reflections

It seems like shortly after writing a post with the words “my workload is about to ease” a tonne of new projects land on my lap! I’m not complaining of course - I like to keep myself busy - but my head seems to be throbbing more often than not…

I think I should be honest with you all though… I’ve spent the last couple of weeks seriously considering retiring from blogging. I just don’t seem to have the commitment or spare time to make this journal as successful as it once was.

Ironically it was my birthday today, meaning that it’s been a whole year since I blogged for the very first time. So much has changed in the last 12 months though - from testing positive for HD to the launch of Britster, and everything in between.

I guess the bottom line here is that I’m not really sure what to do with this blog. All I know is that I don’t intend to spend the next six months sporadically posting comeback messages - that’s just not fair to the people who take the time to visit! Perhaps I should buckle to pressure and monetise the site - maybe the promise of financial reward will help me focus? Or perhaps all it needs is a visual reboot..?

I need some opinions here… Have you ever considered dropping your blog? How do you keep your interest? What do you think I should do??

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Wow… It barely feels like a couple of weeks have passed since I last posted here - but in reality it’s been almost two and a half months. It’s amazing how quickly time passes when you’ve got your head buried in projects. Read the rest of this entry »

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When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the two pints of beer.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly, and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed again that it was. Read the rest of this entry »

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I’m back.

It seems like ages since I was last typing a blog post. It reality of course, it’s been less than a month - but I’ve always found the speed at which the Blogosphere (and Internet in general) moves a little disproportionate to the rest of life anyway!

So what to write about then? I’ve drafted several posts during the last two weeks, but none of them seemed worthy of the comeback piece I was looking for. Then it occurred to me: I may never get back into a writing routine at all if I keep searching for that illusive perfect post. So I decided just to write something, and I hope that it helps me to slip gently back into my blogging groove!

As you may have gathered, I’ve been rather busy since I last wrote! I’ve been working on the beast that is Britster, created several websites for one marketing company, another site for a different marketing company, eight commercial HTML newsletter templates, a site for a paving company, developed my own digital mixing application and started writing a book. Not bad for a month away eh?

I’ve really missed all the friends I’ve made through blogging though, but I’ve been reading all my favourite blogs via RSS so I haven’t missed out on everything that’s been going on! It’s been hard though - not having the time to comment, answer tag memes, or respond to guest blogging opportunities. On the plus side, I’ve managed to gain about a hundred new feed subscribers during my absence - thanks for your support, whoever you are!

And as I rapidly approach this blog’s six-month anniversary, I’ve begun to really appreciate everything that blogging has given me - from the friends and useful business contacts, to food for thought and raucous laughter. It’s been an exciting journey - and long may it continue to be!

What does the future hold for this blog then? Well, I’ve got loads of ideas for articles (making inspirational notes while working means that I have a long list now), and I intend to write about them on a regular basis. I’ve still got lots of paid work to do (the next month is dedicated to a core rewrite for Britster, and getting the site live on November 1st) - but I’m going to be making time for my blogging too.

Thank you to everybody who’s sent messages of encouragement, or joined my feed, or commented on posts, or simply waited for me to sort it out! Your support is truly appreciated, and I promise you that it isn’t misplaced!

Here’s to the future…

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It seems so long ago, but there was once a time when I was a true corporate worker: suited, booted, and driven by the businesses that I worked for. I rode the dotcom boom like a cowboy on a stallion!

I’ve never really understood the need for office politics though, and I remember spending a great deal of time biting my lip during executive board meetings, out of fear for saying something that would end up coming back to haunt me, and because it helped my career aspirations at the time to do so.

I certainly wasn’t prone to saying stupid things though, and I’d never have dreamt of stating facts that weren’t true - unlike some of my peers at the time. What I had was a tendency to ignore established office hierarchies, and a desire to tell people exactly what I thought of them.

Fortunately though, my anti-establishment comments ended up not mattering at all, like many of life’s little problems seem to do. The companies in question ended up being bought up for vast amounts of money, or (more often) they went gurgling down the drain - and I moved to much greener pastures.

I’ve learnt a lot since those days, and the connection between my mouth and my brain is now much more reliable. I don’t think that there’s much point in censoring myself though. As a Freelancer, there’s far fewer people to offend!

So which is worse: saying what you mean to somebody at the risk of offending them, or shutting-up for the sake of keeping the peace? I think that less damage is done by speaking your mind, than by clamping your jaw shut all day long. What about you?

Thanks to the following people for their valued comments on my recent posts: Damien King, Tara @ GDB, Paul B, Aaron, Vivienne Quek, Calvin Warr, Marc Rapp, Charity, Brad, LaurenMarie, Small Potato, Matt Foster, Asgeir, Lene, Scot Smith and Sunny @ HSO.

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