There’s an estate agents on the corner of my road.
It’s one of those where the front of the shop is mostly glass. You know, so that they can show you how much money they’re making.
You can see ALL the way inside. Every handshake, high five and nose pick is right there for everyone to see. You can even see what’s on their computer screens.
Nearly every time I walk past from the high street side I see one particular chap, who sits very near the window, playing Solitaire. I’m not exaggerating when I say that he’s playing it at least 80% of the times I walk past. He must be amazing at it.
A couple of weeks ago I saw something I really wasn’t expecting…
It was 12:30pm on a Wednesday and at first glance it looked like a normal office scene. Two people were stood chatting to each other and pointing thoughtfully at documents while our Solitaire man was sat at his computer deeply engrossed…
“Hang on” I thought “what is that on his screen? Is that…?”
He wasn’t playing Solitaire this time…
… and he certainly wasn’t working.
He was furiously picking his nose and watching *ahem* porn on his computer!
It was a harrowing scene a) because it’s a particularly busy high street and b) because he was being really quite violent with his nose.
Now here’s the point of all this. This is a chap who is clearly bored with his job. He’s just filling up his days with “stuff”: Solitaire, nose picking, porn ANYTHING but selling houses.
What an absolute waste. I mean just imagine what he could do if he used that time constructively.
It’s human nature to drift off, get distracted and take our eyes off the target (I’m guilty of that at the best of times) the important thing is to recognise when this is happening and be conscious of how we’re using our time.
A lot of readers are looking for new ways to make money. Not necessarily a huge amount, maybe just enough to start putting a dent in the bills or to be able to go somewhere nice on holiday…
These are realistic goals and easily achievable but they won’t just ‘happen’, they do require some time and effort.
I know how easy it is to get swept up in the feeling that there just isn’t the time in the day… but actually if you really break it down into smaller chunks, you’ll often find time that you didn’t think you had (although perhaps not as much as our amorous estate agent) which can be refocused on other things.
Sometimes it helps to sit down and think about exactly what you’d like to achieve. Forget about the fast cars or holiday mansions.
What would enable you to do some of the things you’d like to do?
How much time realistically do you have to set aside to do it?
Write down 2 or 3 of your most important goals on a piece of paper and stick them in front of your computer. Every time your mind drifts off or you’re distracted by a joke email glance up at it.
As simple as it sounds it’s fantastically effective at refocusing the mind. Earlier this year Sophie decided she was going to pay for our flight tickets to Burma in August by doing Bonus Bagging and she did it (I’m sure you’ve seen how she got on with that, but here it is again just in case you haven’t). We’ve not only paid for our flights it looks like we’re now going to have some extra spending money as well.
I think sometimes it’s easy to run over a thought or a process in our heads so much that we almost feel as if we’ve done it.
Rather than stress about the negatives or whether it’s going to be perfect just give it a go.
Thinking of setting up a blog? What’s stopping you? You can have one up in minutes. It doesn’t have to look fancy or smart, all that stuff can come later. Set aside half an hour and do it.
If you notice that you’re twiddling your thumbs or you catch yourself watching a boring repeat on the tele stop what you’re doing and see if you can start something that could bring a real benefit to your life.
Got an old biz opp lying around that you haven’t got stuck into yet? Dust it off and see if you can give it a go. Not feeling inspired by that one? See what else is out there.
Speaking of which I’ve just posted my findings on this very promising service…