Author Topic: How Do You Handle The Projects You Want To fo But Don’t Have Time For (before FI  (Read 2026 times)

Hoosier Daddy

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Hey all,

I am finding myself getting more and more desperate for retirement. It is not because i don’t like my job because i actually really like my job. The problem is there are so many things I want to do and there are not enough hours in the day and I go to bed everyday feeling like a failure because inevitably there is something I wanted to do that I didn’t get to. Right now my big non-work focus is staring a consulting/training business, learn Spanish and exercise. I have been able to do one of these things well at any given time. I had a two year period where I concentrated on Spanish and got pretty good but still need to improve. I spent a couple years focusing on my health and had a six pack, packed on a lot of muscle and felt really good. And right now I find I am focusing on starting this business. However I can never do multiple things well at a time. I can learn Spanish and be fat or I can be healthy and not make progress on Spanish. If I do the business after work I have time for neither of the other two.

Thus I’m curious: how do you guys think about this? Do you just accept you are a slave to the system until FI? Do you consider going part-time? Maybe go all in on a business to try and make it succeed so you actually have all the time? Do you simply sleep less?

I really want to be able to do all of my big 3 while also I working and maintaining a healthy marriage and I’m curious if there is some strategy I am overlooking.

Lady SA

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I "budget" my week and allocate hours towards different activities. I have a couple of priorities (exercise, date night, reading, cooking/eating, a class on tuesday nights, projects around the house) and then I set my weekly schedule budget.

I know I have x hours of time to allocate after work each day. 1 hour for exercise, Thursday is date night, 1 hour of reading before bed, and then I can fill in the hours between with whatever else I have left.

And obviously life happens so my "weekly time budget" needs to be flexible. But it is pretty good at reminding me to do a workout the hour after I get home from work, then making dinner, then studying/writing, then reading. If that doesn't happen exactly right every once and a while, it isn't the end of the world.

AlanStache

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Wish I had a good solution.

I am getting better are being more forgiving towards myself if things come up and I dont get done all that I want to get done. 

Specifically in my workout log I added a spot for yard work so that when I look back at what I did/did not do last week I dont see a blank spot where runing miles should have been I see "2hr yard work".  This reminds me that I did not slack off and not run I did something else that is active and needed doing.

socaso

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I read a book called "Finish" by Jon Acuff and he made a point I found illuminating in my own life which is that to accomplish any goal you have to accept that you will have to make a temporary sacrifice in service of the larger goal. He was particularly talking about things like the startup period of a business, or writing a book. The sort of things that have an end point. Obviously exercise is not one of those things as it is an ongoing goal. You might like the book. I borrowed it from the library.

I don't think these things are mutually exclusive, perhaps some of things you want to accomplish can be combined. Perhaps you could combine exercise with time with your spouse? Perhaps you could work on the language goal while you exercise? Have you ever heard of News in Slow Spanish? I haven't used this service but it seems like something you could do while exercising to improve your language comprehension. Perhaps instead of trying to get totally shredded through exercise you make it a goal just to work out at least 3x per week (or whatever makes you feel good)?

mm1970

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Hey all,

I am finding myself getting more and more desperate for retirement. It is not because i don’t like my job because i actually really like my job. The problem is there are so many things I want to do and there are not enough hours in the day and I go to bed everyday feeling like a failure because inevitably there is something I wanted to do that I didn’t get to. Right now my big non-work focus is staring a consulting/training business, learn Spanish and exercise. I have been able to do one of these things well at any given time. I had a two year period where I concentrated on Spanish and got pretty good but still need to improve. I spent a couple years focusing on my health and had a six pack, packed on a lot of muscle and felt really good. And right now I find I am focusing on starting this business. However I can never do multiple things well at a time. I can learn Spanish and be fat or I can be healthy and not make progress on Spanish. If I do the business after work I have time for neither of the other two.

Thus I’m curious: how do you guys think about this? Do you just accept you are a slave to the system until FI? Do you consider going part-time? Maybe go all in on a business to try and make it succeed so you actually have all the time? Do you simply sleep less?

I really want to be able to do all of my big 3 while also I working and maintaining a healthy marriage and I’m curious if there is some strategy I am overlooking.
I remember reading once that typically people can only do 3 things well, at a single time.  It's hard to focus on too many things.

So for me, the big 3 are family, work, and health.

Everything else, I half-ass.  I mean, I do other things - fun things like crochet and things - so I get other things done by filling in the time.  But focused effort?  Just the big 3.  And honestly I haven't had a date with my husband in months, because the kids are all consuming.

formerlydivorcedmom

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I don't think these things are mutually exclusive, perhaps some of things you want to accomplish can be combined. Perhaps you could combine exercise with time with your spouse? Perhaps you could work on the language goal while you exercise?

This has been a lifechanger for me.  I combine exercise with social or family time.  I'm not a weightlifter, and my goal is not to be a total hot babe, it's just to be in good shape, so YMMV.  The kids and I go on a walk or bike ride 3-5 days a week.  We talk while we exercise.  I meet one friend to go on a 5-mile walk/run every week or so.  Another one comes with me to exercise classes occasionally.   When oldest kid goes to volleyball practice at the school, I walk/run or play tennis with youngest kid.

Since moving to this new combine-it-all attitude, I've been able to work out 4-5 times a week, consistently, and not feel like I'm failing my family, friends, and social life.

You aren't going to be able to do all the things, but if you can figure out ways to combine some of your responsibilities and goals, you may be able to do more of the things.

You might also set yourself (reasonable) mini-goals along the path to your big goals.  That way even if you don't make huge strides this week on one of them, you'll see that you are making progress in the long-term.

mschaus

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It can be very helpful to recognize that every motivated person is in the same boat -- so many things they'd like to do, not enough time. Brian Tracy has a wonderful book called "Eat That Frog" which has all sorts of amazing tricks about getting things done and the mindset behind it. Most notably that "there is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing". It's about prioritization, which makes you feel better about not doing things at the bottom of the list, because they were at the bottom of the list for a reason.

I did write a summary of this book on my own blog which you might find useful. (hopefully people don't mind I'm linking to my own blog...)
http://mschausprojects.blogspot.com/2018/01/book-review-eat-that-frog-by-brian-tracy.html

Hoosier Daddy

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Yeah you guys are right. You can optimize and integrate to squeeze every drop but eventually you will still hit a ceiling where nothing else is possible. I feel I am hitting a point with my business where I don’t think it can succeed unless I quit my job and go full-time. The reasons are #1 having 8-5 availability to meet with clients during their normal working hours and #2 I need to write a book to build credibility and to have a product offering that can generate income without my continual investment of time. The book I could maybe do over a much longer period but I see the market needs this book and I’ll be disappointed with myself if I wait and someone else writes it first.

Has anyone here started their own business? Did you do it while working? With consulting for businesses I don’t know how I can succeed without being able to talk to my customers but maybe I’m missing something.