I’m learning a lesson as I build my business here, and I have a feeling I’m in good company. I’ve been making good progress on my client work, but my own sites have been… neglected.
It’s really a bit embarrassing. Here I am, promoting myself as a writer and a blogger, while my poor blogs sit there with just one post a week, in desperate need of a design facelift as well. This post you’re reading now? It’s been percolating in my mind since last Thursday, but I never sat here to write it until today. Tuesday.
I need to do something about this.
Schedule Time for Personal Projects
It’s time to take that handy little planner my husband made me get, and schedule time to write my own stuff, as if I was a client. I don’t want to short-change my clients, so I’ll be putting in “overtime” to get my own blog posts written. It’s going to take a little while to get in the habit of thinking of my own projects as client work, but I realize that it has to be done. Otherwise, I’m a bit of a hypocrite for suggesting other people do the same.
Why bother with scheduling time for personal projects? I’m looking at it this way: I want to gain some more self-sufficiency. My own blogs aren’t bringing in more than a what my Grandpa used to call “pizza money,” but with a little time and effort, I think I can change that. I may be doing well with client work right now, but what happens if that work dries up? I need a back up plan.
It would be nice if my own projects eventually become successful enough to take the place of writing for clients. It’s a goal, but not one I’m pinning all of my hopes on. I am, after all, a writer and not a marketer. Oh, I know, I’ve worked for a marketing company, but I did what I do best, and other people did the actual marketing work. The Internet isn’t exactly a place where “If you build it, they will come” applies. I suppose that learning about how this whole marketing thing works will be something like company-sponsored training, where I’m sponsoring myself!
Who else is in the same boat I’m in? If you’re great at working on client projects but not your own, join me in an effort to treat yourself like a client. Schedule some time every day – or several times a week – to work on projects for yourself. Are you in? Let me know!
