Business Monday

Finding the fun by changing directions

by JimRaffel on February 11, 2013

Which Way

Sometimes the activities you love pursuing, writing in my case, become less fun than they once were. When that happens it’s time to look for a new direction to take your passion in. Most recently I’ve published on this site about once a week, and frankly even that has started to be an effort. It often feels like I’m telling the same stories, just in different ways. So, it’s time for a change.

Changing directions

Last week I conceived of and began a new writing project. There will be a website and blog that goes along with the project but it’s just getting off the ground so it’s premature to discuss it in any detail. I’m not going to stop writing I’m just going to take my writing in a different direction. The new topic is one I have 25 years of subject matter expertise in.

If you find yourself in a similar circumstance the only words of wisdom I can offer are, to search for an area you are both passionate about and already have significant subject mater expertise in. For example, when I write on this blog about business issues, I have credibility because I’ve successfully run a business for going on 20 years. What I’ve come to realize is there is an area related to my business that I have also been successful at for almost 25 years.

Finding the fun

I love business but lately at the end of a long week the last thing I want to do is write about that which has occupied my brain all week. Last Fall I learned the lesson of stepping away from your work sometimes, as I reconnected with my hobby being an automobile enthusiast. And no the new topic is not cars and Audis. That’s a very crowded space and one in which my subject matter expertise is lacking at the moment. Maybe in 5 or 10 years I can pursue that topic.

As you look for your own change in direction the key is to look close to home. When you figure out what your new focus is going to be, I suspect you’ll be as surprised as I was how close and obvious the choice is. Finding the fun in your direction change can be tricker, but I can tell you when I did there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to at least give this a shot.

So, I’ll still be writing here, I’m just not certain of the frequency. I suspect as the new project gets off the ground there will be plenty to write about that doesn’t belong over there. As the new project gets closer to launch readers here will be among the first to know!

Newsletter update

If you want to be one of the first to know about the new project be sure to subscribe to my updated newsletter list. Since I won’t be publishing here as frequently, I’ll also push each new post to you as an email. I’m using Mailchimp now, so it will always be easy to unsubscribe if I start overfilling your inbox.
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Be more productive; get the monkey off your back

by JimRaffel on January 28, 2013

Monkey on your Back?

You know those tasks you keep putting off, that if you just completed would stop being a daily annoyance and draining on productivity? This post is about a willingness to take a break from the day-to-day grind and spend some time on those tasks that will increase your long-term productivity and perhaps also give you peace of mind. Last week, I took a day to organize my workspace and secure a much needed reliable auto to replace an aging one. Those are the kinds of monkeys you want to get off you back.

Knowing when it’s time

The workspace organization happened when I couldn’t find a book that I wanted to read to solve a current problem. After spending 10 minutes looking, I got fed up and just decided to clear my morning and organize my entire portion of our home office. It’s not that my office and desk were a real mess; but it had not been properly organized in about a year. In a few hours, I was able to throw a lot away and get things back the way I like them. I now feel better about sitting down to my desk because I know where everything is and I have plenty of open workspace for multiple projects again.

The car, on the other hand, had been letting us know for the last several months that it wasn’t going to make it much longer. Both my wife and I will be traveling a fair amount in the coming months and we wanted to make sure the car she and our son share would be a reliable way for him to get to school and work. We decided financially we could finally replace the vehicle without it being a real drain on the monthly budget. So instead of waiting for the car to die on the side of the road, we took the afternoon off and got the car replaced.

In one day, I was able to get two pretty big monkeys off my back.

Monkey free working is more productive

In the days since I resolved the messy desk syndrome, I’ve found myself less likely to feel the need to work from a coffee shop. I’ve set the desk up so one surface is always clear of messy clutter. That’s where the current project I’m working on goes – and ONLY the current project. It’s like a table at a coffee shop. It allows me to focus on a single task for as long as I need to. Plus, I know I can find what I’m looking for quickly with organized cabinets and file drawers.

As for the car, I won’t worry about a call like I got last month while at an important business dinner. The car had in fact died on the side of the road and needed to be towed in for service. Now no car is perfect; but at least I know we have the most reliable piece of transportation our family could afford.

With the monkeys off my back, I have peace of mind that I can work without distraction, find what I need when I need to and that my wife and son can get where they need to go when they need to be there.

How did I get the monkeys off my back?

The method I used to get the monkeys off my back was simple really. I gave myself permission to work on tasks that while they would not contribute directly to the company bottom line would improve my productivity over time. The six or seven hours I invested will easily be recouped in the next 30 days, and then in future months those become extra hours I can use to get more done or spend more time with my family. Those choices we all get to make individually.

I’d love to hear how you get monkeys off your back and which ones are clinging on now that you’d love to be rid of. Leave a comment and let me know!

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Why professionalism is key to success

January 21, 2013

Last week’s travels included lodging in two Hilton family hotels on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. In both properties, the staff exhibited a willingness to go above and beyond what one would expect to make sure your stay was exceptional. This is an elusive quality that I find difficult to define but clearly understand [...]

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A tale of data vs. information as learned from a journalist

January 14, 2013

This is a tale about why you want a former journalist in your organization if communication is any part of what you do. And if you aren’t communicating, I’d really like to know how you’re making any money, but that’s another topic entirely. Color Geek Meets Dyed In The Wool Journalist Two years ago this [...]

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Change the world with your 2013 plan

January 7, 2013

This is my first blog post of 2013 and as I first did in 2011 and then again in 2012, I am sharing the three words that frame my personal and business plan for this year. Two years of watching these three word sketches become reality is proof enough for me that goals and plans [...]

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Why Education is a Marketing Strategy

December 30, 2012

I sell technical services to folks that typically have limited knowledge of the services we provide. It would be easy to call our prospective customers stupid or ignorant; but that’s certainly not the case and is not going to help us sell more of our services. In fact, it would quite likely have the reverse [...]

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The yin and yang of Passion

December 24, 2012

Any goals you’re pursuing that are not driven by passion, I’d argue are not worth pursuing at all. Since passion has many meanings, let’s start with this one from the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Passion(emotion): intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction In my own words, passion is that inner drive to be part of something or [...]

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Your 2013 Footprints

December 17, 2012

What do you and/or your brand look like to the outside world? Two sets of decisions you make now will have a profound effect on how the world sees you in 2013. Where will you leave digital footprints and where will you leave footprints in the more traditional sense? Your footprints A month ago when [...]

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Blaze Your Own Trail

December 10, 2012

If you give a shit about being popular and liked by the masses, then this post is not for you. But I sure hope you don’t read this blog looking for advice on how to be “normal.” On the other hand, if your goal is to be successful on your own terms, then let’s get [...]

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How To Grow Your Business by Repurposing Your Platform

December 3, 2012

Ultimately to be a successful business with ongoing revenues, you need to build a platform. Wal-Mart, love ‘em or hate ‘em, has a platform for distributing products to consumers. It could be argued no business has ever done that better than them. Twitter has a platform that facilitates human communication and provides revenue opportunities in [...]

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