Some days I wake up and I’m disappointed with myself. I know what I want to do and how to do it, but I often fall back on the whole ‘I have no time’ thing. And yes, I am busy, but I also waste a lot of my spare time by doing things that aren’t very productive. For example, I’m a member of a reviewing site which pays peanuts. I barely write on there anymore, but I still read a lot of reviews. Sometimes it’s moderately useful, particularly if I’m considering buying something. Mostly it’s for the sake of something to read and taking a quick break. But instead of reading reviews, I could be reading an article on something which is actually valuable to me. Yeah, I know, ‘All work and no play’ and all that, but I need to define my work and life boundaries a lot better. I’ve always struggled with that for one reason or another.
For example, a chunk of my job involves being on Facebook and Twitter. On the surface it seems great, and it usually is, but it means that my personal stuff and work stuff get really mixed up. In my news feed I’ll have my friends’ updates, but I’ll also have competitor updates as well as those from work-related pages such as SEO, marketing and various other things. So it’s actually quite difficult to relax on Facebook (and also results in strange mixes of info because I like everything from ‘Phineas and Ferb’ to ‘Known Issues on Facebook’ and have friends ranging from ‘got pregnant at 16’ to ‘Oxford graduate entrepreneur’). Don’t get me wrong, I know how lucky I am with my job, but it’s impossible to switch off. To be honest, it’s rare that I want to switch off anyway because I’m always wired up about the web and reading stuff and optimising stuff and getting involved. Working for a web host has completely exacerbated that, but another side effect is that it’s made me a hell of a lot better at my job. Several of the big UK hosts have copied my/our ideas, which is pretty flattering. Our Twitter followers are engaged to a much higher extent than average, and our reach is much higher than average too. It makes all the difference having a strong team and strong management that are on the same level, and just being able to get on with stuff.
But from a personal perspective, my sites don’t represent what I know or what I can do so much. It’s kind of my fault for buying quite a few domain names at once and not finishing with the development of them properly. Sally asked if I would share any links (thanks for your lovely comment by the way Sal!), and the only one which is shareable at the moment is http://www.singleshot.co.uk. It doesn’t have many of my photos on as yet, but I’ve scheduled one daily. My aim is to move all my decent photos from the photo gallery here across to the site eventually, but I’m starting with brand new photos so there are no duplicates.
I think what I need to do is to write out a proper schedule for my personal sites to get them up and finished. I’m also considering ditching my Twitter account because it’s so messy and I don’t want my sites to all be associated with the ‘blossom.nu’ label. It’s going to continue being a personal blog and content site, but I want to push the Jenniness of it. It’s all about personal branding.
I’m officially boring. I’m actually completely addicted to the Internet now, to the extent that I occasionally avoid making plans with people so I can spend more time on my sites. It’s pathetic :mrgreen:
4 Comments
Hehe, well, for me, I hate that there’s no work/life balance when you have a career in technology. It’s good that you like that work never shuts off, but I need a break from work, or else it’s so hard to stay productive when I actually work. I don’t really have any advice for you, since you like having work as your life. But I think having a work/life balance helps you, healthwise. But if you can fit everything into your day and get 7-9 hours of sleep, then kudos to you! :) Good luck, Jenni, and I’m always here if you ever need to talk, or even vent. :)
24/08/2011 at 11:16 pmWell I can relate to a lot of what you’re saying, as I to would like to make more use of skills and talents in a less worky-way, except when I have the opportunity, I apparently would rather do nothing! Either way it’s life in-front of the screen—and usually involves wasting times/procrastinating on easy things like reading reviews?! ..or scoping Twitter. I even started reading a post somewhere on how I might get away with less sleep.
I seldom have to use Facebook for work, but I found creating a separate professional Twitter account to be liberating in many ways. My initial thoughts were it would be a complete pain in the arse to setup—and it was, however it keeps work contacts and personal contacts separate and means I don’t have to censor what I say and I can go home without seeing any remnants of the days work follow me around.
If you do find a good solution, let me know.
24/08/2011 at 11:52 pmthanks for sharing the link! once again I’m inspired to get back to webdesign, just need a better laptop/not a netbook to do it on!
27/08/2011 at 8:18 pmCouldn’t you create two separate FB accounts? one for work and one that’s personal? i have one for family (like my mum and brother) and another personal one which they don’t see and it seems to work quite well :)
I can relate to most of this post. I spend way too much time doing useless crap to be an effective person. I get down on myself all the time about it! How is this stupid internet so addicting? I use it like it’s going to be gone tomorrow. I’m hoping that as I enter the “big girl world” that I’ll be able to break my ties to hours and hours of facebook every day. As for the “personalness” of blogging, good luck! I am trying that this time around, too. I’m going to write about what makes me happy and try not to see of it as a ‘task’ but rather a fun, daily activity!
12/09/2011 at 7:04 pm