As you may have noticed, my posts have become -- for want of a better term -- irratic. It's true. I left my previous career because of burn out and over work/under payment issues. But lately, I've found myself feeling the same effects with working online.
And now, the proof is undeniable: It's all my own fault.
That's good and bad. Bad because I am still doing this to myself; good, because I CAN do something about it. (God, I love autonomy!)
I am an object lesson in one of working online's chief (and chiefly little-known) problems-- that being: while many people go into working online or at home because they mistakenly believe the work is minimal (I've yet to see any evidence of this), a much larger group of us who persevere, find ourselves working ungodly hours. (If you knew the hours I keep, you may never work online. But, what's more likely, is that you do work the same hours-- and feel as defeated as me.) No more.
Because I am only an example of one learning to work online, mostly through experience. And this experience is teaching me, again, to Work Smarter, Not Harder. (That's becoming my battle cry, my slogan, and my moniker, by the way.)
The truly ironic part of this is that my efforts are not paying off-- which is really stupid. I make no more money working 70-80 hours a week than I would if I worked 20. Hah! I don't know if it's funny, but it sure is ridiculous. So, what's wrong with this picture? More importantly, how do I put it right?
For starters I -- as well as any other marketers out there who have followed this terrible idea -- must use those wonderful powers of self-discipline to STOP working, as often as they use them to work. To that end, I have, again, revised my schedule-- and mean to keep it.
I have crafted a liveable, do-able schedule, based on the idea that I am only one person and can only do so much. I am also adopting the tortoise mentality: slow and steady wins the race. Because, whether I liked it or not, until now I had been inadvertantly become more of a "hare" type-- and getting no where fast. And if this schedule doesn't work, it's not because of the hours I put in, but because of the things I do within those hours.
So, onwards. And I advise all other marketers that have been chaining themselves to their computers to break those chains, now, today and forever! If you can't get enough work done within a 6-8 hour day, then something IS wrong-- but adding hours to your day is not the answer.
Instead, look at the things you do each day. Do your own tracking/analysis and decide what is really worthwhile, what is a waste of time and energy and what can be done more efficiently. But, maybe the best way to go about it is to simply look at what your ideal time-frame is, either on a daily or weekly basis. Would you like to work 20 hours a week? Then figure out what you can do in that time.
Also, BE REALISTIC. Don't allot a 1/2 hour to something that inevitably takes an hour-- and don't think you can cut it down, unless you know you can. Then stick to it!
And, most of all, realize that building a business online is like any other-- part of the investment means a certain amount of time invested. And trying to condense that time by working endless hours is not the answer. If you do, you'll end up only burning out, beginning to hate your work and, inevitably, being another hare. . .
Remember: Work Smarter, not Harder! ;-) --mo
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