A lot of people have been asking me to write a post about what daily life is like as Pat—someone who has a family, works from home, and earns a passive income, but is also actively creating new income streams at the same time.
Maybe you're just curious, maybe you're looking for some time saving strategies, or maybe you're trying to figure out how to balance family life and work life—I don't know, but I hope that as I go through my daily routine I can give you some tips based on my experience.
A couple of things:
First, my life is not always 100% balanced. There are times when I do feel overwhelmed with work projects, a one year old throwing a tantrum and grass to mow (in the front and back of the house), all at the same time. There are other times, however, when I feel like everything is working out just perfectly and life couldn't get any better. Either way, I feel very fortunate to be living the lifestyle that I am living, and although it's not for everyone, it's exactly how I want to live.
Secondly, it's hard for me to share a “typical day” because after having a kid (and you'll know this if you're a parent), there is no such thing as a “typical day”. Ever since the birth of our son, our schedule has been based around him. When he naps, that's when we get stuff done. When he's up, he gets our full attention.
So, as I go through my schedule and how I accomplish things, note that it's not always like this, and the times may vary, but generally this is how I live.
7:00am: Wake up. My alarm is my son calling for mommy from the other room, which usually happens around 7:00am. I get up, take him out of the crib, change a diaper and take him downstairs for breakfast. I let my wife sleep in until about 10am. She definitely deserves the extra sleep, especially since the first 10 to 12 months of our son's life was her waking up in the middle of the night to feed him while I lay still in deep sleep.
7:15am: Breakfast. It has been a lot easier now that our son is eating solid foods and can feed himself. I usually set him up with some delicious blueberries or raspberries, a couple handfuls of cheerios, and a sippy cup of milk. While he's eating, we're listening to toddler tunes, and I'm cooking my breakfast at the same time. It's always the same thing, in a bowl: 2 beaten eggs, a 1/2 cup of blackbeans, a fistful of spinach—microwaved for 4 minutes on high, then eaten with some Tabasco sauce and chunky salsa (a la 4-Hour Body style), so this means no juice either. General rule of thumb is “don't drink your calories”.) Then, I eat and clean up, which is just a simple washing of the one bowl. Super easy. [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]
7:45am: Playtime! With two full bellies, my son and I go to the dining room, which we've converted into a play room (who uses their dining room anyways? Hehe!). We'll play with instruments, play basketball (he just learned how to dunk on his little hoop), or read a little bit. Sometimes he'll climb on my back and I do pushups at the same time. It's really fun, and I really cherish these couple of hours in the morning when it's just me and him.
10:00am: Wake up Mommy!
10:15am: More play time. Sometimes he likes to play on this own, and I use this time to check my email or respond to comments and questions on the blog or on Facebook & Twitter. I don't usually get more than 15 minutes though. Work time comes later.
11:00am: The little one gets lunch. The menu varies, and we'll sometimes try to introduce him to new foods at this time. The latest thing he's into is cheese filled Raviolis. During lunch, he's either enjoying some toddler tunes or kids songs I pull up on YouTube, or a “Baby Can Read” DVD. They do work—it's amazing. I'm very proud to say he knows about 50 words in his vocabulary. Not bad for a 16 month old!
11:30am: Nap time. As you can see, our schedules are very based around our son, like I said. At 11:30, I put him to sleep for about an hour. Quiet time in the house, at last.
Noon: I make my wife and I some lunch, or sometimes I'll go out and grab something (healthy) nearby. I usually have a protein shake or other supplemental drink at this time as well. While we eat, my wife and I chat a little, or sometimes catch an episode of Saved By The Bell on TeenNick, or Family Feud (the ones hosted by Steve Harvey).
After lunch: Whenever lunch ends, I grab a coffee (Keurig style), head into my office and shut the door. Shutting the door is very important because it tells me that I'm in work mode, in my own little space disconnected from the rest of the house, and at the same time it tells the family that I should only be interrupted if there's an emergency.
During work mode, I'm very focused, and even if it's only an interruption that lasts a minute or two, I find that it can sometimes take an extra 15 to 30 minutes to get back to where I was.
This is why…
- I shut the door to my office.
- I turn off my phone (unless I need to make a call).
- I turn off Twitter & Facebook (Tweetdeck).
- I turn off Skype (unless I have a scheduled call or chat).
- I keep my email on because I use it quite a bit during this time, however I don't enable any sound notifications because again—it's a distraction.
So what do I work on during this time?
I do not write blog posts…I save that for the night if I have a blog post scheduled the next day. I do this because I find that for me (and this is different for everybody), I write much better and more creatively at night—my peak hours being around the 11pm to 1am hours.
I do do the following:
- I use my “physical folder method” (as described in Session 12 of the SPI podcast) to see what projects I currently have on my plate (there are always more than one going on at a time, which means there are multiple folders in front of me), and what to-dos are next to check off on each of those respective lists. The tasks vary each and every day, which keeps it exciting and new for me, and they range from things like submitting a newly finished iPhone application to the App Store, to telling my VAs exactly what to do (I have one full-time programmer, and one part-time VA that helps with this Backlinking Strategy for niche sites). I may also brainstorm new ideas on my white board or shoot a video for YouTube at this time as well. Like I said, it could be a number of things. All I know is that with each and every task that I do, I make sure to complete it first before moving on to the next, whether in the same project, or in another one. This is how I complete multiple tasks at the “same time”.
- I brainstorm using my wall-sized whiteboards in my office—either how to improve existing projects or mind-mapping new ideas that I may or may not create new folders for and execute.
- I hold any client calls or online meetings at this time.
- Clean the office, if it's messy. I can't work in a messy office!
Here's a good shot of my office so you can get an idea of the kind of environment I'm working in.
During the afternoon work hours, my wife is obviously watching our son (once he wakes up from his nap), and this is the agreement we've made together. I get him in the mornings while she sleeps, and she gets him in the afternoon while I work. We both get our alone time with him, which is important, but at the same time I'm able to accomplish what I need to accomplish, which provides for the family and allows me to grow my business.
The most important lesson here is communication. What one person may think works out the best may not be so good for the other—and it was only through trial and error that we've found this to be the best time management solution for us. It will probably change in the future as our son grows and his needs change, and when that time comes you can be sure my wife and I will determine how we can best utilize our time once again.
It's going to be weird when he's gone half the day at school…
Variables:
Earning a passive income—not having to actually trade my time for an income since it was already invested up front—allows me to include a few variables here during the afternoon hours that I would typically work.
For example, if it's a nice day and I don't have anything crucial planned for the afternoon, as a family we might head to Sea World or go to the beach. Or, we may all together go to Target to stock up on supplies or head to the grocery store. This is especially nice because there is never a crowd wherever we go, so parking is easy, and checkouts are fast.
My schedule isn't set in stone, which is the nice part that allows me to do these kinds of things, however it's important that it is still there so I don't waste time if there isn't anything else to do. I've tried just “working when I need to”, and I find that I am much less focused when I just work randomly here and there.
5:00pm: Hang out as a family. If I continue to work until 5 (sometimes I finish up early if the rest of my tasks are too big or take up too much time to complete), I'll come downstairs usually to a hyper child and an exhausted wife in the playroom. 5 hours with the little one can definitely be an energy drainer! We'll all hang out and play together until dinner time.
6:00pm: Dinner. I love to cook, so I usually take the chef's hat and prepare a dinner. Since we're both on a “diet” while we're going through the Insanity home fitness program, it's usually just some kind of protein (Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Tofu), with various vegetables (Corn, Snow Peas, Green Beans, Carrots, Peas, Bell Peppers, etc.). I prepare these foods a different way each night (spices and sauces are my friend!), just so it doesn't get boring. My breakfast is the same each day, so I should at least have some variety at night. It's all worth it though, because Saturday is “cheat day”, and I definitely go all out. A couple Saturdays ago, I had 8 buffalo wings, half a pizza, chips and dip, breadsticks, and a doughnut…and that was just for dinner. Again—a la 4-Hour Body. [Full Disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through this link.]
We'll eat together as a family, which we feel is very important—especially in the early years of our son's life. Now that he's older, he usually has what we're having, plus some kind of bread or carb of some kind, like pasta.
7:00pm: Relax as a family. At this time, we're stuffed, our son has calmed down a bit, and we can actually all sit together on the couch and watch T.V. Some may argue that it's a little too early for a 16 month old to be watching T.V., and we do have our concerns, but it's really the only time during the day this happens, it's always on Nick Jr., and we're always talking and interacting with him during Ni Hao Kai-Lan or Yo Gabba Gabba (two kid shows, for those of you who don't know).
We won't watch the whole time, and will usually try to get some “active play” in (like running around and banging on instruments) so it'll tire him out a bit. It makes it a lot easier to put him down to bed this way.
8:00pm: Prepare our son for sleep. This includes giving him a bath (my wife and I switch off), brushing his teeth (whoever is not giving him a bath that day brushes his teeth), and reading to him in bed for 10 to 15 minutes. We have a ritual of turning off the lights after the last book is read, which has always worked to get him to sleep almost instantly.
9:00pm: Work out. After our son is sound asleep, my wife and I get ready for the daily Insanity workout. It's usually 40 – 60 minutes of non-stop cardio (jumping, squatting, pushup jacks, high-knees and those kinds of things) in our living room. I love it.
Afterwards, I have a protein shake and get cleaned up.
10:15pm: Depends. (No, not the adult diaper…)
If I have a blog post to write, I'll usually spend the rest of the evening writing it in my office, or continuing a blog post that I had already started from a previous day.
If I don't have a blog post or any deadlines coming up, my wife and I usually catch up on Dancing With the Stars or Modern Family on DVR, watch a DVD we've Netflix'd, play some games on the iPad, clean the house, or just sit and chat about random things.
2:00am: Sleep
We're both night owls, but at the same time we feel it's important to utilize the free time we do have when Keoni is asleep, because as you can tell, when he's up, it's all about him. That's why we go to bed rather late.
I guess I'm pretty lucky because I can survive off of 5 to 6 hours of sleep with absolutely no issues. I think it's a skill I picked up while attending College. Us architecture majors were always in studio, working late hours and hardly getting any sleep. I once stayed up for 72 hours straight (that's 3 days!) for my final project my senior year. It worked out—I finished my project on time, however when I finally got to my apartment and fell asleep, I slept for nearly 24 hours and missed the University-wide graduation.
Not healthy at all.
Like I said, not all of the days are exactly the same, but this gives you a general idea of how I work, what's important to me and how I utilize my time. Some days I run a coaching course with a group of students, another night I'll have a date night with April, and other days there are appointments and random occurrences that you sometimes can't plan for.
Again, if you haven't listened to it already, I definitely recommend checking out session 12 of the SPI Podcast for some of my own productivity tips that help me utilize those precious moments of time that I do have to work.
Speaking of podcasts, I had to re-record an interview due to a corrupt file, so you should see the next session of the podcast (session #20), live this coming Friday. Thank you for your patience with that…
And thank you for reading this light-hearted post about my life today. I appreciate you and your time!
Do you have any productivity tips or work/family balance advice you'd like to share with the community?
what a pleasant schedule you have there Pat! Good stuff.
In last 3 years, I used to work 15 hours/ day and sometimes it really is crazy!
If I only knew about the passive income, I would have done this much sooner. So far, my life is great. Trying to spend most of my time with my kids. If I have one advice for people who have children, family always comes first before anything. Make sure to make time for them as much as possible. If you have failed your family, you have failed everything.
– Jin
Hey Pat, really enjoyed this post as an insight as to what is important in your life: family. There is a lot to be said for that! I recently wrote a post on my site about how to utilize dead time to be more productive. Best of luck to you!
Great stuff Pat.
Must take some notes from your way of scheduling.
On that note, I find it difficult to organise my login accounts, email addresses basically organizing in general :). I am very tidy but on the organization side, not so much.
Do you (or commentors) have any tips for me?
Ralph, check out RoboForm.com – it is a free password organizer. Makes it easy when you do not need to remember 100s of logins and passwords. I have used a bunch of different password managers, but I found RoboForm to be the best.
Yeah I tried that one before. Didn’t really like it but perhaps its a good time to try it again.
I currently use RoboForm and I love it. Anything I can automate I’ll go for. I even batch laundry and dishwashing a la 4 Hour Workweek. Now to work on that pesky 9-5…
I use LastPass.com (free) for my password manager because I can login from almost any device, it has the best security as described by security expert Steve Gibson. Although they have had some recent press I will say I can’t live without it. As far as organizing, I use a combination of Exchange/Office 365 beta with shared calendaring, Sharepoint file storage, OneNote, and Google Tasks synced with my Android phone.
Hi Ralph,
I’ve used Lastpass for sometime now and wouldn’t be able to log on to my sites without it. I also have the iPad version so basically all my passwords are with me even when I’m at a cafe.
Simplenote on iPad is great and free for taking notes, memos, URLs and the like. It syncs nicely with ResophNotes via the cloud.
After testing both RTM and Toodledo I’ve adopted the latter in its paid version ($3). It’s installed on FireFox, iPhone and iPad and keep your tasks handy and in sync.
For files that I need to have access to regardless of location I use Dropbox (free)
That’s pretty much the set of tools I use to help me organise my stuff and be more productive.
(I’m like a heavy user of the cloud)
Hope this helps
Vince
LastPass is great too. It’s free and on the cloud so you can access your pws from any computer or device with just having to memorize one pw.
They had security incident recently, but I still feel safe around them and will continue using them, because they are so diverse.
They had user database breached, so if you have too simple password, you should maybe improve it, cause someone could just brute force unlock it, if it’s too weak. Just a tip of advice.
Password safe works as well. It’s a great product.
Pat,
That’s great to hear how you make so much time for your son. That makes me smile.
I have an open door sort of policy, so if my kids want to tell me something, they can come into my office and show me the cool rock they found or picture they colored. Then I have an LED poking through the office wall. If I’m in the zone and need to make sure I’m not disturbed, I turn it on and they all know its not time to interrupt dad.
Working from home is filled with challenges, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Thanks for a peek into how you schedule your life to put family in a high place. Well done, sir.
5 hours sleep a day? Wish I could get away with that!
Ditto…I think being an architecture major actually hurt my sleeping karma because now I can’t survive on anything less than 8 or 9.
Really jealous about the amount of time you spend with your family. You really are living the dream.
Pat, you’re an inspiration. I totally love how you are able to balance you work and life. I know many others with children will say otherwise, and in many cases it’s true — after all, how many families can thrive from one person working half days — but it’s something that truly many people can mimic. You tell them how, without secrets, just plain old consistent work and investing for the future.
I just wrote a post called You Can’t Catch Me: How To Be Wealthier And Smarter Than Others and it’s pretty much the generalized principles that you instinctively use. Get started early and often to compound tiny advantages into a fortune or genius later on. You don’t need to work online to do it, but you need to apply the principle to something: Learning, saving, investing, building. I love how you “waste” very little of your time. Bravo and thanks!
Pat,
Anyone who thinks the internet business lifestyle is easy should read your post. Your day is jammed packed. Kids take a lot of time. I have three boys. The two older ones play little league sports and that takes sooo much time. By the time I am done with my day I stay up to about 1:30 in the morning work on my internet business. I have a full time career, as well. I hope to transition out of my career in the next 12 months or so. I have given myself a deadline of July 1, 2012.
Thanks for sharing.
Joe
Hi Pat,
This is very inspiring. Having quality time with my family is also my topmost priority. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Night time workouts and 5 hours of sleep… interesting. I’m usually winding down or heading out by that time and need at least 7 hours to be functional (for more than one day). Cool that both you and your wife can participate in a lot of the activities together.
Hey Pat. Its great to get a glimpse into your daily routine. You’ve made such a cool lifestyle that revolves around the most important people in your live, your wife and son. Many times people are so concerned about money that their family takes a back seat, which isn’t good.
After receiving email replies from you at 2AM, I started to wonder how many hours a day you sleep and I must say, for you to be fully functional off 5-6 hours a day, that is a real blessing. I usually need at least 8 hours every day =P I wish I had 3 to 4 hours extra each day. I did 5 yrs in a row of 5-6 hrs sleep a nite through university, but I certainly was not fully functional haha!
Keep up the good work, you’re an inspiration all!
That’s awesome what you’ve built allows you to spend time with your son. Most of the time dad’s are away all day until they come back late at night.
Modern Family is my favorite show on TV!
Thanks for writing this post. Good to get a little behind the scene looks at your process. I’ve learned to close all distractions too when I’m really focused on a project. Tweetdeck can be easily distracting.
And reading about your cheat day made me hungry…and it’s 11:32pm. Not good.
I´m jealous. thanks for sharing. Take care and success 🙂 nice family
Hey Pat,
Cool stuff! Thanks for opening up like this. I love seeing how other people work, and it’s nice to see how you’ve struck such a balance between work and family life. I love the days when I get to work from home, because not waiting in line at stores is one of the best feelings ever!
Take care!
Brett
This brings back memories… working while the little ones slept. It’s amazing what you can get done when you don’t have all day to do it. Focus is your friend! 🙂
These days, when I shut my office door, it’s because my teenagers’ music is a little too loud…
Peggy
Hey Pat,
He shur is a cute little guy.
Its super nice to spend time at home and be there for your family.
Thanks for sharing this Great Post,
Wayne
Hi Pat!
Your daily schedule sounds so awesome! We’re working hard to put ourselves into your shoes one day in the future. 🙂
We personally think Naps are a great way to stay productive throughout the day. Mini and micro naps work best. Tariq is a champion at this and gets really pumped up after just 10 minutes of snooze time in the afternoon. We find that it helps calm us down and focus more on our tasks, especially when things pile up.
This was a great insight into your life Pat! Glad you shared it!
Tariq and Shaheera
You are a machine. I have recently just started working at home. No kid and no wife yet, so I’m using this time wisely to “invest” in my passive income for later on down the road to allow me the freedoms that you currently enjoy!
Thanks Pat. You have been the inspiration I needed to press through some barriers and take action. It’s posts like this that keep me motivated to work diligently nights after work to build my own brand and web presence. I really appreciate the work you do. Sincerely, Kenny B
Boy can I relate to this post Pat! My 10 month old is on a nearly identical schedule to your son, all they way down to Yo Gabba Gabba; hilarious! Thanks for the light hearted post regarding a day in the life of Pat. I really enjoyed it.
Brendon
Can’t agree more with hitting up the grocery store or family outing during the week. I’m still a cube monkey, but I get a flex day off each month. My co-workers think I’m crazy for requesting it to be a Wednesday. Though I’m the same person that calls Friday – “Triple Monday’s Eve”. My TGIF will be last Friday I trade hours for dollars.
Looking forward to the podcast.
I’m just the opposite for my peak times. By 10 pm I’m getting a bit brain fuzzy, but I can roll out of bed at 5 am & be twice as productive as I am in the evening.
Reading the kid schedule bought back memories, except we had a 20 month old when twins arrived, & I had a job that required travel! When I was home, I was home though!!
~Bruce
It’s always great when I read about the personal live of one of my favorite blogger.
It’s also really cool to see how your kid takes up your time – A parent’s love for their child knows no bound.
Thanks so much for sharing!
-Onibalusi
I can certainly agree Oni, it’s such an inspiration!
I realized that you spend a very small percentage of your time on this blog. Smart, Passive Income!
Hey Pat
Great post dude! Most families that work a 9-5 struggle with child care especially if both parents work. I couldn’t see at least one parent not being home during the first year of a childs life. However some don’t have that choice. Makes you really think about what you have accomplished with your passive income and how you are able to provide for you family without sacrificing your time away at a 9-5. That’s priceless bro!
It would be great if I could see your schedule when you are starting out and when you still have a job. I think that theres where most of us are at.
Wow Pat, it seems like you are able to keep a schedule that puts you actually working only 8-10 hours a day, which means you are one of the few online marketers that doesn’t have ADD and is able to concentrate when you are working 🙂
5-6 hrs of sleep has always been ok with me too, sometimes even less. What I have found is that after a few weeks of 5 or less hrs each night I end up crashing hard one afternoon and taking a few hours of nap time in the afternoon… then I am good for a another few weeks 😉
Well I gotta share these that are 7 crucial puzzle elements during my daily organizing, hope those help:
First piece of the puzzle is time tracking. If you look upon Timothy Ferris, you will notice that he is micro managing his time and is very well aware of the tasks that are delivering the results to him. Manage your time in fron of your computer. Be aware of how much time online you spend socializing and how much time you spend actually working!
Second piece is PLANNING! When you know where your time is going, it will become easier to manage it. How do you manage your time? You weed out all of those activities that aren’t yielding in steps that are getting you closer to achieving the tasks that you planned. It is easier to plan, when you know what you DON’T want to do and what doesn’t get you closer to your dreams. One of the cool things that can help you plan your time is Google Calendar.
Third piece is your gear also know as gadgets: Online marketers tools of the trade are his gear! If you don’t have top notch device that does the job properly, than you are utterly wasting your time. How many times you were rebooting your Windows XP? How many times it crashed? Invest in your tools of the trade. Our gadgets are one of the most important tools of our trade. I not only have desktop and laptop. On top of it, I own a tablet and a smartphone, which I utilize to the maximum. If you want to know a bit more about how to choose the right gadgets for you, read this. But having all of these doesn’t make you get the more done, that’s where the third piece of the puzzle kicks in:
Fourth piece is levering your “wasted time”: In order to make most out of our “wasted time” while we are commuting, we need to utilize those fancy gadgets and get them to work for us. I tend to listen to audioprograms while I am commuting! It made a huge impact on my education, not only in IM, but in others area of my life. Imagine that you are waiting in line at the bank. While most of other people are standing there and cursing their destiny for having to wait, I am one of those guys, who are hapily working on his cell phone, answering those critical emails and SAVING that time, so I can focus on what’s really important, when I come back home. And that is CREATING!
Fifth piece is motivation! You need to be motivated in order to achieve your goals. Having constant image of your future better self is critical, to keep you energized while you are working! That picture of greater success is a drive for all those long boring hours, that we would love to skip, and just get to the candy (our goals). Appreciate and love the time you spend working on your online business, because that time is the time, that will get you to your ultimate dream destination. Problem with ticket to that place, is that you have to pay everything in advance, which requires a lot of sacrifice and devotion, which leads us to:
Sixth piece of the puzzle: DISCIPLINE. Strong willpower and discipline to consistently do the things that are bringing in the result is determining factor between success and failure. Not many people are disciplined enough to push out the most output in the least amount of time. Dedication to religiously follow up on your planned tasks and to do list is rare skill, that will those most determined cling on to. If you posses this skill, you are deserving of your dreams.
Seventh piece of the puzzle is automation! Always look to automate all the tasks that are possible to automate! If you can syndicate your content through online tools, good idea would be to handle it completely with software and services. If you are earning money, you should consider hiring Virtual Assistents to help you with your content, link building efforts and many other repetitive tasks.
I know that if you follow these guidelines, you will be on good road to success. Getting results in online business is all about knowing what you are doing and doing it consistently, because you know that it brings results. If you aren’t sure, you have to rethink what are you doing. Make that step, and shift your mindset so that you do what’s necessary to get you headed in right direction, direction you decided to go!
I can only say it’s way easier for me, being single guy in his mid 20ies. I have no clue how I would handle kids some day, but it seems so rewarding being a father… So can’t give any tips on that issue. It was a great read and it made me connect to you on more personal level.
Wonderful tips Bojan – thank you so much and I appreciate the time you’ve spent to share with the community!
I just stumbled on this blog by accident and working my way through the posts. This comment is gold, it really breaks down what to do and how to do it. I’ve printed this and going to use this as a template for my day!
Love, LOVE the layout of your office, Pat! I told my husband that this is the office he needs to build for me :)! I think you are an amazing role model, and I get by on 5-6 hours of sleep too but I do get up at 4:30am. We are on slightly different schedules. It’s still amazing how efficient you are. And I am referencing your greatness in my Blogworld speech next week. 🙂
Oh I had better give a tip too – I think early rising has changed my life. I think adding a serious cardio program has increased my energy extremely and also adding muscle building (power yoga and weight training) gives me more stamina and puts me in the right frame of mind for work so my one advice: Stay on TOP of that health. Ditch alcohol, smoking, late night tv, bad food and see your energy soar! Then you can do your life’s work!
I can agree on this one. Working out regularly can greatly increase your energy level and let you feel empowered throughout the day.
I was wondering what you did all day. With the recent success I was sure you were working 12 hr days. This is inspiring and motivating for me. Great post.
Thank you for sharing your daily routine with us.
You make it sound really easy, but I can imagine that it took quite a way to get into the right rhythum of what works.
Still trying to figure out my own routine – and I don’t even have kids!!
Thanks again
Cool Post, Pat!
It’s nice to see that you and April dedicate so much time with your son (btw, cool to see April doesn’t have to work anymore!). Although I’m no where near ready to get married or start a family, the flexible lifestyle IM provides is another plus for me. I want to be home raising my kids and know that they’re in good hands during those formidable years.
A tip I’d share is that I try not to sit at my computer for more than 3 hours straight. Take a break to something (eat, exercise, anything) because the constant starting isn’t good for your eyes and taking a break keeps your mind fresh.
Interesting stuff, Pat! It’s always fun to see how other people organize their lives and their businesses 🙂
Although I still work a day job while I run my business right now, I’d like to be working from home full time in a few years when my husband and I are ready to start a family. I love how much time and attention you’re able to commit to your son because of how you’ve scheduled your days, and I’d much rather have that for my future children than a lifetime of day care!
Thanks Pat for sharing. I really lie your style – being in control of your time and there’s no 9-5 job. You are an inspiration.
Cheers
-Peter Hutyr
typo — I meant I like your style. Thanks
In response to your question, my wife and I alternate who gives our son a bath. If a one of us gives our son two or three baths in a row, it’s usually becuase the other one is too busy or too tired. Usually it’s not a big deal.
We try to keep our son active in sports when the season starts. Right now he’s palying teeball (you can see the latest on my blog). I usually end up taking my son.
I have a daughter as well so not sure what will happen when she gets older and we enroll her in sports. But I guess we’ll figure that out when the time comes.
Thx for the post.
Pat, only 5 hours of sleep! How the hell do you do that? You are a machine, a freaking machine. Jesus.
– Jealousy Ensues
Right now 5 to 6 hours of sleep will do but as you get older you may find that your cognitive skills are slipping because of not enough sleep.
I like the fact that you all have dinner together. When your son is a teenager, it will become an invaluable time so he knows where he stands. Really!
Thanks for the comment Glynis! Having dinner together is definitely a treat, and I hope when he grows older he’ll appreciate the time we have together as a family while we eat.
Regarding sleep – I’m actually using tips from the 4-Hour Body to get into REM fast, reduce the time I spend sleeping that does us no good, and just maximize efficiency when it comes to rest and recovery. There’s a guy that has been living off of 2 hours of sleep for years and he’s doing just fine, but that’s a bit extreme (it involves a lot of ninja type stuff, not to mention a lot of discipline) and a lifestyle like mine won’t allow mt to go that far with it.
Great post Pat. I really enjoyed getting an idea of how your day goes. I have a wife and a kid just about the same age as your son. It can get hectic. I chuckled when I you said you watch Family Feud with Steve Harvey because we do the same thing, much better with him!
Hi Pat,
Great article which provides a lot of insight for me. As someone who is so business minded thinking of having a kid these type of post help. Now, if only I can make enough to work from home 😉 Great post and thanks for the e-mail advice the other week. I’ll get back to you soon.
Josh
Hi Pat,
On another note! I would love to know more about the physical folder method you use…especially how you organize them for niche sites. Within the last month I’ve built 25 niche sites and organization would come in handle! Maybe a blog post on this in the future perhaps? I listened to the podcast you mentioned, but still looking for a physical post, maybe with some pictures or even a video. Just a thought!
Thanks
Josh
It’s great that you can do things with your family and then close the door and work (and be productive). I find it hard to get in the zone and focus at times. Especially because a lot of my work is done at night after my son’s baseball game or something. AND me and hubby are SO NOT night owls! 🙂 Thanks for a day-in-the-life!
Great post Pat.
These ‘life style’ posts are the ones which intrigue me and the most especially when it comes to guys like you who are living passively. I think the key part of this post is the way you have designed your life. After reading the 4 hour work week it really hits home how important lifestyle design is and how incredible it can be for those having a young family.
If you were working a full time regular job you wouldnt be able to work to those hours. Most of us have to work a typical 9-5 hourly schedule which makes some of the stuff you have mentioned impossible. Don’t get me wrong I love my full time job and like the fact that I have a passive income as a secondary income but still its shocking to realise how dictated we are by the system.
I also think your work ethic is incredible. Blogging until 2am in the morning is quite frankly incredible and I have huge respect for you. I’m jealous of your ‘lifestyle’ situation and really wish I could stick with my current working duties on a schedule which suits me.
Thanks again for this Pat,
Ryan
PS: Awesome office.
sounds like a good day, glad to see you spend lots of time with your son, time is the greatest thing that you can give your child.
Whoa, this is inspiring. My business partner sent me this post and we both realized that we’re too much in the “fire fighting” business. So much of our day is NOT planned, is not “active” but mostly “reactive.” I love how you plan your time. I also have two little kids so I realize all good plans get thrown out the window when the 4-year old is coughing up a storm and stays home from pre-school.
Thanks for posting, Pat.
Wow, thanks for sharing Pat. You’re spending time with your family and getting the work done. Good job.
My husband used to let me sleep in too, when our youngest was a little guy. You’re a good man Pat! I would’ve gone NUTS without the exra shut eye.
Pat, my ‘children’ are all adults now and nothing makes me feel as good as when they tell me how much the family time we shared has meant to them. It’s wonderful that you can arrange your work around your family. Enjoy!
Pat,
Throw out your microwave, they are toxic to your health( 7:15 am ritual). Just my 2 cents.
I agree that night is the best time for creativity. The energy outside has calmed down allowing the creative juices to flow. I cannot do 5 or 6 hours of sleep unless I knew that I could get a afternoon nap in.
Your life is super busy and made me tired reading it. I like your home office and you have done a great job with your family and your life.
Wow – you are one busy guy Pat. I like that you shut the door to your office, turn off the phone and distractions and work – I think that’s the hardest thing for most people working for themselves. Most people spend way too much time in distraction when they don’t have a boss yelling at them, and it’s amazing how much you can get done when you allow yourself to focus. Speaking of which, it’s time for me to get focused…
Thanks for this post Pat. your physical folder model is something I’d love to do… just having that physical folder to keep everything organised an on track. Problem is, being location independent, this isn’t possible. It’s posts like these; the settled, happy family life scenario that sometimes make me crave to settle down myself.
I’m sure that time will come, but for now I must keep on with location independence. There’s so much to see!
Hello Pat, excellent life you have there. Keep it up 🙂
whow full your time in your family give me inspire to follow .
Pat I wanted to suggest “Baby Signing Time” video series. It’s going to make the toddler years so much easier on you and your baby. When they they can’t verbalize what they need or want they get frustrated and throw tantrums, but they are smart enough to learn signing. Teach them and learn it too, it’s super fun on video, and your toddler will communicate with you their needs and things will go much smoother.
Cheers…
Larry
Thanks for the reminder about your to do folders….
My partner and I both work from home and our son is 9 months old now. We find it helpful for Papa to go on a 3-5 hour walk outside or in the hood with the baby in our super-awesome hiking backpack while Mama works.
If he so much as smells me in the house, I’m toast!! 🙂
Not at all what I thought your schedule would be. I was almost certain that you’d have to work 14 hour days to be productive with all the different projects you’re working on.
I love how much time you spend as a family. It’s inspiring.
Hello Pat,
It’s was interesting getting to know you. I must say I envy your schedule. You’ve managed to plan for everything important and still have time for yourself. Talk about financial freedom!
Communication and understanding is very important for any couple or family to work out. That’s one great thing you have going for you. And seeing the picture of you and your son just brought a smile to my chick. You guys look so lovely together.
Anyway, I am nowhere near where you are right now, so can’t afford so much free time, which is why I am kind of glad that I am not yet married. With the way things are going, I know before I get married and start a family I would already have created some passive incomes, so I can afford to outsource some tasks and have time for my family. That has always been my greatest goal. To work hard now so as to be able to give good time to my family when I have one.
Thanks for the post, it will good to read something more entertaining for a change.
My regards to the little man and of course your wife.
That’s a nice office you got right there .. (jealous)
Hi PAT,
What an interesting schedule you have and may me 10% of pepole are able to make such schedule in the world, other 90%! oh, 9 – 5 ofiice job, so even cannot share some of their time with their loved ones.
Even earning a higher profilt, you are loyal, loving and caring to your family that’s great and inspiring. Your picture holding your baby boy in your home page was inspiring for me when I first open your site. Hello to little PAT!
Thanks Pat for sharing! Definately interesting and I’d be curious to know some of those ideas on your white board 😉
Pat,
Thanks for sharing this post. It is great to see you have been able to spend so much time with your family, and grow your business. I have a four year old boy and have owned my own business from home for about three years now. It is absolutly amazing having the flexiblity! Thanks again for the post.
Justin
i liked this post very much thank you pat , you’re living a life that every one would love to do the same 🙂
One of the best posts yet. Had a good laugh at “10:15 PM”. LOL
This is a brilliant arrangement Pat. I like your style.
Is there a reason why you chose red/maroon for the colors of your walls in your office? Just curious…
Nice to see someone explain how they balance the tasks of family and income generation. Keep it up!
Damn… The best in that day is the hours spend with your child and your wife. Very good job, good earning, good familiy life, no home to work travel time… aaargh, i’m jealous !
Very tidy office and desk Pat. Not like mine.
I enjoyed reading this post. Thanks for sharing.
It seems like you manage your different modes very well, insulated from each other. Enjoying the present moment, being focused and committed seems to be what works for you and I find that quite inspirational.
It’s great to see you spend a lot of time with your family and still be able to grow your business and increase your passive income. Definitely the lifestyle I’d like to have.
What leapt out for me Pat was that your family are still A-critical in your life – work comes second after family and right duties are taken care of. Then it flips and you focus all your attentions on work and go into ‘Don’t disturb’ mode. And that’s it..focus! You don’t get waylayed by temptations and are 100% present in what you are doing or who you are with, no flicking or flitting here and there. That’s the secret to me; Smart Focused Attention for Living.
You should have called it “A Day in the Life of Keoni”. It’s really nice to see that you spend a lot of time with your family. Power of passive income. 🙂
PS: You son looks great in the photo. Lovely child.
Wow! You have such a very systematic family and work schedule. You have a good quality time with your family and a clear schedule for work. How I love to also have a life like yours, having a passive income at an early age and a balanced work and family time. Thanks for sharing your life to us.
I can’t wait to get to the point where I can make my own schedule. Mine’s along the lines of: 6:30AM wake-up, 7:30AM get to work, 4:30PM get home from work 4:30PM start writing articles doing blog work 6:00PM Start doing freelance work 11:00PM Relax a minute 12:00AM in bed for the next day. Can’t wait to cut out the 9hours of work!
Pat – I have waited for this post from you for over a year!! Thanks so much!!
Pat,
Thanks so much for sharing this! As a work at home mom, it is always helpful to see how other people schedule their days.
It’s so amazing that you spend so much time with your sons! I’ve done the same with my boys – they are 5 & 6 and now we are homeschooling.
The your baby can read series does work (although a bit annoying at times :)) Pair it with Signing Time and the Leap frog series (both of which your son is at the perfect age for) and your little guy will be reading words by 2 and books by 3!
Thanks again for sharing!
Thanks for being so open about your life/schedule, it gives great insight and inspiration to people like me who feel so “abnormal” at times. My work/life/family balance, if you can even call it balance, is at best thrown together at times. Even though my husband and I already work from home (we run a business and tag team watching the little ones(6mo/2yr)) I’d love to take that extra step towards passive income that would allow me even more freedom with my family. We have sacrificed the 9-5’s with nice steady income to have a business that fluctuates in income but allows us to spend time with our kids and watch them grow. That to me is priceless. I really admire that you and your wife recognize and appreciate that as well. I’m sure you’ll agree that money is nice, but you’d take less pay and time with your son over that any day. I read another bloggers recent post about his day and it went along the lines of, get up, get the kid to daycare, come back home and blog…I cringed. I’m sure it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to have your kiddos around, but to be able to spend time with your kids during the day? To me that’s priceless.
Keep up what you’re doing, our oldest kid is now 7 and he gets up, is here for about an hour, heads off to school for the day, comes home, eats & does homework and is off to bed. Once they start school you see them less and less…now is the time to soak up every moment with them. But I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that. It seems that you and your wife are prioritizing family first, even if it isn’t the easiest route, and that at the end of the day is true happiness.
I wanted to respond here because my biggest obstacle right now is sleep(with a 6mo & 2y/o that both get up during the night), so I had to LOL(literally to where my husband had to ask what I was reading), because we have a similar morning ‘schedule’ to you and your wife. My hubby can survive on little sleep and is happy so he gets up with the kiddos, and I on the other hand, will sleep as close to “opening time” for our business as possible. Knowing another couple has a similar wake up schedule, makes me feel like less of a bum for not getting up at the crack of dawn so I can deal with the day better rested.
I loved this post as it really gives some teeth to what achieving a healthy passive income can provide. So often we hear about the ‘ideal’ lifestyle but getting a window into how it actually works is invaluable.
I share a fundamentally value of family first and it is encouraging to see that there are people like you who are driven to succeed that don’t sacrifice those closest to them in the process.
Thanks for sharing your experience, as someone still trying to achieve this lifestyle your openness helps to motivate me and keep me on track.
I am the type of person who needs to just do things instantly. If something comes up, I address it immediately, then move on. I like to keep my inbox empty, and knock out my To-Do list as quick as possible.
I also find myself working late at night, as it is distraction free!
Interesting stuff, you’re day is a handful but thats good u keep busy.
Great post.. I sometimes wondered when I head your PodCasts, how much time you work and how much time you spend with your family. I’m married and have a son (10months old), so I really understand your daily rutines and how much a little guy can “take” of your time…
I better get started get more passive income, exercise more, and try to sleep less. (Sounds simple :))
That is a great view of your daily life. My 5.5 month old is starting to have a schedule like that, but I am still a 8to5 guy and my gf stays home. I can’t wait to have a stay at home schedule like yours to dream of and make a goal of mine.
Pat, this post is a great insight into what my life may be like in the coming years. I’m about to get married and will be starting my blog after this summer. It’s great to have an idea of how life will work while I’m working from home.
Its always great ti learn more from you Pat and you definitely have an awesome schedule. Its amazing to see how much productivity can be created with simple daily disciplines.
Thanks again for being an internet entrepreneur inspiration!
This is definitely an inspiration. Your daily routine, work habits and lifestyle are things I am working towards and trying to mimic…minus the early morning hours 🙂
Great to see what your day is like. I notice a lot of balance and you seem manage to get a lot of things done, including exercise and family.
Ever since I started focusing on doing 1 or 2 things in the evening, I’ve seen productivity increase a great deal. This versus trying to get 10-12 things done and falling into analysis paralysis.
You know the best part Pat? Your son will know his parents. That’s something very few parents are able to do.
Take care and have an excellent weekend!
Mike
I am sorry if I missed, you did not mention name of your lovely son 🙂
Sounds a lot like my schedule. I am working at home now and also having fun entertaining my daughter in the mourning. I really do enjoy waking up and getting our children ready and sent off to bed , while my girlfriend gets some much needed sleep. Yes Patt, This is why we are stay at home dads.
Modern Family kicks butt!! Reminds me that we are normal. Are we a typical modern family? I think not, but in the near future I think more and more ” Modern Families will look like us.
I enjoy these posts, they really allow your readers to connect with someone behind the computer. This is one of the biggest takeaways you have taught me while building my brand and my website. Happy to hear you’re onto Insanity now! Hope Shawn T is treating you well! Take care Pat.
This is awesome to read,
I am off work fired/down with stress and have a similar day.
Once i go full-time self-employed, It will be very much the same as yours,
Its very interesting! Good work!
How is it going with the 4 hr body?
Thankyou for the post Pat 🙂
This sounds much like my lifestyle only without kids, I am able to be extremely unstructured with my time which suits me being such a free spirit! I take my hat off to anyone who can juggle a business and children, they can both be all consuming!
I do find that I need to change my work environment every few months. And recently due to back problems set up my first ‘stand up desk’. It takes a few days to get used to standing up for hours on end, but my back and my body is thanking me for it.
I really enjoyed getting a glimpse at your work schedule and family life! My husband also works form home, and we have worked out a schedule that allows us both the time we need to accomplish work-related tasks and also have time with our children.
However, I am the opposite of you — total morning bird and not a night owl at ALL. I work best form 5 am to 8 am while our four kids sleep. 🙂
Hey Pat,
Great post! To all who aim to have your lifestyle, you just gave us help visualising our goal. Love the 4 Hour Body/Tim Ferris, I have also adopted the egg/bean/spinach and salsa breakfast.
One tip which I love sharing to other “like minded” people, but not “old school” parents or closed minded folks is getting your lawn done by a professional service. I pay $25 per cut which is usually only 3 or 4 times a month. You might do better by hiring someone in the neighbourhood.
If you consider that ALL your time is money when you work from home, I find that quite reasonable. It also reduces your to-do list by one, and frees up valuable time to be with your loved ones and focus on providing for your family.
I’m lazy though… 🙂
Cheers,
Jef
Wow Pat
I love this post. It’s really awesome that you get to spend so much time with your family and only focus on your business a few hours each day.
It is my #1 goal to reach this point myself. I currently feel overwhelmed with full time job, almost full time school, 2 kids under 3, AND working on getting several niche sites to the point where they earn more than a few bucks a month.
The hardest part is finding time to work on my business while not ruining my family life.
On top of that our internet is on the whack right now so I have to tether my phone to my computer for internet access.
A bit weird to see you sleep just 5 hours a day! Doesnt it harm productivity ??? @Pat
I was right with you until you mentioned only getting 5 hours of sleep! But looking at how you spend time to workout and eat few carbs, I’m sure you’re body doesn’t miss the extra hours. Thanks for sharing, I like reading posts like these. Mostly because I’m nosey! lol
Hey Pat – This is kind of a weird question but something I’ve been looking into for when I start working online for myself. What does your family do for medical insurance? My husband will also be working with me, so that mean’s we’re giving up the opportunity to get coverage through an employer after COBRA runs out.
Not a weird question at all, KG. It’s very valid and one that many online entrepreneurs must encounter at one point or another. I have private health insurance which covers my entire family, but the premiums are pretty expensive and I’m always looking for a better solution. Not having company benefits like health insurance is definitely one of the cons.
Thanks so much for your reply, Pat! I am always curious as to what other people are doing but inevitably we’ll be going the private insurance route, too. Have a great day!
That’s a full day indeed. This might sound weird, but I find myself wondering what the green screen and light setup are for?
I’m using it to create high quality, interesting videos. Check out http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/passive-income-101 (the first video)
Hi Pat, great work. Interesting to view how your babyboy fitst within your schedule. Me too, I also accomodate similar baby needs. And also working on various passive income initiatives… in addition to my day work…. one day, i guess,,,, or maybe i should say: the day will come that I should be able to dedicate 100% to passive income. cheers, keep up with spi, it gives me good motivation!
You got an awesome inhouse office! I’m sure you can feel positively disconnected from the rest of the house. The only thing I don’t like is the Mac ;-).
Well done for spending time with your little boy – I was blessed that my little girl was sleeping 2x per day for 1.5-2hrs at that age! 🙂
I really Enjoy this piece of you!.
I’m really inspired with your work. Let me tell you that my mom was very skepticall about this kind of work but you convinced her with this article!
Thankyou Patt…
Aloha!
I noticed your son’s name is Keoni – as in the Hawaiian name for “John”? Just wondering. It’s always neat to meet fellow Hawaiians.
Mahalo for the insight!
The pic of you and your son is too cute=D
Pat,
So how many actual hours of work in a typical day?
I ask, because I have a client who is old-school, and was very, very successful in the corporate world, and he ribs me all the time, saying if I put more time in I’d make a lot more money.
Thanks,
Mike
I am officially crazy jealous of your schedule and the amount of family time that you have. My husband sees me and the kids for less than an hour a day. But that’s why I’m working on creating a passive income stream, so we can change that. Great post!
This is a terrific post in its own right, but I particularly love hearing about you and your family. After all, that’s really what it’s all about, no?
Keep up the good work, Pat!
In regards to home office, I mainly utilize it for media stuff and other casual to-dos. Nowadays, I go down to the local co-work share space. Initially I was skeptical and reluctant to invest couple hundred when I had my own home office. However, I’ve never looked back because of all the like minded entrepreneurs I come across over there. Plus it was quite boring and depressing being alone all the time. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but I am one of those who need to actually go to a gym than working out at home. I guess motivation and accountability better suits me when I am able to interact face to face with others.
What a day in the life of Pat! If you ask me, you are living a life most people only get to dream about. Thanks man. I almost envy you. With all the work associated with building a hugely successful online business, it makes a refreshing change to learn how you manage to fit all the pieces together.
Thanks once again. I have learnt a great deal from this post.
How do you write so well Pat? Is there one magic book out there or is it because of extensive reading you developed that skill or did it just come to you naturally. Wow, not once i left half way when reading ur articles. Very addictive