How do you balance life, your day job and business?

[DoWhatWorks]

Hi all,

Like many others I work at an office job during the day and focus on my business at night.

It's an exciting time as my monthly business revenue exceeds my pay check and if all goes well I'll be in a position to quit employment for good in the next 12 - 24 months.

The only problem is... I'm exhausted. This has taken me 8 years of working weekends, evenings and going through failure after failure until I finally got something going that stuck.

My current routine is ~40 hours a week in my day job then 10-20 on my side business mostly in the evenings and weekends. Plenty of people work far harder than me but I'd be lying if I said it hasn't taken a toll. I just about squeeze a social life but I'm not regularly exercising anymore aside from walks and cycles.

Any tips on re-charging effectively and balancing a very busy schedule?

 

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[BizyDad]

Congrats on your progress.

1. Take breaks when needed.
2. Quit sooner rather than later.
3. Make sure sleep game is on point. Eat well, get sun, exercise all that obvious stuff...
4. Complete tasks quickly. Don't let things fester in the back of your mind.

Just have some questions/thoughts...

While the revenue figure is good, I assume profit is not sufficient to quit now? Could you possibly grow the business faster if it got the 40 hours? Do you have some savings to live off of if needed to make this happen?

 

[DoWhatWorks]

Congrats on your progress.

1. Take breaks when needed.
2. Quit sooner rather than later.
3. Make sure sleep game is on point. Eat well, get sun, exercise all that obvious stuff...
4. Complete tasks quickly. Don't let things fester in the back of your mind.

Just have some questions/thoughts...

While the revenue figure is good, I assume profit is not sufficient to quit now? Could you possibly grow the business faster if it got the 40 hours? Do you have some savings to live off of if needed to make this happen?

Thanks for the response and kind words.

Your assessment is spot on, my net profit is about 40% of the take-home from my paycheck.

I could definitely move the business faster with the additional 40 hours however I only have enough savings to last 6 months which scares me lol. It would be a real do-or-die/ burn the boats moment so (for now) I've decided to take the safer route.

A big fear of mine would be quitting too early, things not working out (as biz goes up and down) and ending up back at a job in 7-12 months.

Any more suggestions are welcome!

 

[BizyDad]

Thanks for the response and kind words.

Your assessment is spot on, my net profit is about 40% of the take-home from my paycheck.

I could definitely move the business faster with the additional 40 hours however I only have enough savings to last 6 months which scares me lol. It would be a real do-or-die/ burn the boats moment so (for now) I've decided to take the safer route.

A big fear of mine would be quitting too early, things not working out (as biz goes up and down) and ending up back at a job in 7-12 months.

Any more suggestions are welcome!

Makes sense. Keep going, quitting day will be here before you know it.

 

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[Bearcorp]

I could definitely move the business faster with the additional 40 hours however I only have enough savings to last 6 months which scares me lol. It would be a real do-or-die/ burn the boats moment so (for now) I've decided to take the safer route.

A big fear of mine would be quitting too early, things not working out (as biz goes up and down) and ending up back at a job in 7-12 months.

That's everything you need to know. You know your business, if you're confident that it can grow with those extras hours you can put into it, plus the extra rest you'll get not working so much, take the leap!

If you're not confident because that unknown scares you, then you just have to suck it up a bit longer. If you had 7-12 months trying to get this thing going and it worked your life will never be the same. If you have suck it up and go back and get a job who cares, at least you tried.

Ultimately I'm a stranger on the internet only you know what's right for you, trust your own judgement and either way good luck!

 

[maverick]

Find a way to work on your business during your normal workweek. Block an hour a day, make up meetings, do whatever you need to do to get ahead.

 

[DoWhatWorks]

worked your life will never be the same.

This is the thought that makes me close to quitting some days but for me, I think it’s better to take the (slightly) longer route.

Because:

If you have suck it up and go back and get a job who cares

Getting a taste, then going back would kill me inside.

Especially because my day job is relatively relaxed and I work on biz during the day too

Find a way to work on your business during your normal workweek. Block an hour a day, make up meetings, do whatever you need to do to get ahead.

Yep doing all the above. It’s also impacting my day job performance if I’m being 100% honest hence me feeling conflicted.

In conclusion though I think I’ll just take a deep break for 1 week in December and will just have to hit the job & biz for a while longer.

When I get to 12 month savings and same trend of consistent revenue I’ll quit by the end of 2024

 

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[johnp]

Congrats on your progress.

It’s 5am here. Been up since four. Feeding a baby and working on my business at the same time before going to work.

- morning are better - 5am to 8am Monday through Friday and then like 5-9 on weekends. If I didn’t have kids I’d go harder on weekends but I need some balance

- why mornings? Brain works better etc. I guess it’s different for each person. I used to be a night owl though.

- focus on consistency and incremental gains to prevent burnout

- look for leverage: I hire people I don’t burn out and use AI a ton now.

- cut out the stuff that sucks time. I don’t drink alcohol (huge productivity killer) I do watch tv but I don’t really waste time in dumb stuff.

Been doing this for 4 years. Have one business with traction and building another while working at a startup with two kids.

I really think the secret is finding those leverage points

 

[DoWhatWorks]

Thanks for the encouragement and tips @johnp

I'm curious - What AI tools do you use?

- look for leverage: I hire people I don’t burn out and use AI a ton now.

Apart from tools like Copy.AI / Bard to help with writing text and meeting note recorders I've not used any other AI tools in my business in a meaningful way that's valuable and not just me using a new toy.

Very open to the fact that I've just not explored and learnt enough though!

For context, I run an online marketing agency.

 

[DoWhatWorks]

Thought I'd give an update, in case someone in the future lurks and is in a similar position.

My net profit of the business has jumped to 75% of my salary. I was about to hand in my resignation letter lol but after seeking advice was given the good idea of propose moving part time at my job.

This gives me the benefit of more hours to work on my business, additional cash flow and no transition period to another job with less hours.

That's my plan A.

Plan B is go all in on biz as my net profit now covers my living expenses (just)

 

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[Timmy C]

Thought I'd give an update, in case someone in the future lurks and is in a similar position.

My net profit of the business has jumped to 75% of my salary. I was about to hand in my resignation letter lol but after seeking advice was given the good idea of propose moving part time at my job.

This gives me the benefit of more hours to work on my business, additional cash flow and no transition period to another job with less hours.

That's my plan A.

Plan B is go all in on biz as my net profit now covers my living expenses (just)

Good stuff, very happy for you.

If I was you, I would do the smart thing and go part time.

You want to make sure that when you leave, you never have to return.

Also, prioritize your health always.

If things have to slow down a bit because of that, so be it.

Just my opinion.

 

[DoWhatWorks]

Good stuff, very happy for you.

If I was you, I would do the smart thing and go part time.

You want to make sure that when you leave, you never have to return.

Also, prioritize your health always.

If things have to slow down a bit because of that, so be it.

Just my opinion.

Thanks for the encouraging words man!

I’m inclined to agree with you. I know people who’ve left their jobs to focus on biz just to end up going back which must be so painful.

Health part is also super important, if it takes me 6 months longer to finally get freedom in a less stressful/painful way then so be it.

Had the work conversation today so I’ll see what they come back with!

Fingers crossed

 

[SnowLava]

Hi all,

Like many others I work at an office job during the day and focus on my business at night.

It's an exciting time as my monthly business revenue exceeds my pay check and if all goes well I'll be in a position to quit employment for good in the next 12 - 24 months.

The only problem is... I'm exhausted. This has taken me 8 years of working weekends, evenings and going through failure after failure until I finally got something going that stuck.

My current routine is ~40 hours a week in my day job then 10-20 on my side business mostly in the evenings and weekends. Plenty of people work far harder than me but I'd be lying if I said it hasn't taken a toll. I just about squeeze a social life but I'm not regularly exercising anymore aside from walks and cycles.

Any tips on re-charging effectively and balancing a very busy schedule?

Reminds me of Sam and Jeff's struggles from the Great Rat Race Escape .

I am not in any position to give advice regarding this, but great work man. It has inspired me to work even harder. Best wishes for the future.

 

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[DoWhatWorks]

Another update from me, plan A worked and my 9-5 agreed for me to go part time starting February

To anyone lurking - it was definitely the right thing to do. Had some unexpected client cancellations from a few clients in the new year and although I'm still 4 figure profitable, I'd now be stressed if I knew my 9-5 income was going to 0.

Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Can't wait to have 2 extra full days in the week to go hard at this.

Onwards and Upwards x

 

[Akaushra]

Yeah sleep is absolutely #1 in a situation, #2 is work ethic though, make sure you’re going to do this and continue it years more if needed