The more focused I am, the more I realize that my job isn’t truly about design or project management. My job is about identifying and solving problems. And that’s the thing I love the most about doing my job.
What’s your job really about?
The second half of this last week was occupied by Marty’s birthday, so there were plenty of goings-on to take the place of cold hard productivity. Today, after a solid six hours of catching up, I was chatting with Angel about the effect social weekends have on me. A weekend without working, to me, is somehow like being denied food — by Monday morning, I’m perishing of malnutrition and that first good half hour of accomplishment is like my first meal in ages.
And so on any given Monday, especially today, I feel increasing amounts of relief, such relief! Yes, work can get old and I must always be careful not to burn myself out, but I pine all weekend for Monday morning. When I’m back at my desk, fueling the machine… that’s better than caffeine.
And you know how I feel about caffeine.
In the last eight years I’ve come across a huge amount of excellent entrepreneurial reading material, in which I am particularly interested (as you may know)! I get excited when a conversation turns to business theory, the how and why of starting your own thing, the energy it takes to manifest exactly what you need — it’s awesome. But for the most part, I’ve really skipped over the anti 9-to-5 bits. I didn’t really need them, and during the brief time they were pertinent I had other problems to solve.
It always bugs me that I skip things. I love taking in all this information, and skipping over anything feels like losing the whole picture. I remind myself (constantly) that a human being can only read so much in a lifetime, and that’s how it goes.
So I bet you can imagine how I felt when I found out, this week, that a friend of mine is thinking seriously of getting rid of her 9-to-5 job… and working from home. This is going to be fun, I think to myself! Suddenly, all those links and passages I’ve been skipping are relevant. I have so much catching up to do! Not only do I have a great reason to start paying attention, but someone will actually be able to use what I find — and I’ll get to watch what happens! I’ve been living the business-from-scratch dream, struggling to get it right with all the time in the world but no backup stream of income… and now I get to live the anti 9-to-5 dream, having the benefit of previous income, limited time and all, vicariously, through my friend! That’s what I’m so excited about.
I’m such a goon sometimes.
Anyway! I decided to make a list. These are the resources that seem absolutely pertinent to the start of any similar endeavor. It’s not very long, but I know that this handful of resources will help my friend (and maybe you, too!).
When reading Alex Beauchamp’s blog, I always suggest starting at the beginning. I discovered Alex at precisely the right moment in my entrepreneurial development and reading about her creative genesis did amazing things for me. When you start from the beginning, you get to read about how she left her corporate career to be an at-home creative freelancer, and watch her build it from the ground up — it’s awesome, and she has some incredible insight. She made me feel real when I was starting Virtual Magpie again from scratch, and her ideas opened spaces in my brain that I don’t think I’d ever used before! She really makes you believe that “impossible” things are absolutely, 100% possible, and gives out a lot of tips along the way.
(While we’re on the subject of Alex Beauchamp, she also has an Amazon store I want to take a closer look at — I have typically gotten great recommendations from her, and her judgment is excellent.)
I found this book originally because Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon recommended it at Boss Lady, but it’s one of the things I never picked up because I was concentrating book-buying money on resources that were super-pertinent to my situation — and I’m not bucking a nine-to-fiver. Despite that, I’ve been coveting it, and Boss Lady is another resource of mine that always results in great recommendations.
I have a hunch that this is an excellent book for new entrepreneurs who are currently working regular jobs, with solid practical information about getting started. (If you buy this, can I borrow it?)
Besides all of that, Michelle Goodman keeps a blog on the same subject, and that’s bound to come in handy.
Okay — don’t let the title throw you. (In fact, if you can manage it, let it inspire the bejesus out of you!) This book is one of the best things I have on my shelf, and that’s despite the fact that it contained a lot of information that wasn’t completely pertinent to me when I read it — convincing your boss to let you work from home, for instance. The things Tim has to say are absolutely spot-on and anyone thinking of working from home should seriously consider the material in this book. It’s really good stuff, with actual instructions on how to get what you want.
Tim also has a blog that, as a chaser to his book, is delicious stuff, and all kinds of extra material. Dude. Read this book.
In addition to those, the Boss Lady resources section has a ton of great material. If you’re looking for more on the Impossible -> Possible front, Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxie Maltz
If the whole idea has you just plain freaking out but you intend to do it anyway (you can do it!), I suggest How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie
Er, so that’s it! I hope it helps!
I’m getting to the point in my work schedule where I will have openings very soon—probably as quickly as next month, in fact. If you know someone who may be interested in having web or print work done, now would be an awesome time to introduce us. This imminent period of eminent productivity is likely to fill up fast, so please let me know if you’ve got something in mind! :}
If you’re not quite sure how to go about introductions, here’s a crash course. This is what I use to make connections between connections, so feel free to copy shamelessly. ;}
====== New Message ======
Date: Today
From: You
To: Someone You Know
Cc: megan@virtualmagpie.com (Me)Hello there, Person of My Acquaintance!
I seem to recall that you mentioned an interesting project to me when we met at so-and-so’s, and I realized that I have a friend who has openings for projects next month — so I’m writing you this note to introduce you to each other!
Person of My Acquaintance, meet Megan; Megan, meet Person!
Megan is a web-focused graphic designer. I was telling her a bit about you the other day and it really sounds like you could do great work together. Megan runs a fabulous development company called Virtual Magpie Design and I bet she could do great things with your project!
Megan,
Here’s some information about this fabulous associate of mine, and here’s what she’s looking for! She has always been a joy to work with and I have a feeling you can really help her out.
I hope this introduction causes something wonderful to happen! I’ve copied Megan on this email to connect you to each other, but please let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.
Cheers!
Your Name====== End New Message ======
PS. I am likely to be properly grateful. Try me!