Procrastination or Too Many Things?
Hi, everyone! I've got a quick surprise 30 minutes between classes at my "regular" job, and since I've been meaning to get back on here anyway, I suppose now is as good a time as any.
Confession time: I started out strong when I signed up in January, went Premium in February, got my site up with a proper domain name and introduction, and...basically have not touched it for the past month and and a half. I want to do this well, and to do that, time and energy needs to be spent. But when? How do you manage it?
I am currently the sole provider for my family in an independent contractor job, and work at odd hours (often 3am-8 or 9am). I have a young child that goes to preschool until 2pm, so have a short window during the day, but also must get things done around the house, feed the dogs, myself, etc., and of course, I have to sleep at some point. I desperately want to do something else that is not my job, but am having so much trouble finding the time and energy to explore since I can't stop making money while I explore and look for other things. I'm always on the lookout for quick freelance projects (I write, translate, and proofread), and when one comes up, I take it, because my family's got to eat! My worry is this: will I ever have time to work on my projects?
At best, I think I can give 1-2 hours most weekdays for my own training and work through Wealthy Affiliate. Is it enough, even if I do it slowly? Did I just waste a bunch of money for something that I realistically won't be able to get done? Are there others in my situation that managed to carve out some piece of space-time to do this? I see WA notifications appear in my inbox, and think, "oh man, I really need to get on that!" - but when? The "new training available!" notifications make me feel as if I'm falling further and further behind, and will never catch up.
I also seem to be getting easily distracted, and am continuously second-guessing myself on the blog subject I chose (home decor/organization), wonderfing if maybe I should switch and/or do 20 others as well (I know I shouldn't, but the feeling is there). Really, I just want to know if there are others out there like me who have found even slow success.
What say you, crowd?
Recent Comments
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Hello Sarah, I must say that your post truly resonated with me. While not a young mom,(wink) I have a chronically ill wife, dogs, big house and property, and 2 or 3 side gigs going all the time, (including this morning, so I'll be brief).
I have always been much better at starting projects than finishing them. I seem to have a problem of starting with good intentions, then heading towards the next shiny thing that comes along, and so become mired in the process of starting and never progressing far.
I think the problem with learning to earn a meaningful income via the online world as I see it is with the sheer magnitude of the data we are hit with on a daily basis. When I make a decision to 'follow a lead' so to speak, my brain has such a limited amount of time to see a positive result before my interest and attention start to fade, and a feeling of missed opportunity starts to take over.
Other words, am i wasting time, and by extension missing other opportunities, by continuing to pursue the objective I am currently pursuing?
In the interest of time, I'm going to cut to the chase and just tell you what works for me and why. I have a new site I'm developing through WA and have written about 30,000 words since starting in January and its been work, but interesting work and I'm enjoying it.
I don't expect to make money from my site for a long time, and that is key. I just want to learn proper fundamentals and to slowing build out my site because I like the subject and enjoy seeing the traffic inch up, my Pinterest followers increase, want to learn more about my niche, solar power, and various other issues. I'm even interested in becoming an authority on wordpress so it all fits together. Skills are skills and skills are marketable.
My other site is one I built before joining WA and it is fully monetized and earns maybe $1000 per month. WA is teaching me how to increase the value of that site and in a couple months, I'm seeing traffic increase, affiliate links being clicked on more often and many other positives. This site has been online for years and I didn't start working on it in earnest until oct or nov 2018.
This is what I've learned, and THIS.IS.KEY:
1. your niche must be something you love or something you are great at. (if you're great at it, you likely love to do it anyway). You don't want to spend years writing and reading about something that bores you. Life is hard enough without making things worse for ourselves!
2. you can make money in the 'dust' niche, if 'dust' is something you're passionate about. don't worry about the niche and how more or less competitive it is. If you are fascinated by it or love it, then its the right niche for you. If you are clever, you can monetize dust. Clever comes with experience, you don't have to be born clever.
3. create your own product! My first site has affiliate links, which are ok. But my wife wrote a book, which i made into an ebook and paperback and we feature that on the website. Trust me when I say, build your site, one paragraph per month at a time if you have to. But spend your energy writing the best ebook you can, then build your site to promote that. Affiliate products can change or be discontinued over night. Your own product is under your exclusive control.
4. Every day is a new beginning. Yesterday is irrelevant, tomorrow is just a concept. I have to make myself get up, make coffee and write something. I MUST write something before I do anything else on the computer. If I sleep in (we're talking 8am sleep ins, ha!), I won't get a chance to write at all that morning. At 6am I can pull it off. Maybe for you this means 5:30am. Just write a title, research a keyword, work on a book outline.
5. Don't put this off for 20 years then wish you had started 20 years ago! Tiny steps you take today can add up to your own publishing empire 20 years from now. You just have to start. It sounds stupidly simple, and it is. You're already making rent and keeping the lights on without a monetized website. You're young and productive, take advantage of this!
Some people are given money to invest and put away for the long term. Good for them! We're given time to invest. Sounds trite but trust me, I'm 58 and I feel the pressure of time. Invest little bits of your time as frequently as possible by building something that will eventually become valuable.
I have read that the thing that makes people the happiest isn't necessarily money or fame, really - it's progress. Simply feeling like you are making progress will serve you well. This means you must have a goal in mind and have laid out some simple steps to take to get there.
For me this means I need to do at least one thing every day to further the development of my two sites. Once I've accomplished that, I feel great! You will be amazed how quickly this adds up over a few very short months.
My very best wishes for you and positive thoughts. Your voice and unique perspective is just as valid and just as important as anyone else who ever lived. You just have to master some of today's tools and systems to make yourself heard.
One tiny step at a time.
Thank you for such a thoughtful response! I DO like what I'm making my site about, it's just that I also really like about 10 other things just as much, and am always tempted to bounce around among them depending on what I'm feeling like for the day, because some days I would just rather do/think about one thing way more than another; maybe I can make a schedule for myself around this, giving at least a few minutes to "excitement" writing, haha. I will try to get some writing/training done a little bit a day, and I love the idea of the e-book, which I've thought about doing before.
Thanks a lot!