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The Mental Health Hazards
of Working Online These
ramblings were originally sent out to subscribers of my Internet Marketing
Prescriptions newsletter. If you're not a subscriber,
you'd
better click here right now (opens in a new window, so you don't lose
your spot). Anyway, here
goes: I know I’ve been
pretty quiet over here. I would like to explain why I haven’t written in a
while because I’m hoping it might help you in some way with your
business...and even your personal life too.
First I have to say, I’ve been incredibly busy. I’ve been preparing
packages for my
Marketing to Moms in Business Course,
Press Release
Profits Course, plus all the bonuses I offered for the Underachiever
Mastery Course. Interestingly enough, I’ve never really copied CDs
before…so this was a really big challenge for me. Please don’t laugh! Even
though I run an online business and seemingly know how to operate a
computer, I am seriously hardware-challenged. Besides learning how to copy
CDs, I’ve had a few other pressing projects that I’ve been busily working
on…so my workdays have been packed.
Outside of that, I’ve been making a conscious effort to remain a real
flesh and blood human…which sometimes can be tough when you run an
online business. So, while I’ve been hard at work during work hours, I’ve
been trying to enjoy myself and get back to “reality” in my off time.
See, that’s what I want to talk to you about and where I hope all this
yacking about myself will help you too. If you live a perfectly balanced
life, then you may already have this figured out. If you find it tough to
get it altogether sometimes, I invite you to read on.
Who Else Needs Balance in Their
Business & Personal Life?
Over the past couple of weeks,
there have been a couple things that really caused me to think about the
balance between working online effectively and having a life outside of
cyberspace.
The first was the most recent issue of John Reese’s Marketing Secrets
newsletter. John spoke about the loneliness of working online and to me,
it seemed his solution was to work smarter, harder and make more money. It
actually really disturbed me…at first. That didn’t seem like much of a
cure to loneliness to me. If you haven’t read it, I’ll give you the link
in a second.
I actually asked John if he realized that he suggested the cure to
loneliness working online was making more money. He (very kindly) told me
I totally misinterpreted what he wrote and he was right. It took me some
time to come to the realization that I didn’t misinterpret his solution to
loneliness, but his definition of loneliness.
He was talking about the loneliness or isolation somebody might feel when
they are online, trying to figure out how to make their business work. He
encouraged his subscribers to find a support network of other online
entrepreneurs that they can bounce ideas off of and not to get lost in
virtual la-la land just surfing around aimlessly searching for
“something”.
See, the reason I didn’t understand it was because I don’t experience this
loneliness. I have always had an awesome support network or Internet biz
friends and I don’t have trouble staying focused on my business (but I am
far from perfect, as you’ll soon find out – if you didn’t know already!).
From the reaction people have had to John’s newsletter, I realized that
there are plenty of people who don’t have this support network and they do
experience the loneliness that John spoke about.
Well, like I told you, I was initially disturbed by John’s newsletter and
that caused me think about a lot of things. It made me realize that there
is another kind of loneliness and isolation for online entrepreneurs. It’s
getting caught up in our online life that we forget that there is a life
outside in the “real” world.
I am certainly guilty of this to some extent. Certainly, I spend time with
my kids and family…and I also have a friend I regularly go to the movies
with (I am a total movie nut!)…but I realized that I have completely let
me offline social circle shrink to almost nothing. Sure, I can hide behind
the fact that it’s just me home with my kids and I don’t get the
opportunity to be social, but that’s just an excuse.
So, when I do get time to myself, I have been trying not to just spend
that time working – which is really hard to resist. If you’re a parent,
you know how valuable uninterrupted working time can be. Still, I’m a
human being and I need to do human things and get out of this darned house
and build my “real” world social circle.
Just as I was thinking about all this and making a conscious effort to
change this in my life, my friend Kelly McCausey, coincidentally broadcast
her radio show on a very related topic. This is the second thing that
really made me sit down and think about balance.
She interviewed a woman who candidly spoke of falling into this all-work
and no-play trap and ended up needing to seek professional help for
depression. It’s a very eye-opening interview and I encourage you to take
a listen. Kelly’s program is geared toward work at home moms, but this
interview has tremendous value to all online business owners. If you don’t
want to listen to the whole show, please just download the mp3 and forward
to the interview. I think it’s really that important.
Well, that’s it for me for now. If you need a little hand finding the
right balance, do check out John’s newsletter and Kelly’s interview. I’m
sure they will help a lot.
Take care,
Alice Seba
Your Partner in Online Success |
