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I actually have a few: 1) Board member (advisor really) of a crypto/blockchain company. They pay me $5k per month to basically answer questions and help solve

I actually have a few: 1) Board member (advisor really) of a crypto/blockchain company. They pay me $5k per month to basically answer questions and help solve certain issues that might arise. There's also regular meetings but all in I spend 4 hours per week max. 2) Small contractor jobs. I was a contractor and home builder in a previous life. These days, I do side jobs both for the extra income and as a way to relax from my regular tech job. I build decks, sheds, small patios, and some indoor remodeling stuff. All of it is really basic because I have no interest in large jobs that would take a lot of time. A 10x12 shed will net me around $6k and I can build it in a weekend. A similar sized deck I'll charge $25k. Small patio pours I'll net $4k. During Christmas season (right now) I also hang lights. I'll charge between $1500 - $2500 and net most of that. Takes me around an hour for a normal two story house. 3) Tech consultant. I help administer various Wordpress and other sites for clients. Basic stuff like plugins, changing font, layouts, etc. Super easy and I get paid a monthly retainer. 4) I work two six-figure engineering jobs. Neither is super difficult which gives me time to do the other things and still have free-time to spend with my family, friends, and hobbies. 5) Rental income. I built a few single family homes and apartment buildings (12 units per building). Nets very good income but can also be demanding because I prefer to do most of the management work myself. Just sold one 12-plex for $1.6MM in August and am sitting on the others.

zdyn5 4y ago
Regarding 3, are you interested in another client? If so let me know how you’d like to connect.
- cccybernetic 4y ago
  Not OP, but also run a tech consulting firm. Email is in bio, happy to talk.
MobileVet 4y ago
4) do your employers know that you are working another full time job? Have you found the magical eighth day of the week??
- xxEightyxx 4y ago
  Yes both are aware and are not concerned so long as I continue to produce results.
sanderjd 4y ago
Could you describe #4 in more detail? From adding this all up, I figure you must be working 30-35 hours a week between those two jobs, so less than 20 hours a week each. What is the process by which you limit your capacity to only fill a small number of hours? Do the teams believe you to be slower than you are? Is this an explicit understanding that you'll only work half time? I have never had a job where there is not more than enough to be done, such that I could always fill more hours than I have with useful work.
- xxEightyxx 4y ago
  Yeah it's right around 30-35 hours per week. Not to toot my own horn but I am very good at what I do, which is software & data engineering. Most importantly, both are jobs that have a large and talented support system of fellow engineers, scrum masters, product owners, and management. In fact, that's precisely why I took these two. My previous jobs were extremely stressful and left me no time for anything outside of my immediate work and I ended up switching jobs last year as a result. Both employers allow me a lot of leeway and flexibility so long as I can continue to deliver products on schedule, which to this day, I have never been late. So number of hours worked is fairly inconsequential to actual work that is done in both jobs.
  - sanderjd 4y ago
    I'm sorry but I still don't get it. I've never had a job where being very good at it left a lot of free time during which to be very good at another job. It just left free time to move more things along more quickly or improving things. Like, I think mechanically I understand what you're saying; I think you're saying that each week or couple weeks or month or whatever, you commit to projects sized to fill about 50% of your time, and then you finish those commitments. But if I were your manager or tech lead or teammate and I knew you were employed full time at the company, I would instead want you to commit more than 50% of your time, like improving things or doing more projects or and same projects faster or helping other people with their projects or any number of other things, but not just, "welp, I got my tickets done, that's it for me!". So I still don't really get it, are you working part time at these companies, or are your managers happy to pay you for a full time job despite you working half time, or do they think you're actually filling all your time?
jrvarela56 4y ago
I know this has been upvoted to the top, but this is the most matter-of-a-factly description of superhuman productivity I have encountered. Can you elaborate a bit on how you get so much stuff done? What do you see 'regular people' (or HN folks at least) complain/discuss where you just shrug and wonder why it seems so hard?
- xxEightyxx 4y ago
  I have no social life. Without diving super deep into my past or anything, I just prioritize things and go do it. Have no interest in movies, TV, concerts, bars, or anything else really. I suppose I inherited it from my parents who are workaholics. Also, grew up poor and never want to experience that again so there's probably a bit of a deep-seeded fear in the back of my mind that going broke and losing everything is always possible. Also, I really only sleep 3-4 hours a night and if I'm not doing something productive I feel unsatisfied and generally melancholy. I also only eat one meal a day, sometimes two which combined takes around an hour to prepare, cook, and eat. So that leaves me roughly 18-19 hours per day to work. And in all my work, I automate absolutely anything and everything that can be automated. There's probably a bit of underlying depression involved where I feel like if I slow down all those mental worries and fears will manifest and send me down a dark path which want to avoid at all costs. I try not to judge other folks because everyone has different priorities in life. Mine is working, but others may want to travel, try different beers, play sports, have dinner with friends, etc. I can never stop thinking about projects I want to do so I really don't enjoy a lot of socializing. More specifically - my two jobs are typical 8-4 hours. Before and after I do whatever maintenance is required for the websites I admin. The crypto/blockchain company will have meetings in the evening, occasionally on the weekends. I have friends and family assist with managing my properties and I pay them very well for their help because some properties are located in another state that they're closer to. This mostly leaves weekends available for some contracting projects in my neighborhood (new development, wealthy folks who don't want to do any manual labor!). Additionally, I'm able to check on my properties, do walk-throughs with tenants, repairs (normally plumbing related - sinks, faucets, toilets, boilers), as well as move-ins and move-outs. If it's an emergency I have contacts for electricians, plumbers, HVAC, etc. who can get over there when I can't. My biggest gripe is with modern appliances. Normally use GE appliances, but the quality has gone down-hill, tried Samsung and same thing. I'm spending more to put in higher quality products like Bosch or Miele when possible.
EFreethought 4y ago
WRT #1: How does one get a board position for roughly $1k/hour?
- xxEightyxx 4y ago
  A fair bit of luck really. Met the CEO at a specific crypto-development conference back in 2016 and we hit off and he gave me an offer right then and there. Initially, had to prove my worth for the first 2 years and when my full-time work and other life events started getting in the way I gave him my two weeks notice and he countered with more money and less day-to-day work so long as he could keep me on "retainer" which he did by creating a board and placing me on it. There's a few other folks on the board which I'm quite certain earn more than I do because they're former Googlers/Apple employees and I have never worked for a FAANG company. Company has taken a big hit over the last 1.5 years due to the poor performance of cryptos recently and waning interest from our existing and potential client base.
pfoof 4y ago
You sound like a person of renaissance
5350-uiop-1130 4y ago
i find this....doubtful. sorry i'm just not one to believe everything i read online from anonymous people.
jacquesm 4y ago
Beware of board member liability for that crypto stuff.
davidy123 4y ago
Thank you for your open and honest replies about your hyperproductivity and optimization. There is an expression, "the days are long, the years are short." Do you see yourself building toward a point in older age where you can either relax, or focus on something that you consider a major achievement? Of course, that could very well be creating a comfortable existence for your family, which it seems like you've already done.
- xxEightyxx 4y ago
  Yes and no. I want a solid nest-egg in the event that something happens and prevents me from working. No interest in traveling or doing anything else at the moment but of course things can change and as I get older my train of thought will probably change as well so I try to be cognizant of that. In building some level of wealth, I'd consider it to be an achievement and follow-up achievement is using whatever funds I have to help others because I don't care for things other than tools, computer parts, and things like microcontrollers (Arduinos and RPI's). Sounds extremely corny but I lost my best friends a few years back and their families are not well off financially, one in particular is struggling so I help them as much as they will let me because they're in their mid 60's and have always treated me like family. Another friend wanted to start a remodeling company so I helped him with that. I think these are the kinds of that brings a level of satisfaction and joy rather than buying new cars or taking vacation - for me at least.
throwayyy479087 4y ago
I want to do #5 so badly but don’t have millions in cash - how do you arrange financing?
- xxEightyxx 4y ago
  There's many ways - traditional banking being the route I took. Initial sunk-cost was $350k, interest rates were low, and my loan amount was small all things considered. I had most of the cash on hand and collateral in the form of a house. I did all the building and excavation myself, the only things I subbed out were plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and some drywall because I really don't like drywall. Also fortunate because the last few years has seen a huge run-up and appreciation in property in my area specifically where the median house price 10 years ago was around $250k, it's now just under a million for a run-of-the-mill 4 bed, 2 bath, 2200sqft home. The buyer was a small investment company from out-of-state which is really unfortunate because I was hoping to sell to someone local but given the offer they made me, no one could match or even come close.

zdyn5 4y ago

Regarding 3, are you interested in another client? If so let me know how you’d like to connect.

cccybernetic 4y ago
Not OP, but also run a tech consulting firm. Email is in bio, happy to talk.

MobileVet 4y ago

4) do your employers know that you are working another full time job? Have you found the magical eighth day of the week??

xxEightyxx 4y ago
Yes both are aware and are not concerned so long as I continue to produce results.

sanderjd 4y ago

Could you describe #4 in more detail? From adding this all up, I figure you must be working 30-35 hours a week between those two jobs, so less than 20 hours a week each. What is the process by which you limit your capacity to only fill a small number of hours? Do the teams believe you to be slower than you are? Is this an explicit understanding that you'll only work half time? I have never had a job where there is not more than enough to be done, such that I could always fill more hours than I have with useful work.

xxEightyxx 4y ago
Yeah it's right around 30-35 hours per week. Not to toot my own horn but I am very good at what I do, which is software & data engineering. Most importantly, both are jobs that have a large and talented support system of fellow engineers, scrum masters, product owners, and management. In fact, that's precisely why I took these two. My previous jobs were extremely stressful and left me no time for anything outside of my immediate work and I ended up switching jobs last year as a result. Both employers allow me a lot of leeway and flexibility so long as I can continue to deliver products on schedule, which to this day, I have never been late. So number of hours worked is fairly inconsequential to actual work that is done in both jobs.
- sanderjd 4y ago
  I'm sorry but I still don't get it. I've never had a job where being very good at it left a lot of free time during which to be very good at another job. It just left free time to move more things along more quickly or improving things. Like, I think mechanically I understand what you're saying; I think you're saying that each week or couple weeks or month or whatever, you commit to projects sized to fill about 50% of your time, and then you finish those commitments. But if I were your manager or tech lead or teammate and I knew you were employed full time at the company, I would instead want you to commit more than 50% of your time, like improving things or doing more projects or and same projects faster or helping other people with their projects or any number of other things, but not just, "welp, I got my tickets done, that's it for me!". So I still don't really get it, are you working part time at these companies, or are your managers happy to pay you for a full time job despite you working half time, or do they think you're actually filling all your time?

jrvarela56 4y ago

I know this has been upvoted to the top, but this is the most matter-of-a-factly description of superhuman productivity I have encountered. Can you elaborate a bit on how you get so much stuff done? What do you see 'regular people' (or HN folks at least) complain/discuss where you just shrug and wonder why it seems so hard?

xxEightyxx 4y ago
I have no social life. Without diving super deep into my past or anything, I just prioritize things and go do it. Have no interest in movies, TV, concerts, bars, or anything else really. I suppose I inherited it from my parents who are workaholics. Also, grew up poor and never want to experience that again so there's probably a bit of a deep-seeded fear in the back of my mind that going broke and losing everything is always possible. Also, I really only sleep 3-4 hours a night and if I'm not doing something productive I feel unsatisfied and generally melancholy. I also only eat one meal a day, sometimes two which combined takes around an hour to prepare, cook, and eat. So that leaves me roughly 18-19 hours per day to work. And in all my work, I automate absolutely anything and everything that can be automated. There's probably a bit of underlying depression involved where I feel like if I slow down all those mental worries and fears will manifest and send me down a dark path which want to avoid at all costs. I try not to judge other folks because everyone has different priorities in life. Mine is working, but others may want to travel, try different beers, play sports, have dinner with friends, etc. I can never stop thinking about projects I want to do so I really don't enjoy a lot of socializing. More specifically - my two jobs are typical 8-4 hours. Before and after I do whatever maintenance is required for the websites I admin. The crypto/blockchain company will have meetings in the evening, occasionally on the weekends. I have friends and family assist with managing my properties and I pay them very well for their help because some properties are located in another state that they're closer to. This mostly leaves weekends available for some contracting projects in my neighborhood (new development, wealthy folks who don't want to do any manual labor!). Additionally, I'm able to check on my properties, do walk-throughs with tenants, repairs (normally plumbing related - sinks, faucets, toilets, boilers), as well as move-ins and move-outs. If it's an emergency I have contacts for electricians, plumbers, HVAC, etc. who can get over there when I can't. My biggest gripe is with modern appliances. Normally use GE appliances, but the quality has gone down-hill, tried Samsung and same thing. I'm spending more to put in higher quality products like Bosch or Miele when possible.

EFreethought 4y ago

WRT #1: How does one get a board position for roughly $1k/hour?

xxEightyxx 4y ago
A fair bit of luck really. Met the CEO at a specific crypto-development conference back in 2016 and we hit off and he gave me an offer right then and there. Initially, had to prove my worth for the first 2 years and when my full-time work and other life events started getting in the way I gave him my two weeks notice and he countered with more money and less day-to-day work so long as he could keep me on "retainer" which he did by creating a board and placing me on it. There's a few other folks on the board which I'm quite certain earn more than I do because they're former Googlers/Apple employees and I have never worked for a FAANG company. Company has taken a big hit over the last 1.5 years due to the poor performance of cryptos recently and waning interest from our existing and potential client base.

pfoof 4y ago

You sound like a person of renaissance

5350-uiop-1130 4y ago

i find this....doubtful. sorry i'm just not one to believe everything i read online from anonymous people.

jacquesm 4y ago

Beware of board member liability for that crypto stuff.

davidy123 4y ago

Thank you for your open and honest replies about your hyperproductivity and optimization. There is an expression, "the days are long, the years are short." Do you see yourself building toward a point in older age where you can either relax, or focus on something that you consider a major achievement? Of course, that could very well be creating a comfortable existence for your family, which it seems like you've already done.

xxEightyxx 4y ago
Yes and no. I want a solid nest-egg in the event that something happens and prevents me from working. No interest in traveling or doing anything else at the moment but of course things can change and as I get older my train of thought will probably change as well so I try to be cognizant of that. In building some level of wealth, I'd consider it to be an achievement and follow-up achievement is using whatever funds I have to help others because I don't care for things other than tools, computer parts, and things like microcontrollers (Arduinos and RPI's). Sounds extremely corny but I lost my best friends a few years back and their families are not well off financially, one in particular is struggling so I help them as much as they will let me because they're in their mid 60's and have always treated me like family. Another friend wanted to start a remodeling company so I helped him with that. I think these are the kinds of that brings a level of satisfaction and joy rather than buying new cars or taking vacation - for me at least.

throwayyy479087 4y ago

I want to do #5 so badly but don’t have millions in cash - how do you arrange financing?

xxEightyxx 4y ago
There's many ways - traditional banking being the route I took. Initial sunk-cost was $350k, interest rates were low, and my loan amount was small all things considered. I had most of the cash on hand and collateral in the form of a house. I did all the building and excavation myself, the only things I subbed out were plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and some drywall because I really don't like drywall. Also fortunate because the last few years has seen a huge run-up and appreciation in property in my area specifically where the median house price 10 years ago was around $250k, it's now just under a million for a run-of-the-mill 4 bed, 2 bath, 2200sqft home. The buyer was a small investment company from out-of-state which is really unfortunate because I was hoping to sell to someone local but given the offer they made me, no one could match or even come close.