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Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

sdk.org.nz

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Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#61

Post by MikeMacMan »

patio11 wrote: post #59
MikeMacMan wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for writing this. I am in the same position, working full-time in a semi-demanding job, with a wife, son, big lawn to mow, etc. I've been working nights and weekends for over a year and am 2 months away from launching. My schedule looks almost exactly like yours. On Saturdays, I watch my son while my wife is at work, and I have the same mixed feelings about spending time with my son vs. working on my startup.…

I am in the same position, working full-time in a semi-demanding job, with a wife, son, big lawn to mow, etc. Keep the job, keep the wife, keep the son, outsource the lawn.

But I just bought a John Deere riding mower!

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#62

Post by Poiesis »

nkh wrote: post #7
patio11 wrote: post #4

This is totally doable, although I don't envy him for trying to do it while also having a wife and kids. If your life situation allows you to play WoW, your life situation allows you to run a business. Heck, my business is considerably less complicated than the guild I used to run. I managed to cut my headcount by 39 and my hours by 75%. (You may have to stop playing WoW. Apologies in advance, but trust me, the loot…

I would love to hear about any techniques you have for overcoming mental fatigue at the end of your work day when you still have business work to do. Did you work on your business before the work day started? Or something different?

Actually, my own situation is slightly different. I meet the demographics (married, kids, age, full time job)--I just have a problem with getting to 9PM and making the choice of "I can spend four hours now, or no hours", and not liking either one.

I'd love to take smaller chunks but it seems if I work I get kind of wired and it's harder for me to settle down. Also of course the larger chunks are more effective. The massive breakthrough for me would be improving how I maintain mental state between sessions. I actually have this issue also in my day job, house projects--you name it. Being able to sit down and instantly know what I was working on, where in the process I need to be, what the next step is--that is my biggest impediment to the side gig and I have been trying to solve this for years.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#63

Post by sailormoon »

sailormoon wrote: post #38
frosty wrote: post #33

the issue i face is, when i start working on my side project at 8pm i just want to keep working on it and before i realize its 3/4am and now i am late for office next day :(

haha. I hear you brother. And let me guess, after spending the whole week burning the midnight oil and getting 3-4 hours sleep per night, you catch up by sleeping all day saturday? Try modafinil.

I presume the downvoter thought I was being condescending, but I was commiserating! That's the exact pattern I've fallen into too many times : /

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#64

Post by Poiesis »

patio11 wrote: post #59
MikeMacMan wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for writing this. I am in the same position, working full-time in a semi-demanding job, with a wife, son, big lawn to mow, etc. I've been working nights and weekends for over a year and am 2 months away from launching. My schedule looks almost exactly like yours. On Saturdays, I watch my son while my wife is at work, and I have the same mixed feelings about spending time with my son vs. working on my startup.…

I am in the same position, working full-time in a semi-demanding job, with a wife, son, big lawn to mow, etc. Keep the job, keep the wife, keep the son, outsource the lawn.

Of course--but at least for me, I don't have enough spare cash flow to outsource all the handyman stuff. And if I did, I've found that the time cost of finding someone and managing them can be at times almost as much as doing it myself. So I end up paying more for a very small savings in time.

Actually, our current strategy is to stop watering the lawn and have a big patch of dirt in the front (our area has a drought). :) Disadvantages: dirt tracked in the house, neighbors hate us.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#65

Post by gridspy »

theBobMcCormick wrote: post #57
zarski wrote: post #43

I don't really buy into this approach especially with young children and a wife. Read all the posts detailing how hard this approach is without a wife and kids. How much time is this guy spending with his spouse? How happy is the spouse going to be with you constantly on the computer. This kind of advice will mostly lead to a divorce. Of course, this is case by case as some spouses may be OK with being totally ignore…

I completely agree that anyone with kids absolutely must make their kids the #1 priority in their life. Having said that however, it sounds like the OP is working on his startup in the % of his free time that many of his peers might be using for more conventional hobbies like bowling, playing WoW, watching TV, etc.

That is true. Also, any time I spend not working on Gridspy or my day job I spend with my wife and kids.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#66

Post by gridspy »

pxstock wrote: post #52
FreeRadical wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe focusing on and sticking with one thing may be a better alternative?

Good point, but don't get me wrong: I don't work at too many things at the same time. Of the two things I'm working on now, one is rather simple, so I don't think I'm dividing my energy over too many things. (And also, when I get excited about something, I just can't wait to do at least some work on it :-)

You do need to stick to one idea for a long time for it to succeed. See http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/01/overnight-success-i...
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