Weekend Reflections: September

Weekend Reflections: September

So far, September has been quite remarkable!

The month started with a bang as my wife and I hosted a mini family retreat over Labor Day weekend. We rented a luxurious cabin at Lake Arrowhead (see featured picture) for the entire extended family. It was a lot of fun because the cabin was equipped with so many cool amenities. There was a foosball table. A shuffleboard table. An old school Pac-Man arcade game. Surround sound home theater. A huge kitchen. And a large, 30 foot floor to ceiling window with a view of the forest trees. We hosted about eighteen people in the cabin and everybody had a wonderful time.

Shortly after the retreat, I flew over to Washington D.C. for FinCon 2019. If you’ve read my post, then you already know that I had a great experience, had a lot of fun, and learned so much.

But don’t take my word for it. Check out Jim Wang’s post over at Wallet Hacks. Apparently, I’m not the only person who had a great time there. Jim talks about some of his highlights from FinCon 2019, including karaoke. It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t go to (and participate in) the karaoke signing; if that was the case, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been a highlight for those who went! If you’ve heard me sing, you’d be sorry you did. In other words, I’m not a great singer. Anyways, in his post, Jim also lists at least 28 other FinCon recaps from various bloggers, including yours truly. Check them all out if you want to feed your FinCon FOMO :).

 

Cutting Back (Again)

Last year, I made a deliberate attempt to cut back. When I became a new father, I wanted to work less so that I can see my baby daughter grow and spend more time with the family. I discuss more details in this guest post over at Crispy Doc. Long story short, instead of working 1.2 to 1.3 FTE, I cut back down to working “only” 1 FTE which is the equivalent of about 40 hours a week.

However, this summer I started ramping back up again. This is for a variety of reasons.

First of all, there was a slight shortage of working physicians on the schedule since many of them like to take vacations that align with their kids’ summer breaks.

Second, I no longer have to take days off work to help care for our daughter. Child care no longer is a major issue for us because my father-in-law graciously volunteers to care for her on the weekdays. Amazingly, this works out really well because he makes it look easy and he enjoys it. At the same time, she really loves hanging out with him. It’s a win-win situation. It’s also a big win for my wife and I because we don’t have to worry about trusting a stranger to care for our child. Also, it’s a nice break for us!

It also doesn’t hurt that after earning pay raise in the beginning of the year, I now make quite a bit more per hour. That extra cash certainly doesn’t hurt when your plan is to achieve financial independence and recreational employment!

Now that summer is over, though, I’ve cut back to working about 40 hours a week again.

 

Less Is More… Right?

Since I am working less, naturally I have more free time.

Because there is no longer a shortage of physicians on the schedule, I’m able to take random days off during the work week. This has been wonderful because it has allowed me to meet up with my wife in downtown for lunch dates. She’s been working extra hard lately because she’s up for a promotion and pay raise of her own. Taking her out for lunch gives her a nice break from the many hours of deep work she has been doing!

It’s interesting though.

Even though I have more free time, I still feel there’s not enough.

Sure, I’m able to have a lunch date with my wife. But I still feel like I should be getting more things done with the newfound time that I have.

What gives?

 

Enter Productivity!

So lately I’ve been thinking more and more about the idea of productivity and having a productivity system.

My buddy Vi over at Physician Zen is a master of productivity. If you haven’t yet checked out his blog posts and video series on the 12 steps to productivity, you should.

Lately I’ve been trying to implement a productivity system of my own to be more efficient and create more time. Additionally, I’m also reading Getting Thing’s Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.

From my standpoint, there are several ways to free up more time:

• Work less and say “no” to unimportant work
• Automate as much as possible
• Delegate or outsource work when appropriate
• If work has to be done and you can’t automate, delegate, or outsource it… then use a productivity system to be more efficient

I do a decent job with the first three. But having an effective productivity system and being more productive is something I need to improve on.

The way I see it, frugality describes the efficient use money. Minimalism describes the efficient use space for the “things” that you love. And in the same vein, productivity is the efficient use of time. And we all know that time is money!

Time is finite, precious, and valuable. It’s relatively easy to make more money and create more space. But time is trickier.

That’s why I am trying to find ways to be more productive to hopefully make more time.

 

Don’t Forget About Taxes!

Speaking of time, there’s still time left to pay your taxes this quarter.

For individuals who pay estimated quarterly federal income taxes, don’t forget that tax payments are due tomorrow, September 16.

I never forget payments. And I always pay online with a credit card. In fact, making a small profit or racking up a ton of credit card points by paying taxes online is a big part of my credit card rewards strategy.

I’m glad to hear that other people are employing this strategy too. In this post, Dave from Accidental describes how paying taxes with a credit card effectively resulted in the government giving him 60,000 Southwest points. Way to go, Dave!

On a related note, I was recently approved for a Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Business credit card. It arrived in the mail a week ago. Just in time for paying my taxes! This card has a huge welcome bonus of 100,000 miles after spending $25,000 in the first 6 months. It just so happens that my tax payment is about $25,000. Hmm… coincidence? Nope. It’s great timing!

 

Bon Voyage!

The first half of September has been remarkable. But the second half of the month might be even better!

Later this month we will be going to France and Italy.

I’ll try to keep up with some writing here and there. But if you don’t hear from me, it’s probably because I’m enjoying some vegan afternoon tea at the fancy Shangri-La Hotel in Paris.

Oh la la…