gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

Oh, Hugh, you're speaking to my soul here.

On the weekend, I had to take a serious look
at all the projects I was working on
and cut some of the non-core
(reading GapingVoid made the cut).

I often wonder how people have time to watch tv
when there is so much out there
needing to be built
and to be done.

If you have time to think about it
(which you don't),
its a great place to be,
thinking that the world is full
of so much opportunity.

Hi Hugh,

I've not long finished reading Tim's book too and I found a resonance in your post and something Tim says about being the bottleneck in the system. We live in networked times but we are all still trying to behave in a "hub & spoke" way and feeling the stress.

It's interesting how we take certain metaphors and only apply parts of them, such as "conversation"... When did you last enjoy a Guiness in a pub while having three conversation with twelve people simultaneously? Are we trapped in the metaphor perhaps, as we have been for so long on the web with the "page" metaphor.

I think guys like your good self need to be ruthless and decide if your just filters and distillers, taking in huge volumes of input and condensing it down to a concise statement or are you going to be effective, effective communicators, effective thinkers, effective doer's? Let the network automate the filtering.

All the best,

Justin.

Whenever I see so much exasperation at being busy, I feel terrible. Sometime ago, I opted for a job instead of a career. Trust me, it's infinitely better to be engaged and busy and at times overwhelmed than punching a clock. I now have to dig out of my current situation and build a whole new career if I want to be engaged again. And, with a child, it's pretty challenging. Savor your hectic schedules and just take time to breath once in a while, your projects will get done.

Your bottleneck is my (and others) opportunity.

It is also perhaps a time to let go of any non-productive time or gain team members to manage it. Also a time to raise rates to deter those who would infringe on your time.

Brilliant rant. I often wonder how organizations will react toward this heavy wool coat that all of their members seem to wear. It is 100 degrees out and people are starting to fold from the heat... Mission statement: more layers! =)

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house -
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife -

Letting the days go by(let the water hold me down)
Letting the days go by(water flowing underground)
Into the blue again
(after the moneys gone)
Once in a lifetime (water flowing underground.)

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

"Once in a Lifetime" - Talking Heads

Wow, interesting that I just turned away a client today for this very reason. One needs more space to write, not crowding. When all the inputs start looking the same, it's time to back off to meatspace and balance it out.

Hugh... I feel you.

My mental stamina is wavering. The worst part is that I am younger than you and instead of taking the 9 to 5 out of school (which would have helped me pay my debt), I went straight into my own practice(s). I have 3 splits of my time, and they are all pointed at the stars. Until the day when one takes off, I struggle to understand why I can't stop dreaming.

i just stumbled across this:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/05/microsoft_mvp_threats/

and said to myself, that's a case for gapingvoid

Hi Hugh.

Spot on, as ever. Am feeling the same way right now. Am stewing on client projects (particularly one that won't die), writing, business development and conference stuff. At the same time asking myself if I'm allowed to go fishing tomorrow...

I love your line about human resource units' 'scalability'. Will be using most every day from now on. Credited, natch.

Btw have you worked out what you're going to talk about at WARC?

Hmmm... we just hit this one last evening with Lisa Haneberg (some reflections at Conversation Agent). Two thoughts -- smaller steps to bigger goals; we are but one ingredient, not all of it.

for H -- "Once in a Lifetime", brilliant! I recognized it on the first verse. Thank you.

I can feel you too Hugh ... it does make me think, however, that maybe you could take a deeper look at exactly what you are doing in your disparate areas and say:

-do I have to do absolutely every part of this, or could someone else help me?
-of all the things that I am doing, which give me the greatest joy, and reflect my greatest strengths?
-how could I change my own and others' expectations of my work in a way that would still make me feel like I am adding value?

I realize that you don't have 20 clients, so you can't fire 10 of them, but maybe you can "fire" some of the things you are doing.

I like what someone said, that when you step away from some things, it leaves room for others to do them, and learn and grow from the experience.

Living on a short stick for a long time is a recipe for burnout ... and we need you in the long haul Hugh. So take a quiet moment and start some "responsibility hacking," would you?

-Pam

You can buy money but you can't buy time.
The trick is to be able to sit quietly in the morning and define the one thing you can do during the day that will significantly impact the quality of your life. And then to just do that one thing, without feeling guilty for not doing all the other stuff.
Doing Yoga in the morning helps me in slowing down and getting perspective.

I doubt this comment will make the cut, and I'm interesting in having Doc intervene, but really all I have to say to you and Arrington is: cry me a river.

You both love the attention, need it really. I could say to both of you that you can easily cut back on the events, the attention seeking, and such and still make a decent living--in addition to having private time. But you both crave the attention, and like addicts, both loath and love the monkeys on your backs.

There are real people with real problems in the world. Perhaps if both you and Arrington thought about something other than yourselves and spared a thought for others, you both wouldn't feel so tired and jaded.

Shelley, you comment made the cut ;-)

Funnily enough, I often have similar thoughts myself... thre's a lot ot be said for keeping a low profile.

Hi, Hugh,

Really like your Icarus card. It's a theme I like to think about.

You might really enjoy reading "The Vintner's Luck" by Elizabeth Knox about winged things and wine. A singular book indeed.

Cheers,
J.

"...thre's a lot ot be said for keeping a low profile."

And there's a lot to be said for being grateful for what you have, by remembering there are those who have a lot less.

And, no, not according to your favorite cartoon that you like to flash at people in comments in other threads, those with less attention than you are not 'nothing'.