I get on it so much about saving time and finding ways to create more of it, I thought it was time to fess up. I am also really good at wasting time. But then what self-employed, creative entrepreneur isn't?
The key word here is creative. When creativity is part of your game it's a lot easier to waste time. In fact, often when faced with the ugly green eyed monster who gets in the way of one's creativity - the only thing creative you can come up with is ways to waste time.
In the digital world the possibilities are endless. Without even leaving your desk look at all these things you can do.
1- Unsubscribe to all those email newsletters you keep getting that you (a) don't remember subscribing to or (b) are sure you did and can't figure out how they keep coming back.
2- Read Jerry Seinfeld's AMA on Reddit. It's really funny.
3- Go through the sponsored Ads on the side of your Facebook feed, one by one, and click the button that says you don't want to see that ad anymore.
4- Change the display on your computer screen every ten minutes until you find one that suits your mood.
5- Delete all the apps on your iPhone you haven't used since the day you downloaded them.
6- Read through your back-up of Google Alerts and discover that the National Association of Professional Organizers has deemed February National Time Management Month. Who knew?
7 - Google the Kardashians and see if you can figure out what it is they actually do that earns them a living. (this one can waste more time than you ever thought possible)
8 - Create a Spring Fever Pinterest Board for no other reason than to dream of Spring.
9 - Search for contests you can enter to win and enter them. (here's a cool one from The Travel Channel)
10 - Write a blog about wasting time instead of working on the five other projects you still have not finished.
I could go on - but I've wasted enough of my time and yours - at least for today. It's time to go back to work.
If you'd like to hear the other side of this - how to create more time - instead of wasting it - my popular little book, It Takes An Egg Timer, A Guide to Creating the Time For You is available on Amazon for just $.99!
I admit - readily - that today, the seventh day of my thirty day blogging experiment is the most challenging - at least so far.
After a long weekend at the home of my dear friends on the East End of Long Island I came back with no idea of what I wanted to write today. Last night, I turned on my computer and instead of setting the egg timer and opening up a new page to see what might come out of me, I circled it. I read through emails, caught up on newsletters that had gone unread and did a lot of laundry. I even dusted and vacuumed thinking a clean desk would help. I opened up my Scrivener file where I am storing all the ideas I've been jotting down and stared. Not one screamed "Pick Me!"
So I went back to those unread newsletters. One of them directed me to Jerry Seinfeld's web series. Apparently Jerry (after being a faithful follower of Seinfeld I feel close enough to refer to him by his first name) has a web series called Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. What you get is what the title tells you. Jerry chooses a car from his vast collection, calls up a comedian, picks them up and they go for coffee.
I am a full season late to this party. Season 2 is already underway. Past episodes are archived on the Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee website and at Crackle. Jerry Seinfeld chatting with people from Carl Reiner to David Letterman to Alec Baldwin. Sarah Silverman was noticeably, the lone female in the group to which I ask, What is that about?
But that aside, I started to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. Until it hit me. I was sitting in front of my computer watching something funny and original that could not be found on traditional television. I hadn't discovered it from an advertisement. I found out through today's version of word of mouth. Mitch Joel's newsletter gave it a mention and there I was and now I was writing about it - sharing content worth sharing.
I did a little research into how this came to be. Jerry Seinfeld had an idea that he convinced Sony Pictures to experiment with. He wanted to break into a new medium and liked "the flexibility of the Internet." Sony wants to develop original programming for the Internet. His relationship with Sony and with Steve Mosko, President of Sony Pictures gave him the green light for the first season.
There was no elaborate set or contrived story - just simple conversation that made me smile and forget about the fact that I had nothing to write about. Because suddenly, as I was watching a webisode that really is about nothing, I did have something to write about.
The success of the first season resulted in an order for 24 new episodes. This time they are looking to monetize it and have signed Acura as a presenting sponsor. Not to worry about annoying, intrusive ads. From what I saw so far the ads are living up to what Acura has promised, "short, contextually relevant."
Next episode is July 11 with Seth Meyers. I'll be watching. This time on my iPad on my couch.
My only suggestion - I think Jerry could find more than one woman comedian out of the fifteen episodes archived so far willing to have coffee with him!
note: This is Day #7 of a 30 Day Experiment. Here are the details on how it all started.
