My biggest problem with online work
Is finding the golden middle road. You see, here in Norway we have an expression that says that you should always try to find the golden middle road, and I have a problem with that when in comes to online work. I’m very much a guy who either goes all in, or just scratch it altogether, and that’s how I am with online work as well.
If I don’t leave the computer alone, I find myself spending way too much time in front of it “working”. The things I do are more often than not really not crucial to my projects. I check my email, talk with people on my IM list, and read through blogs and other websites to stay on top of things. Of course, this is all good and well, but not when I spend so much time on it that it affects all the other parts of my life, including University and my socializing.
I am aware that I’m not the only who feels like this, and it is also the reason why I sometimes drop completely off the radar online. I am also fully aware of the fact that if I want to really succeed online, this is something I need deal fully deal with, because disappearing for weeks, even if it is because of internet fatigue (did I just coin a new buzzword?), is not acceptable.
So the point of this post is really just to ask those of you who are reading this how you deal with these things, and avoid being stricken down by internet fatigue? Is it even possible to maintain a somewhat active social life while being an “internet entrepreneur” (I don’t love that word) ? My best guess is that it boils down to being productive with your time infront of the computer, but I want to know what your suggestions are! Once I start up with a new project, I might even make this somewhat of a case study, to see if I’m able to do cope with these issues.
4 responses to this article :
I’ve wrestled with this some myself. There’s so much on the internet one can do and see that it’s easy to get lost. It’s enough to give anyone ADD. The way I’ve always thought I should try to handle this is to establish certain objectives, piece meal, that I want to achieve between a very strict timeframe so as to force myself to focus only on a particular task. Then set aside time (maybe a whole day of the week) to avoid the internet altogether and go out and socialize. But as I said I’ve only thought about it. It could work in theory.
Someone should make software that manages certain times of the day that your internet connection is available, what programs you can use, and what sites you can visit thereby forcing you to stick to a schedule. Either that or we’ll just have to make do with good old fashioned discipline :P.
Oh well.
by Kirk / on August 10th, 2007, 9:07 am / permalink
Good suggestions Kirk, and I do believe you’re on to something. Establishing firm schedules and always focus on timeframes while you’re on the computer is probably the most effective way to go about it. Of course, like you said, it has to be executed as well
And yeah, someone should definitely make that piece of software, without a disabling function!
by Lars-Christian / on August 10th, 2007, 10:47 pm / permalink
[...] Christian - My biggest problem with online work The point of productivity is often discussed with online work. When you’re at your computer, [...]
by Saturday links - 18th August / on August 18th, 2007, 10:56 pm / permalink
This is why you are supposed to write your blog posts by hand and then just give them to your secretary. Do you mean to say you haven’t been doing this?
by Peter Cruickshank / on September 20th, 2007, 5:20 pm / permalink
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