organizations on campus, volunteering/tutoring, working as a social media marketer for several different Instagram accounts, running my own Instagram page, adding content to my website (blog posts/free downloads), and running my shop where I create custom designed laptop stickers and made to order, crocheted, Medi-Coozies. I am also in the works of creating new merchandise, but I can’t reveal that right now! So, how do I do it? *without failing all of my classes* Follow along:

1.ELIMINATING PROCRASTINATION

It’s so easy to get caught up in watching 3 hours of Snapchat stories, or binge watching The Flash on Netflix. This might be some people’s form of relaxation, or taking a break – for me, this will just make me feel like I could be spending this time elsewhere – like submitting proofs, studying for a quiz, etc. I spend so much time running others/my own Instagram account that I don’t allow myself to submit to the procrastination effect of social media. It was tricky learning how to engage with my followers and other influencers while avoiding procrastination, but I learned how to schedule this effectively, which brings me to my next point.

2.WRITING EVERYTHING DOWN IN MY PLANNER

You and I both know from that list of responsibilities that I can’t remember to do everything when it’s supposed to be done. I have a special notebook in my iPad named “Agenda” where I designed each page to keep me as organized as possible. The first page is my hourly schedule. You can click here to get redirected to the free download I made available for you guys. I write down every single task I need to accomplish through out the day, including “wake up” and “go to sleep.” The next page is a 5 column Monday through Friday template where I manually fill in the numbered dates and write in important events that I need to attend such as meetings/training/etc. The next two pages are standard lined paper, here I made a key (different colors representing different classes) and wrote down every exam/due date pertaining to that specific class. This way, nothing creeps up on me while I’m in the moment of doing something else. You could say I created my own Agenda, digitally, to keep me as organized and on top of things as possible.

3.DEDICATING TIME

It’s great that we wrote everything down in it’s time appropriated slot.. but that’s just not enough. Dedicating yourself and committing to your schedule is huge. There are too many people who have agendas and planners, love the thought of filling them out, but not actually following along their plan. I know not everything has to be perfect, but getting those tasks completed is important for you to stay on track, and avoid becoming overwhelmed. If you know you can’t wake up at 6 am, then don’t write down that you are. Make your plan realistic.

4.LEARNING HOW TO SAY “NO”

This has always been a hard thing for me to do, but ever since I began saying “no” to tasks I did not want to do, I found myself saying “yes” to my goals. I began spending time investing in my passion and content rather than someone else’s – especially if I didn’t find joy in doing so.

5.PRIORITIZING

Designing stickers and crocheting is more fun than sitting down and studying the thoracic vertebrae, but understanding my priorities is crucial to success. School will always be my first priority. Come finals week, I know I won’t be as active on social media or my blog – and I’m absolutely okay with that. The first thing on my hourly schedule has something to do with classes/research, and that’s how it always will be. Running a side hustle is fun, it’s a hobby that I love and enjoy, but it cannot come before my studies.

INTERESTED IN A SIDE HUSTLE? READ BELOW

I am by no means an expert when it comes to sales/business. I’m still learning every single day. All opinions and avenues taken here are from my own experience and preference. I know there are better opportunities to come for you and I, and I look forward to the good and bad experiences. Life is a learning process, and it’s up to us to make the post out of it – no matter what niche you submerge yourself in. Do you have a talent? A hobby? Maybe you can start a little side-hustle like me! I know some people go to Etsy to sell their goods, but I opted into creating my own website. This allowed me to include my blog, free downloads, shop, Amazon Must Have’s, and so much more all on one platform.

If you’re interested in creating your own website, you’re going to need a hosting domain. I created mine through SiteGround. You can click here to get redirected to their site where you can make your own website name! After I created my domain name, I headed over to WordPress where I customized the set/up and logistics of how I wanted my content to be seen.

Instagram is the sole social medial outlet where I reach people the most. I began my journey through Instagram, and intend to keep it that way. I’ve conducted polls/questioner’s to figure out what my audience likes/wants. All of my blog posts, although few, are from frequently asked questions. This way I bring traffic to a platform where I don’t have a character limit and can write as freely as I please.

If you have any more detailed questions pertaining to the topics, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Head over to the “Contact Me” Tab on my website and I should respond to you shortly!

With love always,

Christina