This is going to be a two-topic posting, and a little more social life oriented than most of my posts because it’s important to remember that no matter what you’re trying to build and accomplish with your online business you have to also keep a balance in your life with family and other non-work related activities or your business will suffer.
It’s easy–especially if you’re working online or from home full time–to put in 10, 12, 14 hour or longer days with your business. Sometimes it’s necessary when you have a major project and a deadline to meet. But it you let these long days become your normal schedule, which I’ve done myself in the past and justified by saying “I’m building something here and it’ll all pay off in the future”, eventually it takes a mental and physical toll on you…and then your efforts can do more harm than good for your business because you’ll lose focus and make mistakes.
I make sure to devote substantial time to family and friends now. I also make sure to give myself some free time too, away from the office. One way I do this is with a garden. I come from a family of farmers. My grandparents had their farm stolen by the city of Pittsburgh under the guise of “eminent domain” to make way for a highway to be built just before I was born. The highway project was halted after 20 feet of concrete had been poured, and to this day (almost 40 years later) the land that was their farm remains vacant.
They were relocated into an urban city neighborhood and their livelihood taken away. My grandfather went to work for the railroad, and my grandmother made the best of what they had in the only way she knew how, she turned their small back yard into a large family garden.
She grew corn, tomatoes, green beans, onions, egg plant, cucumbers (which she pickled herself). She also had a peach tree and grape vines; from which she would make her own jam and wine.
As a young boy I spent a lot of time helping her tend the garden. I’d turn the soil in spring, help plant the seeds, harvest the ripe pickings and so on. These are some of my best childhood memories, and so when I was looking for a way to spend time away from work for myself I decided to do the same thing with my yard. I now grow everything gradma did, except the grapes and peaches, and have added Jalapeno peppers to my vegetable list as well.
Having a large garden which requires a little attention almost every day for three quarters of the year forces me to leave the office at reasonable times. It prevents me from allowing work to consume my life, and helps keep my mind sharp and fresh on a daily basis in my opinion. In fact, some of my best ideas come to me while I’m in the garden pulling weeds and trying not to think about work. Oh, and just as I always make sure I have the right tools for a web project, I also always make sure I have the right garden accessories to work with too.
Do yourself a favor early on in your business planning and creation, and include some non-work time for yourself on a regular basis into the design. I just can’t stress enough what a benefit this will ultimately turn out to be for you.
Part two of this posting is for a quick mention of a short animation I helped to create. My younger brother runs a Hollywood Films site that I helped him create, and we recently decided it would be fun to make some silly short animations together. A way for both of us to spend time together–not actually working.
The idea we came up with was a fictional day-time talk show with Dr. Phil interviewing and analyzing celebrity guests. Neither of us are artists, but it was a ton of fun learning to use various animation software and creating, and it didn’t turn out too bad.
The first webisode has Jack Nicholson as the celebrity guest and I submit it for your approval:
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