Jack's Journal (12/12)

Day / Week in the life

Sponsored By

Holiday Parties

They’re the best. A great excuse to take a tequila shot with your boss, meet your spouses colleagues that you’ve heard so much about, and everything inbetween. Fun fact about me…I love event planning. Even organized a few JPM holiday parties in my analyst days and host one with a college buddy every year in Chicago. If you’re in Wrigleyville this Saturday, you’ll likely see me wearing my Christmas suit.

Q&A Section

Q: Do you like how things are going? Would you ever consider pivoting? - Sam

A: I’d consider 2024 a solid year, but (this is just me being me) there’s a lot we missed out on. I’m most pleased about growth, revenue, user engagement, social media presence, and our momentum. Pivot wise, undoubtedly. The best startups usually are the ones who make massive ones. It’s alllll aaaaabout tttthe jjjjourney, not the destination. - JB

A Week In the Life

If you ever catch yourself doom scrolling on TikTok or Instagram, then it’s only a matter of time before you come across a “day in the life” video.

Personally, I love this type of content. Plus they always perform well (even from personal experience - see below)

And it’s because we all secretly love to know how other people spend their time. Especially to those we can relate to - maybe by the similarity in their age, job, or the city they live in.

We don’t necessarily want to change our routines, but we inherently love to compare ourselves.

I’m going to try my best to be radically transparent about my schedule, number of hours, and how I go about my professional life.

0 vs. 100%

Something that you need to know about me are my two speeds: (1) binge watcher / procrastinator and (2) superhuman productivity mode.

And there is no inbetween.

For example, this time of year I handwrite holiday cards to every Habits customer, advisor and investor, but also to plethora of other stakeholders. This year I have 367.

I’ve written 4 so far…so I guarantee you I’ll do 250 of them Sunday and the remaining 100+ next week. When most people would just do 10 a day leading up to the holiday season.

Weekly Organization

Usually I start my Monday with a 45min walk (always outside), I pick up an overpriced coffee, stroll around the block, and listen to a sports podcast.

I like a slow start to my week.

Last week’s schedule

But by 830am I’m jotting down things that are top of mind, and tasks that would (for lack of better words) make me proud to get done by week end.

Last week notebook entries

And each morning I do a similar ritual because priorities change.

It’s not about hours for me, it’s about the tasks themselves that need to get done.

Hours Per Week

I forgot to mention, but today’s blog is inspired by a submitted question from last week (re: how many hours I work a week).

  • 4-15hrs for content: creating, editing, writing captions, this newsletter, responding to DMs, etc.

  • 5-10hrs for sales related stuff: demos, pitching to financial advisors, vetting them for our platform, onboarding, etc.

  • 5-30hrs for meetings: Zooms with users, 1v1’s, team stand ups, fundraising or meeting VCs, general networking calls

  • 1-20hrs for product: testing, submitting Jira tickets, gathering feedback, reviewing figma designs, etc.

  • 10-20hrs for random sh*t: travel, events, coffee meetups, speaking engagements, clearing my inbox, strategic planning, etc.

Notice the ranges? Some weeks I may only put in 25hrs (now it’s rare, but true) and others I easily cross 80hrs.

As my performance coach put it “you’re a lamborghini, either going 200mph, or you’re hibernating in the garage.”

The Raw Truth

I think questions like these are stupid. Because the amount of hours you work really doesn’t matter for someone in my shoes. It’s all about hitting growth goals while making your customers, employees, and investors happy.

But I do see the value in seeing or understanding how others operate their day to days, and hopefully I did a good job at that today 🙂 

Sharing is Caring

Do me a favor, if you enjoy this, share it with a friend!

Find Your Financial Advisor

If you’re somebody on the sidelines or are not sure if a financial advisor makes sense for you or your family, just shoot me an email at jack@usehabits.com.

Or… visit our website and book time with us!