The Reality of Working Full Time with Two Side Hustles
It’s not a four hour work week for me.
“Escape the 9–5, live anywhere and join the new rich.” — Tim Ferris
Currently, I’m probably working at least ten hours a day that easily increases if I’m busier. It’s not an outrageous work schedule, but it’s not the kind of working lifestyle that would allow me to live anywhere and join the new rich.
I’m not a Tim Ferris hater, but I think it would take me a while to get to his lifestyle. I don’t anticipate to continue working like I am for the long run, but I do think that working hard now will be a compounded investment for my future. That doesn’t just apply to my financial well being. It also directly relates to my own personal growth.
I have a personal goal of eventually making more money through side hustles than my full time job. Growing up in a household where only one of my parents, I saw firsthand how stressful the prospect of losing a job can be. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. But, in the event that anything should happen, I want to have some preparations ready.
Plus, I enjoy learning new ways to make money. Especially when I am lucky enough to be largely uninterrupted by working from home, it’s become much easier to explore new side hustles.
What I Do During the Week
Full Time
I work as a software engineer. Software engineering was one of the last things I wanted to do in college since I had a negative opinion of my computer science classes, but I’m grateful now that I had the opportunity to do it full time. My hours are pretty regular as a software engineer except for the times when I have to go oncall or when I am rushing on a tight deadline.
Side Hustles
These refer to the ones that I actively working on:
- Trading: I started trading regularly in March, and I’ve since become much more involved.
- Writing articles here on Medium: I made it a New Year’s resolution to write every day on the platform. I originally wanted to publish every day, but that doesn’t necessarily happen when submitting to publications.
Passive Income Streams
- Dividend income: In my stock portfolio, I have some stocks that I hold and don’t intend on selling in the near term. My favorite dividend stock is Realty Income (O) since it pays out dividends every month and has an annual dividend yield of 4.84%.
- Amazon Associates earnings: I have a YouTube channel where I posted a review of an item I bought a couple months ago. Although I didn’t openly advertise the video, it’s racked up a couple thousand views since October. This month, the commissions I received from viewers ordering through my links is expected to be at least $100.
- Print-on-demand earnings: A couple years back, I created a Redbubble profile and uploaded a couple designs. Whenever anyone orders a product with my design on it (it can be a t-shirt, sticker, laptop case, etc.), I earn a small commission. I haven’t updated my profile in a while, but I usually a few dollars a month on average.
My Day in a Work Week Schedule
6:00–6:30AM PST
My body naturally wakes me up in this time window. Sometimes if I’m really exhausted or go to bed too late, I’ll wake up later. However, my body has gotten used to waking up at this time to sync up with the stock market open at 9:30AM EST.
I try to start a routine consisting of reading a Bible devotional and then going to the news. From 6:30–7:30AM PST, I check my open trades on my phone to see if any of them need to be managed. I predominantly sell options, but I’ll also look to see if there are any buying/selling opportunities for my stock positions.
7:30–8:15AM PST
I finally roll out of bed. I get ready for the day even though I’m not going anywhere these days. I fix up some breakfast and coffee for myself. At the same time, I check my phone every so often to see how the market is doing. The market tends to have the most movement at the beginning and end of trading hours.
8:15AM-12:00PM PST
Review work that needs to be done for my job. Usually I’m checking things during this time and maybe doing a few code changes. Mornings tend to be sleepy so I continue checking my trades in the meantime.
12:00-1:00PM PST
Eat lunch.
1:00-5:00PM PST
Most of my productive work is done at this time. The stock market is already closed by this point so it’s less distracting to get the meat of my work done. I might have some meetings here and there as well.
5:00–6:00PM PST
Eat dinner.
6:00–7:00PM PST
Work on finishing a draft or start a new article on Medium. Sometimes, writing will take me longer than an hour if I’m trying to do a longer/more involved piece. Writing currently happens at the end of the day, but I’m thinking of moving my writing time to the morning. If that changes, I’ll update the schedule written out here.
7:00–9:00PM PST
Take a break. I might play with my dog or catch up on some reading. I always feel like this chunk of time flies by.
9:00PM PST
Get ready for bed. I have a bad habit of staying on my phone for a bit after getting in bed. I’ll usually read up on some more news and check social media. I can’t stay up too late otherwise, I’ll be exhausted the next morning.
My Thoughts
These are my personal criteria for why I decide to take on a schedule like this:
I Love What I’m Doing
Right now, I love everything that I’m doing so time usually passes pretty quickly in the day. Since I am more of a busy body, I enjoy having my time blocked out into these working chunks in the day.
On the opposite end, I know that if I end up not enjoying my job or my side hustle, I will look to make the changes necessary to fill my time with things I love doing. The last thing I want for myself is to be grinding away at something that I don’t care for.
I Have Goals I’m Working Towards
There are a number of different goals I have for myself, and my job and side hustles fit nicely into that picture. Here are some of them:
- Seek to learn new things
- Save up for a future home purchase
- Grow in my career
- Improve my writing by making it a frequent exercise
I Know My Limits
This schedule works well for slower seasons, and I’m aware of that. If my full time job picks up, it can easily leave me with little time for other things. I’ve already prepared for those days that I feel too exhausted to work by saving up vacation and sick time.
It will be an interesting exercise to look back in a few months’ time and see how successful I was with my current work habits.
How are You Managing Your Work?
No matter how busy you are, you have a system in place that allows you to navigate your schedule. There’s always something to learn from another experience, and I’d love to from you in the comments below!
