Stephan Miller
Building Websites, Traffic, and Income
Balancing Developing and Writing
- Image via Wikipedia
It was hard to find that balance for a while as I tried to flush my mind running from job to job and switching gears to often to remember my projects. But there is a balance.
I long ago discovered that the mind is a sneaky bitch. Just as soon as you are accomplishing something or when the deadline is approaching and you really have to get work done, you will have the perfect idea for something totally off the wall. But the idea is perfect. Looks perfect. Feels perfect. Is god damn perfect. And off you go and the mind laughs it’s evil muhahaha laugh. And again you are sidetracked.
What I Do Sundays
- Image by Vidiot via Flickr
I started writing this post a few weeks ago on a Sunday. I was just getting to a weekly rhythm and something broke, so that Sunday was different as most Sundays are. A schedule is always the best case scenario.
Before I started freelancing, I did have a rhythm but I forgot it and found it again and that’s what this post is about. For over a year now I only go into the day job 4 days a week at my day job and when I thought I was going to make a killing freelancing, I was only going in three days a week.
The Pressure of Rules
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Reason Not to Blog #1: There are too many rules
I almost did it. I almost didn’t write today. I woke up less than motivated. Why? Because I did not get some work done last night and I am feeling a bit guilty. see I have turned myself into a slave to hourly work again and since I care about my work it bums me out. Every hour I spend working on a project makes me more money, but the hours I need to work keep increasing. I am getting burned out on building cracker boxes.
A List of Free Tools to Keep Your Stuff in Order
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A few months ago, about the time I stopped posting so much at this blog, I ran into an issue. I had a lot of things to do and could not keep them in my head any more. That was my old method.
I tried a few things to help me out, notebook systems, online systems, software systems. However nothing really worked quite right for me, and I always ended up going to more than one place to find information when I was working and I always had more than one central control panel. I also misunderstood the meaning of the “inbox”.
The Elusive Clean Plate, Inbox Zero and Mind Like Water
Many people have one job. Nice! Many people have one job description. Also great. And it’s a place I hope to be some day. Until then, I have to pick my way through adapting productivity books to my life. These are some things I think I may have learned while trying to adapt them to a schedule of family, day job, affiliate marketing, freelancing and development.
Denial
I know this. Many things I deny at first come back to bite me in the ass. I had a lot of things on my plate and I had put them there. 2000 feeds. 85 social networks. 7 blogs.
Beating the Hare or How Not to End Up in the Mental Ward
- Image by Amanda Woodward via Flickr
I worry a lot. I worry that I don’t write posts often enough. I worry that I don’t comment enough on other blogs. I worry that I don’t make enough real comments at social networks, instead taking the easy route of quoting part of the page.
But going slow is just going slow. Yes, you can kill yourself to gain momentum or you can go at your own rate. But slip up once will you are killing yourself making sure you are keeping up with a minimum you have set up in your head, and it can send you in a tailspin. Falling short of a goal once makes the second one easier to give up on.
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