I recently came across a video by Jon Larkowski entitled, “The Way I Get Things Done,” in which he outlines his personal productivity system. He offered several useful tips for increasing productivity, but the two phrases that really stuck out to me were that you need to firewall your time and guard your attention.
Time is our most precious resource, and how we spend it ultimately determines how successful we are in life and business. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week I woke up to find that my partner had rearranged my home office. She spent the better part of the morning turning it into our home office.
I shouldn’t have been surprised — I’d told her earlier in the week that we might become more productive if we work near each other. At that time it was merely a suggestion. I didn’t think that one day I would just wake up and find it a reality. Read the rest of this entry »
Being a web worker can mean learning to handle many facets of running a small business, including dealing with difficult clients, which can often be one of the biggest frustrations that come with the territory.
But how do you know if your clients are abusing you? Here are a few telltale signs and tips for how to fix and avoid these situations. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s a strange thing, but in times like these, when prospective clients have fewer dollars to spend and when there’s more competition in the marketplace due to higher unemployment rates, instinctive responses have a tendency to take over our business decisions.
Recently, it’s been much easier to work from a place of desperation, taking every opportunity that comes our way and doing every marketing tactic imaginable to maintain a contracting sales pipeline. Suddenly, the “fight or flight” reaction becomes almost routine, an up and down roller coaster ride that started as an attempt to keep our businesses afloat during these tough times. Read the rest of this entry »
nim·ble : quick and light in motion; marked by quick, alert, clever conception, comprehension, or resourcefulness.
Being a web worker has its advantages, and one of the biggest is that you can build a very adaptable and nimble business. Here are a few of the ways we stay flexible.
Web workers hear about developments and opportunities immediately.
The good thing about working online all day is that you have access to information as soon as it becomes available, making it easy to keep a finger on your competitors’ and customers’ pulses and adjust your services and business offerings accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
Starting a business can be a huge undertaking, but fortunately for the aspiring web worker, it doesn’t have to be. The really great thing about starting a web working business is that getting set up can be easy and low cost.
You don’t need a fancy set-up. You can get by with a few basic necessities (in most cases, a computer, an Internet connection, a web site and maybe some business cards).
You don’t need to quit your day job. You can keep working at your current job until your web work picks up enough to support you. Read the rest of this entry »
Web working is not for everybody. Those who do it tend to have traits and personalities that fit the web working life. For others, it means making sacrifices they don’t want to make. “I don’t really understand why people would like to work at home. It’s like reducing to the minimum (almost nothing) the barrier between professional and private life,” comments Chris on Georgina’s recent post, “How To Ask the Boss If You Can Work Remotely.”
In interviewing people in web working careers, one fact is clear: Many of us share similar specs beyond motivation and organization. I asked some web working colleagues what it takes to make a successful web worker. Do you have the right components to become a fine-tuned web worker machine? Read the rest of this entry »
In the web world, we tend to associate the word “agile” with software development, but in this ever-changing world, it’s not a bad idea to apply the basic principles of agility to our busy professional lives. Does this mean you have to be some kind of superhero to manage a lifestyle like ours? I think not.
This is what a day in my hectic life looks like — a never-ending game of Tetris (in which colored blocks are work and black are non-work). It’s probably a lot like yours, but with different labels:
Read the rest of this entry »
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
