Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
I’m struggling with time management right now. I’m trying to balance my W2 job, exercise, family, investing activities and education. It seems like I could use a 48hr day instead of 24. I’d love to hear what experiences everyone has had or is having with the challenge of working full time and giving enough time towards the investing. Eventually I will be a full time investor but I’m wondering, what sacrifices did you make to make it happen? Do I need to quit exercising for a period of time? I don’t watch TV and I’m about as active as my grandpa is on social media. I don’t feel as though I’m waisting much time. How extreme do you have to go? I’d love any feedback.
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Back in the early '80's (single & no kids) I worked every spare hour, every vacation & drove a POS car. (On the rare occasion I had time for a date the girl would insist on driving her vehicle.) Yet I made 2x what my colleagues were making (passive income is a dream). I rented every room I could in every home I owned, including the multi's as I converted them to student slums housing.
My friends & colleagues laughed at me & told me I'd never make money. One was with me @ 1am one night when the cops pulled us over after collecting students rents & they thought I had to be a drug dealer with so much cash on me. That friend realized that my REI was a $$$ cow & he became one of the few partners I had.
Most of those who doubted me worked until 65 to afford retirement & now work menial part-time jobs to supplement their income. You either sacrifice the time when you're younger (to build that portfolio) or work it off painfully in old age to afford retirement.
Investor · Stratford, CT · Member since 2015 · 258 posts · 230 votes
7y
@Trey Knight - Years ago when I decided to go to grad school and was working a full time job, I found I had little time for anything else. I was married with no children, and for four years (except summers) it was basically work and school. I did sacrifice regular exercise, any weekends away, and my wife adapted and supported. I'm not a believer that one can "have it all" and achieve meaningful goals. I would imagine the same would hold true for your situation.
Rental Property Investor · Ithaca, NY · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Trey Knight My lifestyle has taken the biggest sacrifice. Ask my friends how often I get in touch with them and they'll say "Maybe during the holidays." Most of my year is focused on improving my business and not so much socializing with others. I'd rather make a future for my family than talk to my friends, that's a choice I made in order to achieve what I want.
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
Back in the early '80's (single & no kids) I worked every spare hour, every vacation & drove a POS car. (On the rare occasion I had time for a date the girl would insist on driving her vehicle.) Yet I made 2x what my colleagues were making (passive income is a dream). I rented every room I could in every home I owned, including the multi's as I converted them to student slums housing.
My friends & colleagues laughed at me & told me I'd never make money. One was with me @ 1am one night when the cops pulled us over after collecting students rents & they thought I had to be a drug dealer with so much cash on me. That friend realized that my REI was a $$$ cow & he became one of the few partners I had.
Most of those who doubted me worked until 65 to afford retirement & now work menial part-time jobs to supplement their income. You either sacrifice the time when you're younger (to build that portfolio) or work it off painfully in old age to afford retirement.
What tasks could you outsource (PM, Accounting etc.)?
Are you spending a lot of time looking for deals or have you set up funnels so the deals come to you?
Above are just some ideas. If you already have solid business systems my advice would be to sit down with your wife - prioritize and then make a scheduel so you avoid doing everything at once.
Rental Property Investor · Merritt Island, FL · Member since 2015 · 253 posts · 178 votes
7y
Get up earlier when the house is quiet so you can focus. If that’s exercise great, you can move your investing activities to where your exercise used to be. I’m aware of more than a few investors who are up at 4AM everyday.
Investor · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 22 votes
7y
@Trey Knight understand we live a world with the opportunity to grind 24/7. Your mind, actions, and priorities appear to be in tuned. Family is everything, keep that a major priority. I understand the early stage of the journey regarding W2 job still required. Having a solid W2 has been a great tool for my investing start up. Fitness is a major lifestyle for me and one that I will not sacrifice for short term wins. As you may know real estate investing is a marathon. I see so many successful real estate investors that I look up to have to use there wealth to regain their health because health was something they chose to sacrifice. If exercise makes you happy/fulfilled do not sacrifice.
As @Charles Soper mentioned sleep is an area where hours can be gained. You can live on 6 hours of sleep and still have your family, W2, fitness, investing, and education. It doesn't seem to be about how extreme to take your lifestyle but being patient and juggling these priorities for years. Run your race at your pace with a strong real estate end goal and you'll juggle your way across the finish line happy and fulfilled. Stay patient, embrace the journey.
Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
7y
I have 5 kids, a 60+ hour a week job, 33 doors, and a passive investment portfolio. Balance is not the goal.
Lots of great advice above. Keep things simple. I exercise first thing in the morning, eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch each day, have a modest/simple wardrobe, cycled through multiple 3rd party managers to find one that I could live with, consolidated to only two properties (this is important...focus on profit per property, not per door), buy value adds (once again, more profit per property...plus I can screw it up and still do okay...lots of cushion), and work through trial, error, and then success in your routine.
REI (and life) is not linear. "Go to work" every day and the cumulative effect over years is incredible.
Rental Property Investor · Manama, Bahrain · Member since 2015 · 96 posts · 68 votes
7y
My life changed when I started scheduling tasks and allocating my time. Instead of just making a task list for the day, put in your calendar WHEN you're going to do that task.
Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Trey Knight Work-life balance does not exist. Plus, you look like a young guy i.e. can/willing to make sacrifices.
I would never compromise on family, sleep and eating right. After that if you have to reduce your exercise (not a viable long-term option), not socialize, move into a less-demanding W2 job (only if there is upside in what you're planning on doing), etc - go for it.
I run everything by my calendar and still struggle. Hire an assistant to schedule your calls, emails and other tasks.
But remember, there is no balance. That's only found in HR manuals ;)
Investor / Syndicator · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 366 posts · 220 votes
7y
I get up at 4:30 to work out. What helps is that I join a group of guys downtown to do a 40 minute ride on dirt. Great way to start the day. Getting social with my workouts helped me a lot and infuses endorphins and good circulation throughout my work day. I plan annual goals, then figure out what I need to do quarterly to get there. Then I create monthly and weekly benchmarks. My plan for the day needs to feed into that. I also leave a little time for unplanned meetings b/c good stuff happen spontaneously. But the driver is the master plan.
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@Charles Soper
Charles, thank you for the input. I’m more of a night owl and my wife works nights as a nurse. Is it the same concept as getting up at 4:00am if I’m staying up until 2:00am and getting up at 6:00am? Disclaimer- Miracle morning is on my read list.
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@Nick White
Nick, so well said! I appreciate your views on this situation. That’s a great point about sacrificing health now to pay for it later. Patience and persistence!
You have received a ton of great feedback especially @Mike Dymski and @Pat L.
Here're a few steps that should help you (coming from a mom with kids, f/t job, f/t real estate syndications business and 2 Meetups in two different locations)
1) establish a daily routine. If you need help, read "Miracle Morning". Diet, sleep and exercise (at least 4 times a week) are a must!
2) Plan your weeks and then based on that plan your days. However plan in a way that allows you to achieve one most critical thing for the day! In other words, "what is the most critical thing for today" should be your number one task, the rest you can put down but it can wait.
3) include some family time in your planning. Absolutely critical.
4) When setting up your goals, set them up as 10X goals. If you haven't read "10X rule", then add it to your to read list.
Rental Property Investor · Merritt Island, FL · Member since 2015 · 253 posts · 178 votes
7y
@Trey Knight, I think if you dig into miricale morning you’ll find a way. I’ve read various sources that suggest doing work during YOUR peak times and for some of us that’s after the sun goes down. I’m sure somebody out there must have an opposite schedule that does the miracle joe Ong routine and has shared
I use real estate agents to funnel deals to me. Took some time to setup but it allows me to get deals with my criteria sent to my mailbox. Sometimes I even get some off market deals sent.
Lake Oswego, OR · Member since 2015 · 174 posts · 115 votes
7y
@Trey Knight did you listen to this week's podcast? Gold in it with writing down your 20 to do/want to dos, picking your top 5, and consciously saying that the other 15 are "never dos". Family is important, can it combine creatively? Bike ride with kids while driving for dollars? You didn't say how much/how you exercise, and that can vary a lot - working out like a fitness influencer and hitting the treadmill for a half hour in your basement are different things. Also, how much time your W-2 requires/allows is important to consider including commute, after hours mandatory events, and time sitting or waiting around that can be used to work on your own business. All that said, there are still strings of days where you're so busy with it all it's a victory to find ten minutes to take a shower or make pb&j.
Real Estate Agent · Spokane, WA · Member since 2013 · 123 posts · 66 votes
7y
I quit my job about 3 years ago and went full time into real estate. The last weeks I've put in some long hours setting up "systems" and upworkers to deal with repetitive tasks. They're not fun to implement but save so much time. What are you currently spending the most time on?
New to Real Estate · Hollywood, FL · Member since 2008 · 35 posts · 16 votes
7y
@Trey Knight We all can relate in some way or another. My W2 job is extremely fast past and vast in scope. I have learned to leverage that skill set from my W2 job to swiftly process information by compressing and extracting the content needed to make good sound decisions and take action quickly. The things you are doing to have success in your 9-5 are transferable as we move into investing. You currently plan, operate on a schedule and execute. Now add your actions needed to grow you business using the same baseline for your W2 and family.
Things I do:
1) 30 minutes to Plan Weekly task on Saturday since my work week starts on Sunday.
2) Review my task daily before bed and make adjustments if needed
3) Measure my progress on each task I committed to on Tuesday. If I miss can I replan and still hit the task by EOW. If not during my next weekly planning session I will re-evaluate the task and how I make it more manageable to be met within my schedule.
4) Ensure I’m creating stretch goals(task). Growth comes in discomfort.