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Every night I leave money on my kitchen table.
Money I will never get back. Money that won’t help pay for my kids’ sports, their dentist bills, or even my retirement.
Why would I regularly choose to NOT make that money when I know how to do it — when I have the tools and opportunities?
Because I don’t have enough time.
What is getting in my way?
There aren’t enough hours in my day, of course. I do need to sleep, eat, and spend time with my family.
BUT, even within those parameters, I could be doing more. I could be earning more.
Now, don’t get me wrong… neither life nor blogging to me is all about making money… and most of the time I hate even think about money. But whether I like it or not, earning an income to support my family is part of my job.
So, why am I not making better use of what I’ve learned to grow my business and each day take bigger steps forward?
Perfectionism
I have a problem with perfectionism. It locks me in “analysis paralysis.”
Yes, my obsession with doing my best ensures great quality in everything I do. But it can also hold me back from accomplishing more — and that can keep me from earning more.
This past weekend, at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, Chris Brogan told us that we shouldn’t be toiling away on post for hours — that he refuses to spend more than 40 minutes per post! He posts 2-3 times a day, and finds his stats drop dramatically when he posts just once a day.
Now, I don’t think I will ever have an average start to finish publishing time of 40 minutes — I obviously can’t write as fast as Chris (he’s a machine!) And many of my posts include multiple photos, links, and I edit, edit, edit to ensure I am producing a great product.
BUT, I do know that I need to move faster. I need to be more prolific and less perfect. Sometimes good enough IS good enough!
Procrastination
Perfectionism gives birth to procrastination. When I don’t have time for “perfect,” I put in on my to do list — a dangerously long, long list!
Generally the items that most often end up detoured to to do list purgatory are content and project related. The urgent items get tended to — but the important items get left behind.
In a recent post, Chris Brogan suggest we use an egg timer to do 20 minute plans — to help us focus, eliminate distractions, and tackle those to do lists!
I know that I need to be more disciplined with my time management. And for sure, conquering my perfectionism and my procrastination will be key!
What About You?
What is holding YOU back from making more money?
Tell us in a comment… we’d love to hear from you.
Are you building a business or trying to monetize your blog?
Written by Janice Croze, co-founder of the Mom Blog 5 Minutes for Mom
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Photo credits: US Dollars photo taken by Skettalee on Flickr
Chris Brogan photo taken by Janice Croze
Andrea - Moody Mama Says says
I struggle with having the energy to get everything done. Between the boys activities and school, homework, the laundry, the house and the blog I am just plain tired and worn out! Great post Jan.
Lorie Shewbridge says
I was sitting there listening to Chris shaking my head… There is no way I can write a post in 20 minutes, because just like you, there are links and photos to add and edits to make to make sure things are perfect. But I need to make sure that it is Good Enough, not perfect.
I also have to stop procrastinating and get my butt in gear.
Sorry I missed running into you this year at the conferencec.
simplywebly says
Wow! Amazing blog that hits close to home. I can certainly relate to being a “perfectionist” and Lord knows I have procrastinated so badly on some areas of my life that my to do list like you said keeps getting bigger.
This is the major thing holding me back “It has to be perfect” and if I don’t have all the tools to make it perfect, I don’t start at all.
I am making baby steps to stop that and just learn to correct and improve as I go and just hustle my way there if I have too.
It takes a while getting used to.
Another thing I do sometimes when I am working on a new project is jump from one thing to the other. I am learning to focus on 1 task and just finish it. My nightstand is a perfect example of that. I have so many books piled up and this year I will read all of them. I started reading 10 pages at least every day and I am impressed how quickly I finish.
Lesson learned, start somewhere and keep moving, eventually I will get there.
Thanks for the egg timer link. I’ve been wanting to write my posts 2 weeks in advance; I can stick to 40 minutes and I think it will bring structure and more organization in my life.
Thanks for this post, I love it.
Janice says
Girl — I so often start a new book before I finish the one I am on! (Unless it is a good novel or a David Sedaris boo!) I am so ADD lol!
The perfectionism has kept me from SO many things. It is terrible! I really need to break free from it!
THANKS so much for sharing!
Heather says
I have to say I certainly have the same struggles. It’s difficult to overcome. Sometimes I procrastinate because I get overwhelmed simply because I *think* it’s going to take a long time, then I put it on the to do list and find myself wasting a few minutes here and there everyday on everything BUT my to do list! But usually when I just go and get the task done it takes me half the time I thought it would. I’m thinking the timer would certainly help. It would be nice to see just how much I can actually get done in 20 minutes time, or in my scheduled work time of 2 hours. 🙂
Janice says
I hear ya! I hope the timer thing works for you – let me know. 🙂
Darren Sanford says
WOW! This is awesome information. Thanks for posting.
Janice says
So glad! 🙂
Mountain Butorac says
As a perfectionist and a procrastinator with a ridiculously long to-do list, thank you for this post. It was just what I needed!
Janice says
So glad it was helpful! 🙂
Erno Hannink says
OR you could just enjoy what you are doing in the way you are doing it. Why does it always have to be more?
A constant debeate that I am in with myself. I rather do less, still make enough to pay all the bills, and do more fun stuff that have nothing to do with making more money. BTW I really enjoy what I am doing, every day.
Janice says
For sure — life is about balance! I am talking about my working time, needs and goals. Fun and family are definitely a priority too!!!
Elizabeth Aquino says
Time Management is something I need to work on. As a work-at-home mom, I hold great responsibilities like taking care of our child, doing house chores, etc. But when it comes to focus on what’s really matters is something I need to discover. That’s probably what’s holding me back to earn more. I work as a researcher and a personal assistant, and due to my addiction to blog or should I say passion, I tend to spend much time browsing and reading other mom’s blog than making money. As my goal, I want to monetize my blog too. Maybe not this early as I need to work harder to create a more interesting blogsite and helpful contents.
Janice says
I love that you said you need to work on creating your site before monetizing! I always say you need to build your product before you sell it! We worked for three years before we worked on monetizing!
elizabeth says
Janice, thank you for your encouragement to make my blog more monetizing. I’m not really a good writer that’s why everyday is a work in progress. As another tool, I also ask for guest post. There are a lot of TALENTED writers like you who could provide great and helpful tips.
Currently my time is divided with so many things, work(from home), blogging, and my time for my family. Of course they are the most important.
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Angie (Losing It and Loving It) says
I think the thing holding me back from making more is little focus. I am already monetizing my blog and other sites but I could be doing more that is for sure. My Google reader is packed full of awesome blogs and I know I spend too much time reading them.
I just started using the timer on my iPhone and found that it really helps focus on the task at hand. Now if I could make that a habit life would be good. Blog posts and web pages take me about an hour or more so that is another thing I could work on.
Time management is a struggle for me too, making sure client work is done (I’m an assistant/VA) and my own stuff is complete is not always easy.
Janice says
I find I end up hopping from blog to blog when I really shouldn’t be too! Setting a timer for blog reading would be good for me!
Angie (Losing It and Loving It) says
I might try the timer for blog reading. Maybe 30 minutes for blogs in my niche and 30 for other blogs. Not all at once obviously but it’s sure something to think about.