Podcast 1: What is the Biggest Distraction from Success?
You asked for it. The first ever Blog Tyrant Podcast complete with a tyrannical, Darth Vader-like introduction beat from the great Australian producer One Above.
What’s it about?
In this Podcast I talk about one of the most important things that a self-employed (or someone aiming for self employment) business person needs to know: their distractions. And as I mention on the track, they aren’t always as easy to find as you might think. In fact, some of my distractions took me over a year to isolate!
If you are trying to run a successful blog or online business I urge you to listen to this Podcast and take on board one or two of the suggestions. I didn’t realize how distracted I was until a good friend pointed it out to me in a rather sharp conversation. Since then my earnings have dramatically increased.
I hope I can be that friend to you guys.
If you want to subscribe to the Blog Tyrant Podcasts please click here. You can also subscribe using iTunes by clicking here.
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Download the podcast here (Right click and Save As).
I would love to hear about your own distractions and whether you do any of the things mentioned in the Podcast. If any of you have a solution to the big three distractions I talk about I would absolutely love to hear about it. Please leave me a comment.
Lastly, if you liked the Podcast I would really appreciate a nice review over on iTunes. Just go here and then click “view in iTunes” and then “write review”.
photo credit: Steve Punter
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61 Comments
My biggest obstacle to financial success is the things that generate the best revenue for me are no longer interesting.
Lets face it how many apartments/houses can you rent before the sheer tedium gets to you? That is my highest profit making activity.
Property management I refused to do for the first 4 years or so of my business, but I am now doing it. Usually, you are taking money for doing nothing and then once something happens you are losing money. Neither of these situations are enjoyable for me.
There’s another thing I do on the stock market regularly that makes me good money but involves looking at and evaluating spreadsheets and companies and buying these rather unknown financial instruments called warrants and waiting for the larger financial companies to buy them in a combination of arbitrage and volume trading. I had one that took 9 months to trade last year. It’s about as interesting as watching paint dry. Then rinse and repeat.
Working from home and being self employed in general is very difficult, one of the biggest problems for me is that I’m creative and tend to work in fits and starts. I also am “on” for way too long. See you rent apartments after other people finish working, weekends and evenings. But people expect your company to be open for business from 9 to 5. If I had my way my day wouldn’t start until noon. Because I’m often out working until 9-10 pm. I also happen to be most creative in the evenings. So blog posts get written later than that.
Then there’s my love hate relationship with the telephone. People think they can call you whenever they want. Because weekends are work days for me, that would leave me weekdays to take off. For me to be “off” that means turning off the damn phone. If messages pile up I get anxious about it and it becomes very difficult to call them back. Realistically not too many people get more phone calls than me. It’s exhausting. There are days where the phone rings so much that messages pile up while I’m talking to other people.
Having said all that there are also tremendous rewards, raising my own child, we often go to my appointments as a group and have lunch or something. This is an essential part of my day, I have learned that I need to get out of the house every single day without fail. My schedule is a moving target with people cancelling or standing me up at the last minute. Just because I can work when I want doesn’t mean that I don’t work. Which lead to the next problem, other people respecting your time. I even get frustrated with my husband at times. Even after 5 years together he doesn’t understand that I am working almost all the time. For him work is when you have an appointment. When I’m blogging or sitting down in the office that’s not work.
In any case, when I am getting distracted…I stop and ask myself “What task can you do now that will generate the most revenue?” Or “What is the best income producing activity for you right now” then I go do that. Because I have like a couple million things I could be doing at any one time and most of them will never bring me a cent. The first person I’m hiring when i absolutely must… is a secretary.
Look at you sneaking in a guest post in the comments!
The point about boredom is a good one. I find I have trouble with that as well.
Do you ever change that self conversation to, “Why am I still doing something I don’t enjoy?”
I enjoy it more than the alternatives
I have a husband and son to support and doing these boring things keeps them warm and dry. Because my husband is sick I do a lot of childcare.
I love working with other people just not for other people.I have been self employed way too long to be a good obedient employee. And I’m not sure anyone is worst than me at stupid office politics. And people resent me solving their problems. I mean how would you feel if someone solved a problem you had for 10 years in about 2 minutes? The dumb blonde flukey routine only works for so long. I live for the Eureka moment. The challenge of figuring stuff out. Once it’s figured out I don’t care too much.
Today I did buy another domain name to try another kind of site
Can I ask what the domain is?
Yes,
It’s reitcentral.net. Still in real estate but no longer a launching pad for my business
The directory will be designed to include current stock and news info. Once the site gets bigger they will have to pay to get a link to their site from their page. Considering how lousy lots of these companies are at SEO.
It will have a directory, blog, forum I think.
Nothing at all like my current tone either. My current blog is totally informal. This will be something very different.
This is definitely one of the most useful posts ever.
When I started blogging I used to spend a lot of time reading blogs and researching because that’s the learning curve. You have to learn first and implement then. The thing is, you develop the habit of reading a lot of posts everyday. So when your learning curve changes you don’t give up following some of the blogs.
This kind of distractions also make you weaker because when you read about some guy making great money using a technique, you get doubts about yourself, your skills and your methodology (especially if you are a newbie)
Like I said, a great post. It’s important to work on your mindset as an online entrepreneur.
Cristina
Thanks Cristina. Glad you liked it.
Liked the podcast Tyrant, good change up and great content as usual. Like a lot of people I have trouble with using my online time efficiently. In my work life I ask myself what I have done to make money today? It’s a little harder when you aren’t making money, but I try to focus on what I’ve done to advance my progress each day instead. Those helpful blogs are addictive though
Shaun: It’s easy to get distracted. Way too easy… Here’s what I did. I created a spreadsheet in Google Docs with a checklist of daily/monthly goals. I check ‘em off as I go through my day. And I use a timer to stay on point. As I get done, I allow myself more free time. Otherwise I don’t.
That’s a really good idea Ricardo.
Gracias amigo
Nice idea Ricardo, might have to ‘borrow’ that one.
Totally agree with the timer. When I stopped working in a corporate environment I was completely lost with a whole day at home. It was like without the 10:00 coffee break and the noon lunch hour I didn’t even know how to function.
My dear friend taught me a trick for breaking my day into 45-minute “modules” (and setting a timer). This changed how productive I was.
At the end of 45 minutes I rewarded myself with a cup of tea, a quick walk to the post box, a personal phone call, etc.
Soon I found that 3-4 dedicated and focused “modules” in my day were more productive than my old 8-hour corporate work day.
The timer was what I used to train myself to be disciplined.
(Should I be embarrassed to mention that I made a graph and charted my mods? When you’re alone you do need a sense of accomplishment.
I did stop myself short of making a pie chart necklace though…) I can’t believe I just admitted to being the nerdiest artist on earth.
All the best from germany,
tj
Haha! Not nerdy at all.
I went from being a freelancer to being back in an office. For me, as a freelancer, the change of scenery was always a good thing. I used co-working spaces often.
Being back in the office environment has been tricky. Every now and then I still have to get out for some fresh air and change of scenery. I make a coffee run out of this time.
And yes, I use the egg timer and charts to track what I’m doing and how I’m coming along. It’s still important and effective
I’ll keep this short because I’m on my phone and it’ll take me forever just to write this. Biggest distractions for me are deciding how to delegate – I have large project, a kid and several freelancers to deal with; I get paralyzed somtimes trying to sort it all out. I’ll spend freaking forever researching management styles – it’s such time suck. It’s better when I just make a decision, get on with it and deal with the potential fallout later.
Thanks for the podcast BT!
Leigh: Just curious, what do you use to manage your projects and various freelancers? I’ve managed several web design projects. I used Basecamp to delegate tasks, correspond between co-workers and with the client and assign tasks.
Great calendar, private and public messaging features and totally worth the investment!
Hi Ricardo! I’ve used basecamp in the past – and you’re right, it’s sweet. Right now, since we use Drupal I’m using Open Atrium (fun fact: the white house is now using it!) and because we are open source programming geeks
BT, great first podcast. I was a little skeptical at first when you started talking about not reading what other people were doing but the advice you gave about the short, medium and long term incomes was great.
I don’t know if you have ever listened to the 48 days podcast by Dan Miller but I think the format he uses would benefit you too. It’s basically people emailing him during the week and he answers the most interesting questions.
If you’re interested go to his website at 48days.com you can find the link to the podcast there.
Jamie: I like that idea/format; I’ll have to check it out. I have a conference line set up to accept voicemail messages to listeners from my podcast. But I also like the concept for our company blog. I want to start doing more with video and answering client questions.
Absolutely Ricardo. If you could utilize that format the way Dan does I know it would benefit your clients.
Video Q&A here we come!
BT should stand for Blogger-Teacher.
So many great points. Often I catch myself doing way too much blog hopping and I try to come back to the idea that I only need to worry about what I’m doing. Not what everybody else is doing.
“Google is the world’s biggest gold rush, ever.”
LOVED that. **Thumps chest twice with fist for emphasis!*
Excellent. Your fan in germany,
tj
Thanks TJ! Love your feedback.
I’d say a combination of ADHD, fatigue and being overbooked with client work are my biggest distractions. There is so much on my plate that I have to do (client stuff to pay the bills) that I can’t devote any time to the things I want to do (blogging, fiction, writing my ebook).
I don’t know where I was going with that. I’ve literally been writing it for 45 minutes, but I kept stopping to do other things. Today is not a focused day.
Jen: sometimes, when I’m feeling distracted and completely unfocused… I got for a walk to the coffee-shop. Moleskine in-hand, the sunshine and the change of atmosphere is just what I need to get focused!
As for everything else, totally been there too… I’ve tried waking up earlier and carving out time on weekends to find more hours to do the things I want to do. Some days I make more progress than others but hey, progress is progress!
Tyrant: First off, congrats on the new podcast! Kinda exciting I’m sure… I remember when I uploaded mine to iTunes. I couldn’t wait for it to get approved and uploaded and was all excited like a kid in a candy store.
Anyway, great first episode and here on my thoughts on distractions… They’re plentiful! And it’s easy to get distracted. Especially when your work involves being connected and socializing with people on various social networks. At work, I’m responsible for client training. I create the following bits of content:
- Post on the company blog (daily)
- Post on my blog (~3/week)
- Host webinars (daily)
- Reply & post in our Community Forum
- Submit & reply to Help Tickets in Zendesk
- Connect/respond to clients on Twitter
- Respond to Sales Requests online & via social networks
- Research/brainstorm ideas for new content
In that mix, it’s easy to stray off and have a conversation on Twitter. It’s easy to get caught up reading one blog after another. So here’s how I break it down to manage distractions:
1.)I use a timer. Work for 10 minutes straight, take a 2 minute break. I repeat this 5x’s as I work through my To Do’s.
2.)I have a daily goals sheet (I created an spreadsheet in excel). Here, I know what activities MUST get done for the day and I check them off as I go through my work day
3.)I have a physical daily planner. All of my major goals/To Do’s go in there as do content/topic ideas. I use post it notes to move things around and I also carry around a moleskine to write notes in.
Each of these three things have been instrumental in helping keep me organized! Fewer distractions, unwavering focus (most of the time anyway).
That’s some great suggestions man.
The short bursts of work are really interesting to me. I might have to give that a try.
I took some getting used to at first because I umm…kept getting distracted, heh. But it really is efficient! And the timer really does help me stay focused and on point on that one thing I’m working on right then and there.
So, I came home about 2, fully planning to spend the rest of the afternoon finishing up the three lessons due tomorrow morning when I talk to my coach. Yawning, ready for a nap, I opened my laptop and hit the mail button.
Oh, good, a podcast from Tyrant. He always has enriching things to say….
He did, and I didn’t go to my lessons and tune him out, even though he told me to in plain English.
Sorry, Ty. You are positively right. I think we all know we shouldn’t be “wasting” time, but ain’t it fun?
This addiction reminds me of quitting smoking. First, you have to really make up your mind. After that it’s no problem to quit. I’m working on the mindset now. In fact I got the idea only last week that it was time to quit fooling around and get with the program. Thanks for the boot in the right place.
When’s your next podcast…
Ha ha… love it. Got distracted by the distractions post!
Not sure about the next Podcast. Might not do one at all.
Keep doing these podcasts man. They’re awesome. I’m afraid a bunch of your readers are a lot smarter than I am. Not only do I have no clue how you make a living, I’m not sure how to make a living doing this myself.
And just think about this. If the average person was subscribed to 5 blogs, than the average blog would have a measly 5 subscribers. I’m sure you have an explanation for this, and I’d love to hear it.
Distractions. Life is what happens while you make plans. I’m the worst distracted guy of all.
Does this mean our scrabble game is over? I sure hope not.
Good times man. Keep podcastig.
If I had to guess, it’s because not everyone reading our blogs are bloggers themselves. While a lot of people try to blog, not every does.
200 million blogs, 2.1 billion Internet users…
Maybe you’re right Jen.
Say it’s 3:30 pm here in Oklahoma. Does that mean I’m distracted?
Hey man.
Good post over on CB.
Your maths is faulty on the subscriber thing I have to say – the reason is that the subscriptions don’t fall along an evenly distributed curve. So 80% of people might use one of their 5 to subscribe to Mashable. And as the number of readers and bloggers increases so to do the stats!
Faulty? Lol. Look here.
If Mashable has more than 5 subscribers, than there HAS to be a bunch of blogs who have fewer than 5. Make sense?
Were you homeschooled? Maybe folks in Australia are a lot smarter than in USA. You’re thinking on a much more mature, responsible, higher plane than most 25 year olds here. People here are lucky to put two related sentences together.
How have you created a seperate feed for this? How did you embed that flash player widget? Me and a friend have been doing a podcast and I’m trying to figure out how to host the feed on WordPress.
Of all the questions I just wrote here, the last one is the most important.
Oh, and it’s your move.
I cant wait to hear this Blog Tyrant. It should help, since I do have many distractions.
Thanks
Let me know what you think man.
Enjoyed the podcast.
At the risk of a drop in readership, you tell us to reduce our blog reading time. I love this. It illuminates your honesty and integrity.
I also like that you frequently bring up health issues, which are vital to our livelihood, yet they are the first to be forgotten in this world of blogging.
It’s funny that you mentioned, “there’s no new info, just use what you already know…” Just recently, I realized I’m an information addict. I love to consume information, believing this data will continue to improve me in some way, but I don’t spend enough time digesting the information, mediating on it, and actually applying what I’ve learned. Consuming information is definitely a distraction for me.
Thanks T. Glad you liked it.
Nice work – that’s the first podcast I’ve ever listened to.
It was very good, but I would vote for no more podcasts – the format is just too inconvenient for me.
I agree that reading too much is a waste of time. You can only learn so much before you have to put some of that knowledge to work.
Two other problem areas I’ve cut back on are 1) forums – very easy to get involved with a community and keep reading/communicating etc. And 2) answering reader questions.
I love answering questions, but it can get time consuming and helps keep me from achieving my goals.
Hi Mike.
I’ve had about 20 emails today from people asking me to keep doing them. Is there some way I can create a happy medium so the Podcasts suit you as well?
Let me know.
I say the majority rules!
My suggestion is to make the podcast shorter, if possible.
Love this. I hope you do more.
My main distraction? Lack of self-confidence. The voice in my head that keeps telling me this isn’t going to work causes me to read a blog post or go do laundry. Maybe because these things show immediate results? I don’t know. I probably need therapy. Hahah!
That’s exactly what I was talking about Liz. You’re afraid of success. I often wonder whether that same voice in my head is actually a manifestation of laziness…?
You may be right, but it just sounds ridiculous. Fear of success? Shouldn’t the fear be a fear of not being a success? I don’t know, I guess this conversation could go on and on (and become another distraction). Ugh!
Hey man that was a really good podcast.
I’ve been self employed for 5 + years now and online has come in to play in the last 2.
I never really had issues with distraction until I jumped into online business.
In that 2 year period I’ve figured out what helps me and what doesn’t. Sifted through all kinds of “training”, spent over 10 grand on information, spent 1000′s of hours going through it. I Know some stuff now:) The Blog Tyrant had already become one of my 5.
I’d like more podcasts. I save mp3s of webinars on my ipod so I can listen and learn as I drive. Makes best use of that time.
Thanks heaps mate.
Pete.
P.S. Tweeted and Dugg…
Thanks Peter. Appreciate the social love.
More Podcasts coming – just got accepted in to iTunes.
G’Day BT,
After 32 years running my own business I’ve learnt a bit; not much, I’ll admit, but a bit.
The most important thing is to have a crystal business focus and a clearly defined target market. This is the essence of a successful business, off or online. Only do things that support the business focus and serve your target market. That’s the best way to avoid distractions. It takes some patience and persistence. But you don’t get distracted by all the get rich quick merchants.
One other thing: about 10 years ago I was reading a book about internet marketing. The author was an Australian whose name escapes me . He said this; “If this sounds like old fashioned mail order, that’s because it is.”
Internet marketing is old fashioned mail order wrapped in whizzbang technology.
Keep that in mind when those distractions tempt you.
i’m ambivalent about podcasts. Staring at a black screen for more than 10 minutes
is a bit wearing. And a podcast without a carefully prepared script………well, it shows.
Regards
Leon
Hi Leon.
Great point about the business plan.
Thanks for the feedback about the Podcast. I don’t think they are meant for staring – have you got an iPod to put it on?
As for the script – never!
WOW!!! When I first read the title about Distractions, I thought…. seriously, how boring… but, I am blown away!!!
First, I love the podcast… PLEASE keep doing them! It’s so nice to hear the voice behind one of my favorite blogs. To just put on the headset, kick back, close my eyes and listen rather than reading was really a nice change.
I can’t believe how many different distractions you touched on that I never would have given a thought…..and so many that apply to me personally (the coffee, exercise, and short-term income).
You are very intuitive and I truly appreciate your advice… THANK YOU!!
Thanks Kari! Feel free to give it a little iTunes review if you get a sec.
Glad you liked it.
This was really helpful. I am going to be very honest. I haven’t made any money off my blog. I have a round 90 followers. I love blogging, and the community of it. I have been blogging for around 4 months. I find it hard to gain followers without getting myself out there, tweeting, networking, and commenting on other blogs. I try to make a lot of great self created content. It takes a lot of my time. I’m just not getting the traffic. I just feel kind of lost about it. Right now I do work full time. Am I expecting too much too soon?
I always give it at least a year before I make any big decisions. If you have another source of income to supplement you then keep plugging away.
Thanks for the advice. I do have my full time job. It’s a tough, and physically demanding job but it’s money.
Great podcast. Right on target.
This was a great message for me to hear right now. I’m currently working a FT corporate job that I’m slated to leave in mid-June to do FT wedding photography and blogging. I just launched my blog for people who want to be a professional photographer and are just starting out (it’s just moved from my long-term to my medium-term project list) and I feel like there’s simply not enough time in the day.
But there’s always time for a bit of facebook. And a photography forum I’m on. And yes, a lot of what I do there is creating relationships and building rapport and most of the buzz I got on my launch last week is because of the friends I have there now, but it easily becomes a distraction. It was part of the plan, and it isn’t always bad, but I could definitely cut back.
I just need to focus. I need clarity. So many things I’d like to do, so many small irons in the fire; it was a good reminder to prioritize as there’s an opportunity cost to each thing I pursue.
Thanks for the good reminder. And I love the podcast, by the way. It’s really awesome for my commute where I can’t be reading but CAN be listening.
Good luck Jamie. If you ever need help marketing that photography business online let me know. I have a client who makes well over $150k a year from wedding photography now.
What kinds of services do you offer? I guess I had no idea you did stuff like that as well. While I’m not directly looking for help marketing at the moment, I’m always open to considering opportunities as they arise.
well BT … the distraction was listening to your podcast and then trying to get registered with itunes … didn’t happen after 3 tries. Must have been one of those days.
I have cut back on the blogs I read and comment on … and do one meaty post a week instead of 2. My focus is on finishing and launching LD with my brother.
One of the things I love about working from home is the freedom to play with time.
After the useful distraction of your podcast I decided that I’d avoided starting the next rewrite of the LD Expedition for long enough … and then FB’s and emailed friends about how I was avoiding the avoiding!
Then I sat down and worked 7 hours straight until I had the first module done and dusted. When I focus I’m amazing … and when I loll and play I’m just as fab.
We all have different ways of getting the work done.
Love your comments Liz. They are always a little bit different.
Thanks for trying with iTunes.
This is part of what I need. I get distracted every seconds. Thanks for sharing this.