I have been reading The Four Hour Work Week lately. It takes a while. I get a half hour in here and ten minutes there, but I will get through it. It has made me take a hard look at my habits.
A lot of my time is spent checking sales, checking stats, checking for comments on my blog and checking my email. I could make it a career. And sometimes I get stuck in a loop where that is all I do. I call it cycling. A little voice in my head tells me, "I’m cycling again." But it’s mainly an observation. I still continue.
Instead of moving forward, I am looking at the results of the past over and over again. It’s a lottery mentality. Maybe there will be a comment that makes my day. Maybe I will make a $1,000,000 sale. Maybe I just got 500 hits in a hour.
It’s something I observed before reading the book, but the book basically gave me the freedom to recognize it for what it is.
I also do a lot of checking before I write my post in the morning. The same things can happen there. I could have a bad sales day and that will color what I write. I could have a bad comment and that could effect my words. I could have a hosting issue that is so important to fix right now when I just spent the last 24 hours away from the internet.
So today, I opened up Live Writer and started typing. No other software is running. "But what if I need a link or a picture?" That is the cycler. He wants to continue running around in loops. If I need a link or picture, I can wait until the writing is done.
I used to do the same with affiliate marketing. I would do a lot of busy work. Then I started blogging. That effectively trimmed my affiliate marketing down to about 8 hours a week, less than I had before. I fought this for a while. Blogging was making me nothing. Affiliate marketing paid the bills.
Then I noticed something. I had hit a plateau in sales for a couple of years. I kept trying to get more hours to do the work, but never really broke through to more sales. Since blogging has cut a chunk out of the time for my affiliate work though, my monthly sales have steadily increased to 166% of what they were during the last two years. By taking away some of it’s time for blogging.
Sometimes all a book is supposed to do is give you the freedom to see the things right in front of your eyes. Now when this is posted, I may still have the same freak outs, the same emails and the same stats checking. But this post is done.
Bruce Hollingdrake
Great post Stephan.
You are describing a lot of bloggers, myself included. I should calculate how much time I spend a week looking at stats and sales, it would probably encourage me to spend my time more productively.
I’d love to hear more about that book. How is it?
I just finished reading The Dip by Godin. Great book for someone going through the Dip as I am with my 3 year old book store. It’s an encouraging book. Helps you to focus and keep pushing..
Bruce
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Stephan Miller
The book is good. I think a lot of the things I read in it were said before, but the change in point of view or even one word can make the difference in a book that gets to you and one that just becomes more material to shuffle around in your brain.
I read Zen To Done to organize. The 4 Hour Workweek gives you the skills you need to prioritize. Lists are great but you need to know what your goals are first and if what you are doing is leading you to them. And this book does it with a sledgehammer.
Mirjam
Hi Stephan!
It is good to see many bloggers go through the same thing. I just got my post online and it is touching a bit the same thing you are adressing here. I know the “cycling mode” you are referring to, almost like running on autopilot keeping yourself busy all day. Checking back in every so often to see if somebody has commented, and all the other things we get obsessed with at times.
When I woke up this morning and checked my feed stats, it turned out they were all on 0! After the initial shock of seeing an empty stat screen, I tried to dismiss it as a glitch, but it stayed in the back of my mind, worrying the hell out of me, what if….?
Luckily a friend called inviting me for breakfast so I went out to refresh my mind and had a great conversation, putting things back into perspective.
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Stephan Miller
I spent the whole day away from the computer yesterday. The distance helped me see the issues.
Joyful Digesting
Cycling is as good a word as any. I find myself doing the same thing – getting hung up on watching my stats and watching the market and whatnot instead of actually spending time working on new things. I do catch myself and think “hey I could be spending this time adding more content for the future” but nope, it’s easier to just sit and overanalyze. I’m working on breaking the habit – got any tips?
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Djakson Cleber
I know the feeling, “prioritize” is my main concern. Instead of look at my stats, I should spend more time with my younger son. He gives me the break that I need.
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BillyWarhol
I like the 4HWW book – more than anything I was impressed by what Tim Ferriss had accomplished + it makes me wanna Drive a New Audi R8!!
Actually I have to Refocus – I got 2008 off to a Strong Start following some Tips in da Book + then like every other New Years Rez i’ve ever had I got sidetracked* Time to step outside my safe zone + make something Happen*
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Stephan Miller
Joyful,
I use drastic methods to break habits. Maybe block your stats site for a while until it’s out of your system. Check this post out: http://www.johnchow.com/killer-writing-strategies-to-make-boat-loads-of-money-online/
I downloaded dark room for those days I am sidetracked by everything.
Djakson,
I have been taking more breaks lately on the weekends. It helps.
Billy,
I have safe zones everywhere. That is my biggest problem.
theregoesdave
Stephan- I’ve found myself cycling through all my information feeds to no end as well! I’ve been thinking about ways to prevent myself from getting stuck in an infinite loop. When I sit down with a specific goal inmind, I can often get through it before circling back through my stats and social profiles.
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Stephan Miller
I think it’s like quitting smoking, which I am an expert at after doing it three times. The potential is always there. You just have to remember that and fight it however you can whenever you can.
Jennifer
Stephan,
I am completely there with you. I should be finishing a term paper, but even now I’m in one of my “cycling” phases..reading new blog posts.
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Marcus Hochstadt
First thing I did after (or while) reading the 4HWW was reducing my e-mail time from checking every 2 minutes down to twice a day. This alone saved me at least two hours per day.
Hmmm… I’m still working way too many hours though. Seems I filled that time with some other crap… :-/ Maybe I shall read that book again?
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Stephan Miller
I have actually stuck to this schedule since the post. I turn on the computer and write. And then I have tasks listed by priority after that. Of course, laziness beats priority sometimes no matter how hard I try. But it’s better.
Tantus Feeldoe
This book is fantastic! It gives hope to cubicle dwellers that there is a way out. The best message in this book is how we are totally governed by our fears of the unknown and how these fears keep us complacent and in the face of unhappiness or, worse, apathy. My hats off to Tim Ferriss for some truly original ideas in a world of reworked thoughts.