Mind the Beginner

Hello again everyone, My weekly update is here again though the name “weekly” does seem a bit off. I’ve ben swamped lately and am not practicing what I preach. My time management is a bit fubar I guess. Many issues to solve but that won’t stop me in the end. We’ll get through this and in the mean time here’s another update for you.

For those of you who are new to this: I’ve set myself the goal of reaching 100 subscribers on my RSS feed as my current blogchallenge. After that the goal will be to reach 500+ pageviews per day. Upon reaching the 100 subscribers this blog will be transferred to its own domain. A huge step in blogging for me.

In the mean time, to keep you all a bit updated on the situation I’m writing these weekly updates on how things are going. So here are the numbers:

Average numbers of pageviews a day this month so far: 242 (period 9-1 till 9-11) A huge leap when compared to last months numbers which was somewhere in the 170’s. Interesting, I regularly break the 250 mark nowadays.

Number of subscribers to my RSS feed: 84, the number doesn’t seem to be rising like it used to. But I’ve got some things planned to work on that. Stay tuned.

Where the traffic is coming from: Okay, this is the last time I’m going to post this item on the list. There is no single source that generates all the traffic, save google. Twitter, stumble, Facebook, other blogs, they all chip in and I no longer see the use of mentioning this as it has been this way for months now. If anything special happens I’ll mention it in the updates, otherwise I’ll let this point off the list.

What I have done this week to get my blog bigger and what I learned: Blogging is hard work! Although I already knew this, time management is becoming more important. I need to sync all my agenda’s a bit better and let them rule my day a bit more. Yes you’re reading that right… letting a schedule dictate how I spend my day. I’m doing too much slacking, and that’s to much of a good thing. I’ll be reworking my workspace in the oncoming weeks:

- New desktop pc

- New desk (going to collect that one tomorrow)

- Proper time management utilities (sync my PDA with my desktop calendar functions)

- Kick my own ass for overdoing the laziness.

Well, that’s all folks. Monday will see a new week, and new opportunities to develop. Enjoy your weekend.

As I was walking down the street today I had a thought about something, I dug my smartphone from my pocket and started to look something up. Only a few seconds later a bicycle almost ran me over. “Look in front of you, in stead of at that thing!.” I followed quickly with “This is a pedestrian area!”… Okay, a fast response  and he didn’t counter it. I doubt if he realized he had a point there. 

The sun was shining, the fragrance of spring in the air… and I was concentrated on my smartphone. I quickly tucked it back in my pocket and started to look around. Earphones everywhere, a laptop set on a table outside a cafe, suits walking by while phoning. Everyone was more active in their own little plugged world than what was actually going on. I wonder if people actually noticed the nice weather and feint smell of flowers in the air. 

When getting home I went through the usual motions of flicking on the TV and my laptop because I had a great idea for a post, this post. Hang on a second, I’m writing about the level of “pluggedness” in modern society while I’m no better myself. How’s that for a realization during blogging. I wonder, what would it be like if I shut down all electricity at home for a few days. I wouldn’t be able to blog (the horror), no music except my acoustic guitar, which -come to think of it- I haven’t touched in months, no TV (well, that’s not a loss I guess). I would be deprived of every manner of influence from the media on my life. This sounds interesting…    ..but is life possible in the western world without internet, a computer, tv and a phone? I could live without TV easily, without a phone would be harder but doable. Without a computer with internet access? I don’t know if that’s for me just yet. Even if I were to go vagabonding I would bring along a simple laptop just to stay in touch. On the other side of the coin, I spend hours a day staring at a computer screen, blogging, reading, working. No computer would mean hours a day to spend differently. 

How do they survive in places without all those electronics? How do they spend their days? if they are not working they are enjoying each others company, talking, singing, making music. They spend time outdoor, walking, listening, watching. 

The pro’s of plugged life:

• Huge social network
• Always up to date on the latest scoop/news
• Vast amounts of information at the push of a button

The con’s of plugged life:

• Less social time in real life
• Information overload
• Feelings of failure because of all the “you should be like him/her to be successful” messages in the media

The pro’s of unplugged life:

• More here and now instead of there on that screen/in that earphone
• The addiction to social media will get less
• Happier with yourself (less negativity from the media)
• you start to see what really matters

The con’s of unplugged life:

• You might not be up to date (I like living under a rock from time to time)
• It’s social suicide not to have the latest gizmo (or so I’ve heard)
• You might seem “strange” to other people

This all being said, from time to time I think I’ll unplug for a few days and enjoy the real life right here. My life is being dominated with plugged life and I realized it just from almost getting run over by a bicycle. I’ve survived just fine for most of my life without a smartphone (online 24/7), so why not do it again. I don’t need it. 

How plugged are you?

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Leave me alone! I want me-time….  Who hasn’t said that from time to time. I know I have. But what is “me-time”. More time for yourself? But how can you call time yours? Strange isn’t it. At any given time you can only do one things, either you’re helping someone with a task they need completed or you are meditating. 

Does either of these activities involve more of your own time? Of course not, it’s just that you have your priorities and when you get irritated about not being left alone it’s because you have something else you’d rather be doing at that moment. Like typing a blogpost on the subject of “me-time” for instance. 

Are you being selfish when doing what you want to be doing? Don’t we all just want to do what we want? Now, what if all we want to do is our best at whatever we are doing at the moment. Not minding what other things we have on our list but only mind and thought for the current task. Do we still have the issue of not having time for ourselves? After all, we are not thinking about what other thigns are on our list, just trying to do the best we can do

If you ever find yourself thinking leave me alone, I want me-time” ask yourself what it really is you want to be doing. Try to explain to others what its you’re feeling and what it is you need to get done. Set some priorities and above all, keep your priorities transparent to everyone. More transparency equals happier time sending in any field.

So what is time for yourself then? To do what you want to be doing, when you want to do it. Because people can’t read minds (yet?) you need to communicate your priorities so you can do what you had in mind.