9/25/2014 The Morning Coffee: Negligence

Good morning to you –

I think I might've mentioned before that I'm an easygoing kind of guy. If you remember that fashion for calling high-power personalities "Type A," then I'm probably a Type E for easy or maybe a Type S for slow.

I've been busy enough in the last couple of weeks that I have alighted on what I feel is the true definition of being very busy – it's when you don't have enough time to eat. I had a retail job once that sometimes got that kind of busy. We were supposed to get half an hour for lunch, but by common custom we all agreed to only take half that long – and even then it could take two hours to eat a submarine sandwich. You'd take a few bites, then have to get back to work; a little while later a few more bites, and off you'd go again. And so forth. In the last few days, there've been a few times when I really didn't have time for one meal or another.

It's not being busy that I mind, really – rather, it's the pervasive sense I get that I'm neglecting everything just a little. It's not that there's not enough time to get everything done; it's that there's not enough time to do anything well. So right now, I'm kind of neglecting the comments, I'm not spending enough time writing, I'm neglecting the dogs – not doing enough training, not giving them long enough walks – I'm neglecting the prep work on the old house, I'm neglecting the organizing at the new house. I'm neglecting my email. I'm not spending enough time with my friends.

This photo has nothing to do with anything – it's just an experiment. Please ignore!

That's what I mind. I'd rather do a few things well then do a lot of things poorly.

Of course this is temporary. It's not supposed to last forever, and everybody has to scramble once in a while. But it's one reason why am really looking forward to this trip – I'll be away from a lot of the things I have to do and I'll just be able to calm down and focus again.

It's going to be fun to try to do everything on the iPad. Not take pictures, though. The NEX-6 is coming along. (The test illustration you see here was shot with the iPad. The beer is non-alcoholic, don't worry!)

Hope you have a nice Thursday. I'll be posting on the computer later this afternoon, and then the next time you hear from me I'll be on the road. It'll be fun to see how well all this works.

Mike

 

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Comments

[Richard G]

Good. I was going to recommend a holiday: you're frazzled.

[Alan]

How can I ignore a good well earned beer?

[Brian Chambers]

One of the things I like best about this site is the comments. Its such a nice change from the inane back and forth thoughtlessness you often see.
But I feel like it must be a huge amount of effort for you to stay on top of it in a timely manner. What if you allowed trusted posters to post without waiting for approval? You might lose a little in control but gain something in the liveliness of the comments and we wouldn't have to wait to see what others are thinking. You could still stay in ultimate control and still do the feature comments. You just wouldn't be under pressure to do it NOW.
Cheers Brian (and have a great road trip)

[Bron]

Have a nice trip! Check out I Pass or Ez Pass for paying tolls; very convenient and the tolls are usually discounted. Illinois and Indiana sell them at Toll plazas or CVS has them. Photogene is an excellant editor for the iPad.

[Tom Legrady]

The glass is twice as large as it needs to be.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

"...rather, it's the pervasive sense I get that I'm neglecting everything just a little."

There's an old business chestnut: "Am I doing things right and am I doing the right things?"

In my opinion the guide wire for a professional blogger is very simple: retaining and expanding an audience. Anything that jeopardizes that ongoing necessity is not the right thing. You do have what appears to be a very devoted audience sympathetic to, for example, essentially taking the summer off to move and realign your life as an empty-nester.

But you do need to determine what your allure really is? Is it really photography? Is it hazardous to neglect messages and comments? Are you potentially losing audience by having too great a percentage of articles devoted away from photography and more toward life-logging? Or maybe a voyeuristic monologue is actually more interesting. Etc.

And, of course, you need to decide what you want to do and what's really right for your personality style. If you're only comfy having one or two things on your plate at any time perhaps it's time to hire someone to do the rest?

Just my thoughts from afar, Mike.

[Patrick Perez]

Mike said: "I'd rather do a few things well then do a lot of things poorly."

I usually just skip the first part and start off doing things poorly (g)

Patrick

[Gordon Lewis]

I second Ken Tanaka's sentiments. Any choice you make-or don't make- about how to invest your time will have reasonably predictable consequences. It's your time and your life, so what is it that you want to happen? You can't have it all, so you'll have to prioritize. Setting priorities and sticking to them can be stressful at times, but certainly no more so than "doing a lot of things poorly."

[richard]

I'm going to chime in with Ken, although less diplonatically than his always diplomatic self. You neglect the commenters at your peril. I suspect many visitors come to follow the comments and the fact it takes so long for them to be updated, often not at all, makes you appear neglectful. Remember also that the comments are part of the site's content, and contribute a lot to the site's relevance in search engines