What a Sad and Sorry Life We Lead
Posted On: 2007-11-07
Many of us come into this industry because we want to be our own boss. We want to be in control and exercise some autonomy over our day to day existence. We don't want to be tied to some other person's corporate plan and we don't want to exist simply to be the puppet of some uncaring boss or manager.
So we see the lure of working from home, sitting at our computer in our pajamas, not having to shave and present well every morning as something that is just irresistible. Being in a position of generally doing our own thing in our sweet time fills our vision and we simply can't see around it. It's heaven on earth and it's the only thing we want to do ... and it's so achievable.
And when we do achieve Nirvana it's wonderful. We can work when we want, we can play when we want and if we want to wear the same clothes as we did the day before ... or even no clothes at all ... well who cares? Who is going to see us? Who is going to know what we're wearing.
And that's where the sad and sorry part of our life slowly begins to make itself apparent. If you're a solitary type of person and live alone then no one does care. No one is going to bother you just so long as you keep on paying your bills and putting out the trash. Sure you can stay in touch with people via emails and message boards ... maybe even phone calls and text messages too but is that any real life?
If you're only just starting out then it might seem quite an acceptable life style. If you've had enough of the corporate grind of never-ending meetings, countless seminars that you had to attend and daily commutes in motorized sardine cans then a solitary life might seem a wonderful alternative.
In fact it might seem like a necessity to you to preserve your sanity. Oddly enough even corporate America is beginning to see that everyone needs some solitude in their work life just to ensure that they stay productive ... but here in this industry we've taken it to the extreme. And this is one situation where the extreme is just not good for us.
Sure we might start of being very productive when we escape from the world and can enjoy the solitude that we crave. We might even be able to maintain that productivity for some years as we work by ourselves and limit our contact with other people but eventually that productivity that we enjoyed begins to slip away.
We might still be able to churn out galleries and free sites at the same rate as we did when we first began but there's more to productivity than just production levels. There's got to be a connection in our work that speaks to those that we're trying to sell to. We need to be able to talk to the people we're selling to in language and terms that they can understand and ... most importantly of all ... relate to because when we do that we make sales.
Can we do that from our modern day hermitage?
Some time ago Steve and I decided that my productivity was slipping and I needed to get out and be somewhere that would give me contact with ordinary people. That's when I started renting a desk in a friend's computer shop. For three days a week I would work down there and just talk to people who came into the shop.
That developed into much more and now we're heavily involved in the running of the shop and our mainstream business now shares space with the computer business in new premises. Even Steve is down here regularly and he's interacting with ordinary people too.
He spent many years in uniform and looked forward to the time when he could just work in whatever he felt like wearing. But even he has grown tired of being a virtual recluse and can't wait to jump into our corporate outfit and get out and meet people.
And has it improved our productivity? Well our output might have dropped somewhat but there's no doubt that our productivity has gone up ... and our enjoyment of life has increased too.
Now if you're one of those adult webmasters who have shut themselves away from the real world then it's time to take a serious look at what you're achieving in your life. Are you really a complete person or are you turning into something akin to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings?
Gollum was that funny little creature that lived in the dark, too afraid to go out into the light and live a normal life. He had once been a normal person but had shut himself away and slowly became something quite abnormal. His quality of life was destroyed and his existence was basically pointless once he lost the Ring.
Are you on the way to becoming a modern day Gollum? If you are then it's time to end your self-imposed exile from the world before it's too late; you may not turn into the twisted creature that Gollum became but you won't be the person you once were if you stay tethered to your computer.
Obviously what worked for me may not work for you. You may not be able to move in with a mainstream business but you can get out and meet with other adult webmasters. There are others all around you ... and even if you live in a small town you might be surprised at how many are within a short distance of you.
Track them down, contact them via Webmaster boards and arrange a time to get together for drinks. That's all it takes to make a start on getting in touch with the real world again. When you do that you'll find that your sad and sorry life will begin to disappear and your ability to make money will increase because you will be able to relate to people once more.