Achieving Simplicity

Photo by S.F. Boegeman

Why 1000? It’s a nice round number and it runs in my mind that in high school every paper that we had to write had a 1000 word minimum. But you could really pick any number that you wanted.

1. Set a side time to write.

Maybe it’s in the morning before the kids are up or your first class in the morning. But set aside a half hour for yourself to put your ideas on paper (or the internet, as the case may be). Make the time a priority. Of course, there are always things that can come up that interrupt your time, so be prepared to be flexible. This is easier to do if your time is scheduled for the beginning of the day, but don’t use procrastination as a crutch. Sit down, write, and then move on with your day. Don’t wait until it’s so late in the evening that you’re trying and you start saying “I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

2. Remove distractions.

It’s always nice to have other sources of media to help inspire topics, but once you sit down to write, find some place quiet. Turn off the tv. I even turn off my wireless internet connection to remove the temptation of websurfing while I’m trying to get an article done. If it’s too hard to work at home, head to the library or a coffee shop (although this is not an easy solution for every day if you have kids).

3. Have your ideas ready.

If you’re trying to write a daily article, have your topic prepared in advance. A lot of time can be wasted trying to come up with an idea. Have a notebook at hand at all times during the day so you can come up with topics whenever inspiration strikes you. Try to have several future topics prepared. This will give you the opportunity to pick a topic that strikes you as particularly interesting for the day.

4. Be excited about your topic.

If you’re trying to write for a blog, then try to determine your motivation for blogging. Are you trying to add value to your audience’s life? Are you trying to make money? Are you trying to preserve every moment of your life for some future audience who will find your life experiences worth reading about? If you can’t answer the question of why you’re doing this, then you might want to take a step back and determine your motivation.

5. Write about topics you understand.

If you have a topic that you are determined to write about, make sure you know enough about the topic. If you don’t know enough about the topic but have decided that you’re going to write an article about it anyways, do some research. Nothing is more upsetting than an article with very little substance or incorrect information. Spending a little time prepping by doing the research prior to starting can save you a lot of time later when it comes time to sit down and write.

Trying to do the research and the writing has two major problems. 1. Articles tend to be poorly organized. Information is added as it is discovered and this tends to lead to piecemeal writing. 2. Once you’ve opened your web browser to find information, it’s incredibly easy to get sucked in to something else. It’s easy to click on the stumble button or check your email one more time or check on the latest market movements. Avoid this temptation by being done with the research beforehand.

6. Have a goal.

Whether you have a daily word goal or a weekly/monthly article goal, accept that it might not always happen. If your goal is for X number of words, realize that not every topic needs that many words. Rambling to add content will not get you anyway. Stop when you’ve run out of well thought out things to say.

7. Avoid burnout.

Do you have some extra time on the weekend where you can get ahead for the week? Then use it! Get ahead on articles for the week. Plan out topics, make an outline if that’s all your want to do. Working ahead of schedule can bring on a great sense of satisfaction that can continue to motivate you. And if staying on top of your blog doesn’t help then…

8. Take breaks.

Find people that can guest post for your blog. This can be useful for networking if you’re an established blogger. Or it may be a chance for you to help launch a blog for an eager new blogger. Either way, finding a guest poster or two can give you a much needed break while keeping your blog current.

Photo by Joan Puigcerver

Negative habits tend to be easy to pick up. It’s easy to be a little too lazy… it’s easy to eat one extra piece of candy… it’s easy to become addicted to caffeine. So I’ve put together the following list of useful habits that I’d like to work on. In and of themselves, none of these are extremely difficult, but all together I think that they will put me on the path to where I want to be.

Morning Habits
1. Get up when the alarm goes off
2. To start setting the alarm at 5am
3. Eat a healthy breakfast
4. Pack a healthy lunch
5. Take more of an interest in my appearance
6. Allow some time so that my son is not rushed getting ready in the morning
7. Exercise
8. Getting blogging done for the day

Work Habits
9. Don’t waste time on the internet (note to self: you don’t get enough email to justify getting every hour and you don’t manage the investments so checking yahoo finance is not a good use of time)
10. Stop calculating the hours until I can go home for the day. This is counterproductive
11. Get projects done
12. Learn to accept constructive criticism and ignore the rest
13. Really think about the task at hand and whether or not there is room for improvement either long term or short term
14. Keep better track of my time so that at the end of the month when billable hours are due it doesn’t take me an hour to calculate the totals
15. Answer emails promptly
16. If a task is given without a deadline, find out what the deadline is

Healthy Habits
17. Exercise 5 days a week
18. Take the kids for a walk when the weather is nice
19. Remember to take vitamin daily
20. Stop eating takeout for dinner
21. Meditate daily
22. Take up the practice of yoga
23. Set clear fitness goals in order to keep focused
24. Floss teeth daily

Parenting Habits
25. Listen better
26. Stop saying “I don’t know” when I really mean “I don’t understand what you’re saying”
27. Achieve some reasonable level of patience
28. Stop yelling
29. Take more time to find activities that we can do together
30. Stop using tv as a babysitter

Productivity Habits
31. Put pocket calendar to better use
32. Stop wasting time on the internet (even if it means uninstalling the stumble toolbar)
33. Be more selective about blogs to read
34. Schedule worktime better
35. Learn to set reasonable timetables
36. Use the laptop less. Pretend that it’s a desktop (for the most part).
37. Stop multitasking.

Photo by Wysz

I love Christmas. I should say that I love the idea of giving. I like the idea that it’s a time of year devoted to family, even though my extended family is far away and we don’t always get to spend the holidays together.

But every year I spent months agonizing over the approaching December holiday season. I have a lot of family members that require gifts, and unfortunately no one has bothered to set up a gift exchange. Being out of town, I’m not really in a position to set up the exchange.

Last year, we spoke to my brother-in-law about making charitable donations in lieu of gifts and he was all for the idea. We donated to big brother/big sisters, an organization that he has worked for in the past. For us, he donated to a foundation that works on a condition that I suffer from. We were both happy to have a little less clutter after the holidays and as an added bonus, we got a tax deduction for our gifts.

I took the same tact with my parents, although it wasn’t something we discussed. I decided to make a donation in their name to an organization that my stepfather is very involved with.

I don’t take this tact with everyone on my Christmas list. I have a brother that could use some help with household items and clothing and so I try to give him some useful presents every year. Other people get gift cards to their favorite restaurants or maybe for a massage – something that they wouldn’t normally spend money for themselves.

But I try to give charitable donations when I can. I’m hoping to expand the list of donations that we’re making this year to cover more people on our list. There are several reasons that this is easier.

• You can give the gift anytime in December without having to fight through the crowds at the mall. Most organizations allow you to make donations through their websites.




• People can appreciate getting the same gift every year, which means I don’t have to spend as much time stressing over the perfect gift. Maybe we give a little more money as we can afford it, but it’s probably going to go to the same place.




• I don’t have to buy for shipping. All of our family is out of town, so with other gifts, unless they have free shipping offers, shipping charges can add up.

For our son, who is three, when asked what he would like for Christmas, I usually suggest that family members give us money that we can stick in his college fund. Since this doesn’t always work, we try to give him a small present and then put the rest of the money we might have otherwise spent into his college fund. Like kids in middle class families, he’s certainly not being deprived and since his birthday is in November, he has plenty of new toys to play with.

My husband and I don’t give each other presents for the holidays or birthdays. We have joint finances, so any gift would be funded by both of us anyway. So instead of trying to surprise each other with things that we may or may not need, we usually discuss any purchases we’ve been thinking about making. This year my husband bought himself the new laptop that he needed, and I’ll be getting a painting which we’ve decided that we both like.

While we still end up with new things around the house for the holidays, we’ve found that discussing what we’re going to get is a way to end up happy and have made decisions that we can both agree on financially.

And stemming the flow of presents being shipped in leads to much less clutter around the holidays – as long as we can make a little progress every year, without destroying the joy of the holidays – I’m happy.

Image by Lori Smith

A few years ago, a friend and I started a wedding photography business. Our short term goals were reasonable. We simply wanted to pay off our start up loan. The longer term goals were more ambitious – we wanted this to become our fulltime jobs. We both were in 9-5 jobs that were making us miserable and this business seems like it was the way out.

It turned out that we were good at what we did. She brought to the table the photography skills and I had more business experience. We did several weddings, many of which were referrals and we managed to pay off our start up loans.

But in the interim, we both found day jobs that we enjoyed and the photography business became less of a priority. For me personally, spending an extra day a week away from my son was a source of guilt and also hard on my husband who works fulltime during the week as well.

About six months ago, my partner and I sad down and had a frank discussion about the future of our business; we decided that it was time to let it go. We finished up the weddings that we had scheduled for the year, but are not working to attract clients for next year.

I think it was the most worthwhile venture in which I’ve taken part. I learned several important questions to ask myself before starting another venture such as this one.

1. Have I chosen my partner carefully?

While my friend and I worked well together, in general, there were several sticking points that caused a lot of frustration. Much of this was a result of us wanting to preserve our friendship. Do you have someone that you can be completely honest and forthright with? If there are any barriers to communication, they need to be addressed prior to monetary involvement because once money is invested the conversations become much more difficult and awkward. You and your partner also need to be on the same page as to the plans for revenue – determine how much you each get as income and what portion is going to be reinvested in the business.

2. Determine how comfortable you are with variations in your income

Especially in a field like wedding photography, there are times of the year that are significantly more work less, but more importantly there are times when there is significantly less work available. Of course, as the business grows, the work tends to level off more, but it takes a long time to build that sort of reputation.

3. How much are you really going to make?

As a business owner, you’re free to set your own prices, but you need to be able to find clients willing to pay those prices. But even if you can find those clients, keep in mind that there isn’t anyone taking out taxes for you automatically each paycheck. What’s your after tax rate going to be? If this does become a fulltime gig, how much are you going to spend on insurance (health, life, business liability)? These two things can be a big hit to your take home pay. Then again, there’s always the question of how much needs to be reinvested in your business. In our case, we needed to continuously invest in new equipment as our equipment wore out or became obsolete.

4. How much time are you willing to invest?

While at the beginning it’s easy to assume that you’ll be spending every available waking moment working on this new and exciting pursuit, keep in mind that if you’re stilling working a day job a lot of your time is already spoken for. If you have a family and other obligations even more of your time is already spent. Is your spouse on board with your plans? How are you going to feel about the time spent away from your children. Yes, long term being your own boss may lead to more free time, but in the short term there are a lot of sacrifices to be made.

5. If this fails do you have a backup plan?

Before you quit your job to pursue your new interest full time, do you have a Plan B? I was lucky in that wedding photography is a job done primarily on weekends and my job was a standard 9-5. If you quit your job and your venture fails, can you easily get another job or do you have enough savings to support you until you do find other employment?

I think that I would certainly try to start another business when the opportunity presents itself, although I would do things differently this time… beginning by considering the questions above more carefully than I did last time.