Jeff is a side-hustling millennial. He is a full time project estimator, but also sells live roaches to reptile owners, and spends time with his wife and 3 kids. When not jumping in between activities, he’s planning next week’s schedule so he can continue operating at a high level of efficiency.
Avoiding Anxiety And Burnout
Jeff Neal is your proto-typical, side hustling millennial. He has a full time job as a project estimator, a wife and 3 little kids, and a growing side hustle where he sells live roaches online for reptile owners. His hours are pretty maxed out. And he has a never ending list of responsibilities and tasks to fulfill for his employer, family, and customers. But he’s been operating like this for nearly 5 years, and becoming more efficient with his tasks. He’s estimating and selling bigger jobs for his full time employer, attending more family events, and even growing his roach business.
But how is he avoiding burnout? “I have to organize all my tasks and responsibilities in my scheduler,” Jeff says. “And then that weekly schedule becomes my commitment for the week. I know exactly what I need to do, at exactly what time, and this keeps things from falling through the cracks.” Jeff doesn’t have any top secret super power. Instead, he spends about 30 minutes, structuring and planning his activity for the following week. This gives him a blueprint for all the tasks he needs to accomplish. And although he may have a lot of tasks to get done, it’s all organized and laid out so that he doesn’t become overwhelmed. “I used to try and remember all of my tasks. But that would always become stressful. I would begin one task, and end up remembering about another one, and I would scramble to get the current task done, so I could jump into the one I forgot. And this only snowballed. So I realized I needed to find a better way to operate.”
Achieving Success
Some people may question why anyone would want to put so much on their plate? But Jeff enjoys the challenges. His wife is a stay at home mom, who does a great job taking care of their 3 little kids. But this means Jeff has to find additional ways to bring in extra, so everyone can be comfortable. And his side hustle is achieving just that.
In order for Jeff to reach his family’s financial goals, he has to operate at a high level of efficiency. Which is why it’s so important for him to schedule out his week in advance. By planning his tasks and goals per day, he is never in a state of confusion or mental fugue. He is always aware of what needs to get done that day. And this is how he’s been able to continuously sell bigger contracts for his full time employer, and sell more than 100,000 dubia roaches per month for reptile owners. All while still spending time with his family.
Source of motivation
If it isn’t obvious by now, Jeff’s biggest motivation is financial independence for his family. Sure, his full time job compensates him enough to pay bills, feed everyone, and add a little every week to his IRA. But if he continued doing only this, he would fall short of his goals. Which is why selling roaches only have become a major contributor for his household. The extra income that he pulls in from The Critter Depot will help him retire 10 years sooner, and with more savings.
Continuous Growth
Jeff’s focus is becoming more skilled at his full time job as a project estimator. And he wants to continue growing sales and products offered to reptile owners on the The Critter Depot. He takes training courses to learn more about construction estimating, and he’s always reaching out to other reptile owners, to find out what other feeder insects they prefer. Crickets, superworms, and other roaches have proven to be a great expansion to grow Critter Depot, and acquire new customers.