Friday, March 26th, 2010
Location Independant
When I work I usually sit at my desk and type away. However today is a little different as the car is in the garage for a yearly service and I have idle time that I “effectively” need to fill. So I am sitting in my local library on the laptop doing some research for blog posts and writing away on notepad. I have been here for around two hours and am surprised by the amount of work that I have got done. I think because i have surrounded myself in a new environment that I have been able to be more effective.
This has got me thinking of some other environments I could use to work on my laptop to work remotely.
The Library - the library can be a good environment as its silent, has plenty of power sockets and one or two books around to aid you if necessary.
The Coffee Shop – mmm if your a slave to coffee then this environment could suit.
The Wine Bar – a nice summers day, cool glass of white wine mmmm
The Park – sitting under a tree in a lovely city park may be just the trick, its amazing what fresh air can do.
The Workplace – perhaps not the greatest of surroundings, but if you have a quiet room somewhere you may be able to complete some work and miss the traffic coming home.
The Beach – another summer idea. Just be careful not to get sand on your laptop.
The Garden – a quick and easy way to get some fresh air although be carful not to get distracted.
The Airport - an unconventional place to work but you will not look out of place sitting on a chair using the laptop, there may also be internet access.
This brings be to remember a blog that I once enjoyed reading www.locationindependent.com The writers at location independent have sold there house and possessions and work remotely from laptops living the dream. They spend there life working remotely in airports, hotels and coffee shops.
mmmm, one day perhaps?
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
This Sunday morning I log onto Wordpress and open up the Mac TextEdit ready to punch away at the keyboard and I receive a comment on the Wordpress login screen, this comment was from Shane – who said:
“An insightful and articulate post! I found this informative. You provided some great tips and awesome info! Really nice post. Very good points. I hope plenty of people see it. So far this is an incredible resource for information and Ive spent a ton of time reading. Look forward to hearing from you. -Shane”
And suddenly I remember the reason for blogging and the value it can add to the internet. That one simple comment of recognition has totally made my day. Knowing that the hard work is acknowledged and recognised has put a smile on my face.
This has then got me thinking, what are the causes for the Blogging Blues and how would I overcome these in the future, below are the findings from my pondering thoughts….
Bloggers Block – I’ve never had bloggers block (writers block) but im sure it will come sometime sooner or later. especially once OhSoEfftective starts racking up the post numbers. However like today inspiration can always come in the most random way and usually from the input of the readers.
Remember why you Blog – Its always good to think back to when you first started the blog and remember all the drive and excitement you had and re capture the reasons.
Its ok not to blog every day(or even every week – oops) – Remember its not a race, it is important to add content consistently for your readers, but its also ok to have a break once in a while.
Stop updating your blog design – This is a trap im in danger of falling into when I first uploaded the blog design I totally loved it however As Andy Wahol once said “I ‘m afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning”. The more I look at my blog design the more tempted I am to tweak or change it. Not because I dont like it but because Im so used to seeing it. Sometimes you just have to sit back and say to yourself ‘leave that mouse alone!”
Work/blog balance - Lately ive had my head burred in the sand, not seeing anything past my career life. I personally need to take a step back and ask myself how can i achieve the work life balance while still maintaining superstar performance at work? watch this space for more info….
Where are my comments – Todays comment really opened my eyes that comments will not come over night but they will come. I need to take a step back and stop reviewing my stats and stick to the basics of building a blog by writing great content and putting myself out there in the blogging community.
Manage your own expectations – For me I review my progress against the top bloggers. This can be great because it gives me good role models to aspire to however it can also be demotivating when there post a blog post and get indexed within seconds and receive ten thousand comments within hours. I must take a step back to ensure I dont get de-floated and remember that success was never built overnight.
Id like to thank all my readers, because it is the contribution from the audience that makes the whole journey worthwhile.
Posted in Blogging | No Comments »
