Speaker 1: What's going on everyone? It's been a while. For the last eight months I've been working two full-time remote tech jobs which has been crazy. I've been incredibly busy. It's good though. I was making like $260,000 which for a senior level product designer is not bad especially considering I live in Utah so if I was in the Bay Area or New York City I mean adjusted for cost of living you'd be like $500,000. So I might have been the highest paid product designer in the world. I mean maybe the highest paid product designer adjusted for cost of living with no direct reports and strictly speaking salary in the world. So yeah pretty cool. So in this video I mainly want to check in with you guys tell you I've got a lot more free time now I'm gonna be making a lot more videos but I wanted to explain why I did the two jobs thing and what it taught me. For the last eight months I've been working not one but two full-time remote tech jobs. I went out and I was interviewing with other companies I got an offer and I thought what if I just don't quit my current job. I'd been there for you know five years and it's not super demanding I'm pretty good at it. So I thought why shouldn't I keep it? The two jobs thing is a unique opportunity that we have right now it's enabled by two things remote work and asynchronous work. You no longer need to be at a physical location at a certain time. People more and more especially at tech companies it's all about getting your work done and not so much about you know being there being seen. But I did quit one of the jobs to start the new year and oh it feels amazing. I feel like I actually I can actually breathe now. The first time I came downstairs to my to my desk and saw only one computer was a glorious thing. This is a this is the basement this is my workspace. Some of you guys might be wondering like what why is this cool? Haven't people been working two jobs like since the beginning of time? You know like the single mother goes and gets extra shifts at the the diner or something. But it actually is a pretty big deal because when you're working for like you know corporate salary job you kind of feel like you're owned by the company. You don't really talk about side work. You're kind of expected to spend your waking hours thinking about and working on the company. You're either doing that or you're home with family and you're watching Netflix. But do not be making money in any other way. And the really the only way when you're a salaried tech employee the only way to make more money is to either do freelance work on the side or to go and get an offer from another company. And then you can negotiate with your current company to get a raise or you you have to leave and go there. So first why did I do this? I mean the big reason is the money. We were able to pay off both of our cars and pull together a little chunk of savings. My whole thought process behind the two jobs thing was I can't work a full-time job and start a startup or work on side projects or work on YouTube videos while I have a full-time job. I'm just too busy. I can't do it. So I thought if I work two jobs then I can save up enough money to where eventually I can quit both of them and work full-time on my own stuff. So my number was around $60,000. I thought we need about $6,000 a month to survive. Me and my family. I got a wife and kids, mortgage. So if I had $6,000 a month, $60,000 would be about 10 months. I figured that would probably give me about a year runway if I could save $60,000. So that was my whole plan. That was my idea. I'll work two full-time jobs until I can save $60,000 and then I'll quit both of them and ride off into the sunset making YouTube videos, start a startup, sell digital goods online, whatever. That was my plan. I learned a lot working on the two jobs and plans changed. So what did I learn? What did the two jobs teach me? I learned that I'm capable of handling a lot more work than I thought. I became incredibly productive. When you're forced into it and you're given a lot more work, you become productive. There's something called Parkinson's Law that I learned is absolutely true. That work expands to fill the time that we give it. So working one job, I was busy. So busy I thought, I can't even work on side projects. I can't even record YouTube videos because I'm just so busy with my one job. Well, I added a second job in there and all of a sudden, I had to cut out things that weren't essential. I had to spend less time on projects and less time on tasks and both companies were happy with my work. My work didn't suffer. Everyone was happy. Everything was fine. I was getting just as much done but because I was forced to condense it down and only work on what was essential. So one thing that I learned is that I don't need more time. I have enough time. I don't need to quit everything and go full-time on myself, on my side projects and stuff. I can definitely maintain one job and work on everything else on the side if I'm more productive and more efficient with my work. As part of that, I really learned how to value my time. I kind of felt like an executive that they're in a meeting and they say, hey, I've got a hard stop at this time or you know, they're hard to book meetings with because they've got just such a full schedule. That's how I was for the first time. I had a full schedule and I couldn't, I just couldn't linger in meetings or let it run over or just meet up anytime because I had so many demands from other places. Another thing that I learned is that this whole thing was kind of an awakening. It was good to prove to myself that I can think differently and do something that no one else is doing. A lot of times we think of ourselves as contrarians. We think of ourselves as like, you know, incredibly hard workers or not like everyone else but if you look at what we're actually doing, you know, our actions don't show that. So this was a cool opportunity where like I got to prove that to myself. Like, hey, I do think differently. I'm the kind of person that would take on a second job and kind of break the rules in that way. A lot of the rules that we follow and the stories that we live by are all kind of made up in our heads. Like, when I was throwing this whole idea around and I was considering taking the two jobs, I was terrified that both companies would find out and they would both fire me. My illustrious reputation as a in the UX design world would be ruined. My good name dragged through the mud and no one would ever hire me again but none of that happened. One company even found out and none of those stories happened. It also helped me in learning the Peter Thiel advice of don't go through the tiny door that everyone's trying to rush through. Instead, go around the corner to the vast gate that no one is taking. I found that I was working so hard for a little 5k or 10k bump in salary or 15k bump when really the answer is to do something completely different. We're all capable of doing so much more. If you're feeling stuck, you feel like there's not any good options, I guarantee there's another way you could be thinking about your problem. Another way that would be, you know, something to double your income rather than getting the little 10, 15, $20,000 bonus. That being said, I'm still learning. I'm riddled with limiting beliefs about what I can accomplish and what's possible but I'm excited because I feel like my fate is at least in my own hands and I don't have to sit around and wait to be picked. So what's coming next? I only have one job now so I've got a lot more time. I'm gonna be making a lot more videos so like, comment, subscribe, you know the drill. I appreciate you watching and I'll see you in the next video. Bye.