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.
Rental Property Investor · Papillion, NE · Member since 2017 · 398 posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Trey Knight hey buddy long time no talk. So I was in the same situation as you, W2, wife, two young children, daily exercise routine. Do NOT give up exercise that is key to a fresh mind, but if you are working out for two hours cut it down to one and increase intensity. Only listen to books and podcasts when driving. Also sadly you will have to sacrifice your time with family, the first year of my daughters life I was rarely around and when I was I wasnt present becasue I was working on deals. At my W2 job I was constantly distracted and never took a lunch so I could focus on real estate. Also I managed all my own properties to uncrease returns. Partnering also allowed me to grow exponentially as I was able to take a percentage for property management. Fast forward two years, I am 1 year out of my W2 and have 110 apts (plus 99 units under contract) and a property mgmt company. You can definitely do it but you have to sacrifice alot... but the sacrifice doesnt last forever. Good luck reach out anytime!
Rental Property Investor · Beaverton, OR · Member since 2018 · 88 posts · 155 votes
7y
@Trey Knight You don’t need to sacrifice time now for some great dream of the future. Those that do are missing the point of financial freedom. If you’re not careful, chasing that dream of financial freedom will just become another job. Instead of working in your business, focus on your business, i.e. on how your business can work more efficiently.
To keep it short, recommend reading-
4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris
The E-Myth for RE investors Michael Gerber
The 1 Thing - Jay Papasan and Gary Keller
Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
It’s absolutely possible, you just need to create the systems that allow your businesses to run themselves. And with all of today’s apps, online payment systems, etc it’s almost too easy.
Rental Property Investor · Johnson City TN · Member since 2016 · 386 posts · 271 votes
7y
@Trey Knight - Hopefully you'll get there soon enough. It took me six years to finally go full time REI (counting 3 years in a small business and 3 years pursuing REI). Just keep at, it sounds like like your making great progress. Remenber to give yourself credit for what you've done an what your trying to accomplish.
One strategy is to set a goal and reverse engineer the process to achieve it.
United States · Member since 2015 · 401 posts · 394 votes
7y
@Trey Knight I personally don't think you have to give anything up. I'm in pretty much the exact same situation as you (I'm even a night owl no matter how hard I try not to be) and mange to fit in W2, investing/business time, education, family time and social time. To me, it's a matter of allocating every hour of your week, whether it's to something specific or just "open hours to get things done." Throughout the week, I keep a little black book where I write things down that I need to get done that week as soon as they come to my attention, that way they're not taking up thinking/memory space and don't lead to stress. Then I follow a somewhat loose scheduled (compared to others I've seen) that works very well for me. It goes something like this (by the way I do NOT do well on little sleep, so I always shoot for 7.5ish hours):
MON-THUR
7:15 AM - wake up
7:15 - 9:45 AM - workout, commute time to the gym, phone calls if necessary (either a short workout or skip it all together)
9:45 - 10:30 AM - eat, get ready for work, hangout with my wife/discuss our week, things we need to get done, goals, etc.
11:00 AM - 9:00 PM - W2 work
9:30 PM - 11:00 PM - cross things off of my "to do" list (most of this time is related to my investment biz, but can be education, personal, W2, etc)
11:00 PM - 12:00 AM - time with my wife, then bed
FRI-SUN
7:15 AM - wake up
7:15 AM - 9:00 AM - breakfast, play with the dogs, hangout with my wife, etc
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM - cross things off my "to do" list. This is where I really get things done and I dedicate a lot of this time to big ticket items and education (both W2 and investing). Often times I'm on calls or at meetings during this time, which are all part of my "to do" list.
6:00 PM - 12:00 AM - "to do" list items can flow over if need be (and often do), otherwise I keep this as "open" time; social events, hanging out with friends and family, personal errands, watching that t.v. show we've been meaning to watch, taking the dogs to the park, etc.
I workout 4 days a week, spend pretty significant time with my wife given how busy we both are, work 40 hours a week at a W2 (45 if you include commute), and still manage to dedicate 30~35 hours to my business/learning/networking, get 7-7.5 hours per night AND spend a sufficient amount of time with family and friends enough to keep me happy and sane.
My point is, there's no one size fits all. You have to find something that works for your personality, lifestyle, tendencies and other obligations. My opinion - if you can't fit everything into your week, don't sacrifice your health, happiness, friends and family - outsource!
@Trey Knight I hear you. Have full time job, family business and actively looking for first deal.
As a ex-pt I can tell you that there is no benefit in exercising more then 20 min a day. In fact if you do push ups, pull ups and squats every day 5-10 min in the morning that would more then enough. Don't sacrifice, optimise)))
Wholesaler/Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2018 · 260 posts · 222 votes
7y
@Trey Knight Someone that I have recently learned to respect a great deal, made a statement that hit me like a ton of bricks.
"Eliminate most minimum wage activities, if not all of them"
Time is the most expensive commodity we have and should be valued much higher, than most of us probably do.
This statement made me look at my own schedule and find those activities that I really had no justification in doing myself. I was able to eliminate several daily tasks, but not all of them. I now rely on VA's to handle as many of these other tasks and that alone saves me several hours per day.
I now make a conscious effort to pay attention to daily/weekly tasks and ask myself if I need to be doing this. Admittedly, there will be certain tasks that I will not likely ever give up, just because the importance of that task being done correctly.
New to Real Estate · Cottage Grove, OR · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 1 vote
7y
Trey - good post with a lot of great feedback thus far. My two cents - there is a season for everything. There are times when you will need to be more focused on certain aspects of your life versus others. As long as your core values are driving you, and it sounds like they are, it will all work out. Just recognize it for what it is and know that you can get back to XYZ when ABC slows down or vice versa. As long as you don't drop the glass ball (family) you will be fine.
As far as tangible advice you've already heard the best from several others - set up systems & processes, outsource where you can, time block, etc. You mentioned education. I don't know what that looks like for you, but for me and my commute - Audible is huge! I have turned my car into a mobile university and I would strongly recommend you do the same if you haven't already. Or (2 birds - 1 stone) listen to books/podcasts while you work out. Or triple whammy put in the ear buds, put the little ones in a stroller/bike trailer and enjoy some of that beautiful St George sunshine. Some of my funnest (& most strenuous) workouts were when my boys were little and I pushed or pulled them on the trail. If you are seeking formal education is there a way you can convert your lectures/text books to audio? Just some ideas. Stay the course and good luck!
Specialist · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 611 votes
7y
@Trey Knight
I am running into that same problem
and I can tell you there is always another gear. When I look at how effective I am with my time with 3 kids, and look back to when I
was younger it's amazing to think what I could have done then. The screentime
app on my iPhone has shown me how much I can really be saving not being on socia
media while at the same time it does benefit my business as well building a thought platform. What I would start doing is focus on what tasks you can delegate that will give you more time to focus on the tasks that generate you the most revenue. For me personally the one thing I never have for is creative/quiet time. We had our own property management company but it was too difficult trying to grow that and our other businesses and we enjoyed it the least amount so we decided to pass that off and have it free up alot of our time. With the time saved we just focus more on growing our other businesses and its paid immediate dividends.
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2018 · 81 posts · 62 votes
7y
@Trey Knight "Do I need to quit exercising for a period of time?" Exercise makes your muscles physically tired, but you'll actually feel more energized from it. If you focus on everything else but your health, by the time you can quit your job, your health could affect your ability to enjoy your financially independent life. Thus, you might end up spending your financial freedom money on doctor bills. Don't sacrifice your health in pursuit of financial independence.
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@Collin Schwartz Thanks for sharing your story Collin! Good to hear from you buddy and congratulations on the property under contract. I appreciate the pointers and advise you've given. I'm glad to hear things are going well for you! I'll give you a shout soon.
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@Ashton Levarek Thank you for the book recommendations and positive words! Working in your business vs. on your business, makes sense! I appreciate your outlook on the thread. Thanks again!!
Rental Property Investor · Olympia, WA · Member since 2010 · 127 posts · 76 votes
7y
@John K. I'd be curious to hear the types of things you're outsourcing to a VA. I've considered hiring a local assistant to do things that crowd my days, like drycleaning, laundry, sending letters, paying bills, other errands, etc. So it would be good to hear what I'm missing if I'm going to implement.
@Trey Knight My wife was on board from the beginning (hallelujah!) I had always talked about wanting to do it, and actually before we were married I bought a condo that had instant equity at purchase and cash-flowed from the gate. Also, my dad invested in real estate and business all his life, maybe had a W-2 job in his late teens, and his estate is worth millions. So she saw all this converging. She's also smart ;)
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@John K. I like these ideas John. Thank you for sharing!! I'm going to implement this idea of asking yourself if I need to be doing this. Thanks again!!
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@Kris Ammerman Thank you for commenting! I'm so grateful for all the insight this question has brought. I also have a lot of windshield time and do stick to the audible while driving. It's increased my reading ability tremendously! Thank you for the examples you provided. Take care!
Rental Property Investor · Saint George, UT · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 38 votes
7y
@Charles Kao Thank you for commenting! I like to hear that outsourcing property management is working well for you. I appreciate you adding value to the thread!
Wholesaler/Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2018 · 260 posts · 222 votes
7y
@Tyler Blackwell Those items you mentioned are a great start. I looked at my business schedule and tried to identify where I was spending most of my time and what that was costing my company. When I put the numbers to paper, I was shocked and disappointed. I am a huge numbers guy and was embarrassed that it had gotten this far out of control.
The first task I made immediate changes to was, lead generation. While I had a semi-automated system in place, it was not near as efficient as it could have been. I immediately drafted changes that needed to happen, to take a system operating at 85% automation, and push that to 93-95% automation. This step alone will create an additional 2-3 hours in my day.
The 2nd task was dealing with a few sources of data, that requires significant human interaction. This task is one I should never been involved with, as it was costing me about 5 hours per week.
The final task I turned over was market research in general. I operate in about 65 counties around the DFW area, thus there is a huge need for data. I would spend a few hours per day, doing nothing but reading about this county or a city within a county. By simply training the VA on what I was looking for, I now spend about 30 minutes every other day, reading a well drafted report. Then I can decide on my own, if I need to commit more time to that county or city.
These steps are just the beginning few. I still believe there is more I can do to free up even more time.
Hope that helps.
@Trey Knight glad you got something useful out of that. I have to remind myself daily that very thing, questioning if I need to be the one doing that. I have found it gets a bit easier to remember, once you start realizing the fruits of your labor.