This Passover has been a very interesting experience. After working in an office for so many years, working at home has been a real treat. I was much more relaxed than ever before about getting everything that needed to get done, done. There’s always a ton to do before the holiday. With a lot of help from my family, everything got done a bit early, and we were able to enjoy ourselves before the holiday started.

While sitting at the Seder, I spent a lot of time thinking about freedom, and what it really meant to me. It’s not that my work on The Pet Wiki is the only awe inspiring, interesting and exciting work that I’ve ever done. I’ve been in jobs in which I’ve felt inspired and needed before. But working for yourself is different. I truly feel free.

What does that mean? I am free from a regular scheduled work day. I don’t look at the clock. I know what needs to be done, and I work to get it done. That’s it. I still work crazy hours and I’m logged in from early morning until late at night. I have the freedom to prioritize and create great things.

I am free from boredom. True, there are some tasks that I need to do which are less than stimulating, but there is so much to do that I can switch off and do more interesting things. I’ll go back and do what I need to – I won’t just blow it off.  I just have the power to mix it up. It is all mine to choose.

I am free to be me. I don’t have to worry about company politics and bureaucracy. I’m a nice person in general, so being me is a good thing. I can express myself however I like without worrying about what trouble I might get into. I get to come up with outlandish ideas, and even get to work on them.

I would have thought that not having a steady paycheck would have had the opposite effect on me, that I’d be constantly worried about how to make ends meet, but it’s done the exact opposite. I now realize how much clutter and junk that I had in my life, and how used to rule my decisions. Simplicity is truly freeing.

Home Sweet Home

After figuring out what color to paint my office a few weeks ago, I finally got down to the job of actually painting it. If you read my post on “What Color Should I Paint My Office?“, you should already know that I chose blue for its ability to enhance creativity.

I was lucky enough to get my son involved in this endeavor. He went the high road and I went the low road. Here are my room-painting take-aways:

• Talk to someone in the know: Especially if you don’t really know what you’re doing. When I went to the hardware store to buy paint and all the painting accessories, I immediately went for the new fangled brushes that were supposed to be all the rave. The guy behing the counter told me to get a roller and a couple of plain brushes, and there was no need for anything else. I got both. The newer ones dripped paint all over the place. Find mentors and listen to them.
• Make your own mistakes: Using the brushes that were supposed to be better winded up costing me a lot of extra time, but if I didn’t buy those brushes, I’d always be wondering what I was missing. It’s good to make mistakes. That’s what caused people to grow.
• Duets are more fun than solos: I really enjoyed painting with my son. I could have done the whole thing by myself, at least I’d like to believe that I could have, but sharing it with someone else made time fly by.
• Open a window: Airing things out is always a good idea. This goes way beyond painting. When you feel like you are getting nowhere on something, take a walk and get some air. Clearing your head will give you new perspective.
• Touch it up later: The most important part of any project is getting it done. It won’t always come out perfectly the way you planned, but you can always make it better later. It’s better to get something out and fix it, than to not release anything at all.
• Savor what you’ve done: All in all, I have to say that I’m pretty proud of myself (and my son) for the job we did. It’s more than OK to give yourself a pat on the back for your accomplishments.

With all this blue around, I’m feeling pretty darn creative. For my next project: landing page redesign for The Pet Wiki. Now I’m ready.

Last week was a bit of a frustrating week for me. I cut my leg pretty badly and spent most of the time in bed. Luckily, I have a laptop, so I was able to push on with work. At least that’s what I thought I’d do.

I am a huge fan of the MediaWiki and a huge fan of adding plugins to any MediaWiki site. Most of the time all you need to do is upload some files and make a few changes in your settings, and then you are good to go. That is not always the case. Sometimes you need to get a bit down and dirty with the code. Although I may not feel comfortable writing an extension from scratch, playing with existing extensions is usually right up my alley.

I want to add a rating system to the pages on The Pet Wiki. There were two extension candidates to choose from. After trying repeatedly to get each of them working, spending many man hours on it, I decided to call it quits.

Some of the things that calling it quits did for me:

• I can’t do it all. I am totally cool with that. The Pet Wiki is a project of love. I made some great progress in a relatively short amount of time, and then set my expectations really high for being able to get everything done. Life doesn’t work that way. If this is something that is really important to me, I can always go to outside help to get it accomplished.
• Long hours do not equal high productivity. I could have spent another few days trying to figure out why the extension thought that I wasn’t using JavaScript, even though I was. The more time that I threw at the problem, the less I got out of it.
• Prioritize what else needs to be done. I thought that it was going to take me half a day to get it up and running, but after 3 days I realized that there were things that I wasn’t doing that needed to get done. If adding a rating system were all that mattered to my site there might be something to talk about. But since this is a nice to have, and things like editing the new content that has been added, and maintaining the homepage are more important, there is no way that I could take the luxury to play. You need to know how to get down to business.
• Evaluate the feature. A feature that takes half a day to install is very different than a feature that takes a week. Sometimes a feature is so important that it is worth working on for months to get it done right. In those cases, spending time that is needed is crucial to the advancement of your site. That is time well spent and a real investment into what you are doing. Spending 3 days and not making any significant improvements on something that should take half a day is not. Each feature should be evaluated for what it is.
• Don’t be afraid to say it’s a no-go. Just because I invested a lot of my time trying to get it right does not mean that I have to make it work or all that time is lost. It’s important to not let your pride come in the way of other progress that you can make. The time is lost anyway. There’s no way to get it back. It’s time to cut losses.
• Shelve it. I still think that it would be great to have a rating system in place. It is something that I’d like to get done and I think it will be a boost to usability. But it can wait. When I can schedule more time to play with it, I will. I didn’t give up, I’m putting it away until it is the most important thing for me to do for my site.

Although this was a frustrating week, it was still a good one. It helped me reflect on how much stuff I usually do get done. The fact that I didn’t win this battle is okay. There are a lot more fronts and a lot more wins ahead of me.

My daughter Shira and her Chanukiah displayed outside the Old City of Jerusalem

There’s something that I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, but was afraid to discourage potential entrepreneurs from digging their heels in and getting into this new exciting world of  going it on your own. There is no vacation. When you are a salaried employee of someone else they pay you to take time off. That’s kind of cool.

I thought that I should mention that, because I got practically nothing done last week and if I were working for someone else, at least I’d have the excuse that I was on vacation. No such luck.

Why was last week such a distraction? Well the kids were home on Chanukah vacation and we went out to see family and had them over as well. (The Chanukiah in the picture was something that my daughter and her class worked on and was displayed in the Mamila Mall, just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. Of course I’m very proud of her, and I obviously had to take time off to go see it.) My husband took a couple of days off and got paid for it. While he relaxed, I just felt guilty about all the things that I have to get done but that I’m not doing. That’s a real bummer.

I think that one of the big problems with working from home is that people don’t actually believe that you are working. The image of people who work from home is that they bask in the sun and eat bon-bons all day. Only when the whim hits them do they actually decide to do work. In case anyone is curious, this is NOT TRUE.

I believe in what I do and I’m having fun doing it, but there is so much to do and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. My husband says that I need to have more realistic expectations. What does he know? When he wants, all he needs to do is take a personal day. And get this, when he gets sick, he gets to take a sick day.

I was a mom before I was an entrepreneur, so I know the drill. The same way that there is no vacation from your kids (at least not until they leave the house) there’s no way to take a break from what you are doing for your endeavor. I guess it’s just like bringing up a baby. So perhaps motherhood is a perfect stepping stone for any one who wants to start something all their own.

Time to paint

After working off the dining room table for the last few months, I finally decided to take the big plunge and set up a home office. This may have seemed an obvious next step for most people, but it hasn’t been for me. I’ve been pushing off the big move because I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted.

Moving in to the guest room

No, I wasn’t throw out of my bedroom for misbehaving. I moved my home office into the guest room in my house. It was very important to me to figure out how to situate all the elements in the room to make sure that it is conducive to working. I have my back to the window, so that I am able to enjoy the sun shining in without all the distractions of the world around me.

So what color?

After doing a bit of research (and asking my friends on Facebook and Twitter), I decided to go with blue. It seems that in cognitive studies, researchers have found the blue stimulates creativity. Sign me up for some of that. On the other hand, red seems to keep people in a heightened state of focus. Both are good, but I think that I’ll go with blue.

Big change

I feel like everything is much more real now that I am sitting and typing away at my desk. It lends a feeling of professionalism. It was something that I was missing and I didn’t even realize it. I guess it makes sense. After all, I am the woman that wrote a whole blog post about why it’s bad to work in your pajamas. It follows the same rule.

Don’t wait

I didn’t wait for a home office to start The Pet Wiki. First I got the business started, then I worried about things like a home office. Don’t let things hold you back. You don’t have to know everything and get everything perfectly ready before you are able to start. I’ve come a long way (baby), and most of the reason that I’ve been so successful is that I just don’t let things hold me down. Things need to get done, and they do. Don’t get stuck on the small stuff.

I like it here. Desk, chair, printer, plants, clock. Now that I’m all set up, it’s time to get down to business.

On a side note, one of the things that pushed me into making the big move now was that I thought it was a more ‘green’ way to go. Now that the winter is upon us, it kills me to heat the biggest room in the house, when the guest room will work just fine.

Muses from Ceaser's Palace

I didn’t write a blog post last week. That’s really not like me. I try to get out a post a week. All the experiences that I’ve been going through since I started my own gig have been pretty exciting – at least for me . I have a few ideas stored up in my noggin for me to write at a later date, but last week I was totally dry.

It might have something to do with jet lag. I landed on Monday (my blogging day) in the evening, and I was pretty tired from the trip. I went to Pubcon in Las Vegas, which was wonderful and very informative and inspirational. With all that inspiration, you think that the words would have flown out of my fingertips. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen that way.

I can’t say that this tactic will work for everyone, but there are a few things that I do in order to get in touch with my inner muse:

• Read: There are a ton of inspirational books out their that can just make you feel like flying. A couple of good ones that I am currently enjoying are Dip, by Seth Godin and The Leap, by Rick Smith. These books do it for me, but my girlfriends turn their noses up at them (you know who you are!)
• Meditate: I’m not saying that you should find a yogi and become a hermit for a decade, just enjoy the quiet. It sounds easier than it really is. Clear your head from the daily grind, like making shopping lists, thinking about doing laundry or the other things that you’ve been pushing off for as long as possible.
• Fold the Laundry:  Thinking about the laundry is one thing, actually doing it is another. This might seem counter intuitive, but when you are doing repetitive tasks, like folding laundry or stuffing envelopes, your body works on automatic, leaving your mind free to wander.
• Get Physical: It’s amazing how moving your body can help with freeing your mind. I sometimes get the best ideas while I’m in my spinning classes, but something as simple as taking a walk can really get the juices flowing. When you’re stuck, the change of scenery is also a plus.
• Type: Don’t think too much about what your typing. Think of it as a stream of consciousness running through your fingers. Stick with it a  while, and you’ll notice that the nonsense will come to an end and the good stuff will start to flow.
• Nap: If you’re too strung out, you’re not good to anyone or anything. Take a break, get some sleep, and come back to it fresh and awake.
• Pet the Cat: I am one of those crazy pet people. You probably already figured that out with my involvement with The Pet Wiki. There is nothing like sitting down and relaxing with feline sitting on your lap, purring away. I think this is something that all us pet people know about. I hope that I didn’t give away any trade secrets. You’d be surprised how something so small can give back so much.

When all else fails, just get started. That blank piece of paper is your friend. It is the start of your next masterpiece!

What do you do to get your juices flowing?

Roses from my garden

There is this romantic notion that all people who work from home just throw on a robe and start hacking away. That’s not how I roll. Since the first day that I officially started working at home, I’ve always been dressed. After working in an office for 10 years, I decided that I’d give the same intensity to work at home as I did in the office. To do that, I made a few rules to work by:

1. No PJs. I’m not saying that a person needs to put on a three piece suit in order to focus, but by working in their PJs, they are not showing respect for what they are doing. Working at home is work. Have respect for what you do. Besides, it’s got to be way to easy to go to your bedroom for a nap when you are already dressed for it.
2. Buckle down. I work at my dining room table. I have a laptop and could go anywhere in the house to do what I need to do, but I don’t. By having a defined space to work, it helps me separate from what is work and what is home. Having a home office is ideal, but if you don’t, find your space.
3. Take a hike. Well maybe not a hike, but get out of your chair every so often and walk around. When I worked in an office, I would take breaks to share a cup of coffee with my co-workers. Instead of coffee, I get up and stretch. I sometimes even make it all the way outside and walk completely around my house. I wakes me up a lot more than the coffee ever did and I get to enjoy the greenery. I guess there is something to be said for literally stopping and smelling the roses.
4. Check the clock. Keep tabs on how long specific tasks take you. Without the constant interruptions of meetings, I find myself focusing on one task to the detriment off all the other things that I need to get done. I try to set up specific days for tasks that repeat themselves, and prioritize all other tasks around them. Slotting those tasks in and making sure that there is a proper balance is important so that progress is made on multiple fronts.

I thought that the transition from working in an office to working from home was going to be a lot harder. The biggest problem that I have with working at home is knowing when to stop. I love being connected and I find myself on the computer from dawn to dusk and then some. It’s not like I need to get in my car or catch a bus that runs at certain hours. Now if I could only run the rest of my life the way that I run work, I’d be in good shape.

Learning to juggle

After working in an office for nearly 10 years, life is very different now that I am working at home.  It’s been a bit of a culture shock, but I’m learning to adapt. Here’s a few of my insights:

• There are no set hours – This is both a good thing and a bad thing. When a person works in their office, they know what needs to be done, they do it, and then they get to go home. If they don’t finish what they are working on, they can either choose to work late or just pick it up the next day.
   
  When you work at home, the boundaries are less defined. If someone were to ask me how many hours that I work a day now that I’m at home, I really couldn’t tell them. It’s not really important how many hours a day that I work. What does matter is that I am fulfilling the goals that I set out for myself.
   
• Setting goals – This has more to do with the set-up of my project than actually working at home. I am currently working on my project alone. When I worked in a corporate setting, there were other people that I could rely on to get things done. The problem isn’t finding what the goals should be, the problem is prioritizing between the different goals.
   
  I have to worry about content and community and marketing and media and development and design. Trying to split up all the pieces neatly so that nothing gets dropped has been a real challenge. I haven’t come up with a magic formula yet, but I’m working on it. All I can say for now is learn to juggle.
   
• Knowing when to take a break – Every time that I take a couple of minutes off to do anything, I have guilt. It’s not the breaks per se, but instead of getting a cup of coffee and gabbing it up with people from the office, I might put up a load of laundry. Glamorous, I know.
   
  It is not cheating to take a bit of time to do stuff that needs to get done, but since I’m doing house hold chores during work hours, it just feels wrong. I don’t need any more breaks than I needed before, I’m just spending them differently. No matter what you do or where you do it, it’s important to take a few minutes here and there to get perspective.

All-in-all, the transition is going very well. I’ve been drinking a lot less coffee and my house is a lot cleaner. I’ve successfully come out with the major part of the redesign for The Pet Wiki and have started working on some tweaks to make it even better. I’ve been adding and modifying existing content. Oh, and did I mention that I actually get to see my kids once in a while? That has really been terrific.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseywest/ / CC BY-SA 2.0