Work life balance – Going from six figures and 40 hour work weeks to working from home as an entrepreneur

April 25, 2016

Past (9-5 full-time job)

I spent most my working life with a standard 9-5 job. I made enough that my wife didn’t have to work and I supported my family with just one income. I spent 40 hours at work on average. I rarely worked from home and I rarely had to stay late.

I had a nice disposable income and tons of free-time. Sadly, I didn’t utilize it well. I spent way too much of my time being unproductive:

• I watched TV
• I complained about my co-workers.
• I worried about layoffs.
• I ate out way too often.
• I was a wantrepreneur. I loved reading about successful entrepreneurs and doing nothing myself.
• I had a noncompete and a restrictive contract. I wasn’t allowed to work on the side and any business created would be owned by my employer. 100K sounds great but it becomes much more restrictive if you are an entrepreneur and your employer owns that much of your life.

I did lift regularly. Unfortunately, I chose to cram my workouts into my lunch hour. In one hour I would eat, lift, drive to/from and shower frantically. It was so rushed that I would have to drive to the gym while eating my lunch.

I setup my schedule this way for two reasons. First, I did it so I felt productive. I thought I was being smart and maximizing my time. The second reason I stuck with this schedule was so I wouldn’t feel like I was “stealing” time from my kids. I thought I should workout only when they weren’t around. If I went over lunch they were at school and if I waited till after work I would miss spending time with them.

In reality showing kids dedication and illustrating that fitness is important is a great lesson for any kid. I didn’t realize that showing them that side of my life was only a positive.

Present (full-time entrepreneur)

I am now a business owner and entrepreneur. I am growing actively so my schedule is flipped and much more aggressive. I am working way more hours each day. I am even working on nights and weekends. I don’t know exactly how many more hours (because I intentionally don’t track). It is likely close to 80.

Cons

1. I work late.
2. I work every day (even on the weekends). On an average weekend I work around 4 hours a day.
3. I am unable to focus on one thing at a time.

Pros

1. I am more productive.
2. I am exercising and eating better.
3. I am much more driven. The reality of having this amazing opportunity to be my own boss is eye opening.
4. I get to choose what I am working on.
5. I am working as an entrepreneur each day (finally!).
6. All money made goes directly to my bottom line. If I pull in an extra job that brings in $10k, that money goes directly to my bank account.
7. I have flexibility with my schedule. If I want to have lunch with a friend or my wife I can without watching the clock.

The Future

My wife is now working. She hasn’t worked in years. One nice thing is we are both working from home and we both have flexible schedules. My boss is great, cough. I hope her boss is good to her as well. 😉

My kids are getting close to summer break. Since they were born they both have had at least one dedicated parent responsible for them. It has been great! Now what? My wife and I need to continue our productive work schedules and be better at giving the kids more of our time. They are halfway to being out of the house and on their own. We don’t have many years left for quality time and those important family adventures. We need to figure out a good work/life balance. Summer will be trickier to navigate the work load with kids home all day but we will do our best to find a good balance. I know that the kids need our attention (not money) so we will tread carefully and I don’t want to look back and say the same thing in a years time. 😉

I also need to share more of my work with my kids. I tend to hide most of it so they don’t stress. It’s good for them to see me working hard towards my goal. I don’t want to hide such an important part of my life from them.

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