Silly Money

Working Through Distractions…. Like Hurricane Ike

So I live just south of Houston.  If you’ve been watching the news you’d know that means I took a direct hit from hurricane IKE this weekend.  We were blessed to make it through the storm untouched and even more blessed to be a very small percentage of the Houston area homes with power.

With that said, I have a good amount of roof damage, a fence that blew down, some car damage and a lot of cleanup to do.  As a person that works online full time it’s going to quite a juggling act trying to keep everything in the air.  No matter who you are sometimes life happens and you get dealt with unforeseen distractions.  How you handle those distractions is what matters.

For me it comes down to time management.  Time management is a critical skill to any self employed entrepreneur.  I’d go so far to argue that it’s one of the required skills to be successful.  In situations like I have now it’s not really a matter of prioritizing what I do when between the hours of 7 am and 5 pm.  I have to ask myself the same question I did when I was running my sites while also holding a day job.

Where am I going to find the time to do everything I need to do?

This will differ from person to person but in the end some sacrifice must be made.  My personal options have always been family time or sleep.  Taking time away from my family is never a viable option so for me it’s sleep.  Until this mess is settled I’ll be falling back into my routine of old getting up just before 4am and moving to about 4-5 hours of sleep.  I wish it were just a case of prioritizing my tasks but there is just too much to be done.

Times like this make me realize all the make easy money online and 4 hour work week gimmicks really just reduce the amount of “legitimate” competition online.  It’s not easy and anyone that says it is would be lying.

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From Home Office to Office Space

Up until a few months ago I was happily chugging along working in a quiet house every day from my home office.  It was a sweet setup that I knew couldn’t last forever.  With the birth of our second child my wife decided it was time to hang up the career and become a stay at home mom.  In turn, I got my que to exit stage right and find some office space.

I didn’t really think finding office space would be that big of a deal but the process turned out to be a lot more frustrating and challenging than I originally expected.  So I figured I’d blog about it to provide some insight to anyone else that is or might be in the same situation.

The process was full of tough decisions and typically ended up with me deciding between least worst.  Here are some issues to consider when searching for office space.

• Availability - I live just outside Houston so one would think there would be a nice selection of small office spaces in such a populated area, right? Wrong.  Small office space, or executive suites, aren’t that easy to find (opportunity?).  I really only had 3 viable choices to select from once I narrowed down the options.
• Distance - The travel time to my new office was the primary factor that limited my options.  I was not going to travel more than 7 miles each way.  For me the costs went up exponentially  past that point considering the cost of gas, mileage on my truck and the time lost in transit every day.  The long daily commute was one of the motivating factors to become self employed and I sure as hell don’t want to bring it back.
• Direct Cost - The actual rental cost for many of the spaces I looked at were just not realistic for a one man operation.  The majority were easily over $1,000/month.  I found most of the services charged for mandatory extras such as copying, kitchen/coffee, conference rooms and a receptionist which I just don’t need.  I did find one class A option with a decent monthly rate but there was a catch.  If I wanted internet service it had to go through them for ONLY $200/month.  NO THANKS.  I simply wanted a bare bones “room” that I could get internet access to.
• Equipment Cost - One of the biggest costs in this process was the additional equipment.  I use a desktop at home so if I moved that to the new office I wouldn’t be able to work from home.  I decided to duplicate my setup in the new office with a laptop and docking station instead of a desktop.  Mind you I could have spent less but I’m a creature of habit which meant my dual 24″ HD monitors, Aeron chair and super automatic Capresso coffee machine were necessities.  Other items included 2 tables, a desk, lamp, printer, office supplies, cleaning supplies (including a vacuum), mini-fridge and a microwave.

The Result
In the end I found a happy medium for my needs.  I found an older office space in a small town less than 5 miles from my house that offered the bare bones “room” I was looking for.  I go against any traffic we have and my travel time is just right at 6 minutes door to door. I paid a full year in advance and did some hard negotiations but ended up getting my space for just over $350/month with all utilities included.  Here’s a pic I took just after setting everything up.

Final Thoughts
The price of getting your own office space is high.  It drives me nuts that I’m spending money every month and not getting equity from it.  In a perfect world I would build an office at my home detached from my house.  That wasn’t an option now but we’re looking at building a new home soon on some acreage and that would be my plan.  I will note that I do feel slightly more productive leaving the house but I’m not sure that outweighs the other costs and annoyances.

Posted in Online Lifestyle | 1 Comment »

Pet Peeve: You’re So Lucky….

I have the best job in the world.

There is no doubt in my mind the statement above is 100% true.  I love my work.  I can take it in any direction I wish without consulting anyone.  I can take off whenever I want to spend time with my family or do anything else I want to do.

Many of my friends and family don’t really understand what I do for a living and tend to focus on what I don’t do.  I don’t drive to work everyday, answer to a boss, need to request days off, get dressed before the crack of dawn or a slew of other things many people have disdain for.  I think it’s this lack of understanding that generates the comment I get now and then that I despise more than anything……..

“You’re So Lucky”

It’s been phrased to me many different ways and I know it isn’t said as something insulting but it absolutely is.  I can see it coming from a mile away and it just pisses me off when I hear it.  REALLY?  REALLY?

Do people think I fell face first into this job?  I guess so.

Nevermind that for 5+ years I got up at 4 a.m. everyday to work on my sites before work or before my family woke up.  Nevermind that I’ve spent hours and hours reading forums, books, blogs and guides to self learn everything I know.  Nevermind that this is 8 years in the making.  No, just set all that aside and call it Luck.

Whatever.

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