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fayt
10-16-2012, 01:48 PM
Business is dead right now, and I am doing the worst thing by sitting around staring at the computer not getting any work done. I should be promoting, cleaning up, making samples, something!
But I've lost all motivation by not having anything to do.

Ever had those days?

Pack-Secure
10-16-2012, 02:30 PM
Thankfully I have not had that kind of day in a very long time.

I would suggest taking today to write some blog articles or content articles for your website. Just a thought.

Hang in there.

Freelancier
10-16-2012, 04:54 PM
Ever had those days?

Sure. Even the most motivated people need a little down time to regroup.

My guess: you need to make a list or the most critical actions you can take to get new work in the pipeline. And then make that list your "project" and focus on it the same way you work on other projects.

nealrm
10-16-2012, 05:02 PM
Everyone has days like that. Staring at a computer can make it worse. Get outside and go for a walk. When you get back, you will be more energized.

fayt
10-16-2012, 05:43 PM
Not even motivated to make a list. I am so lucky a job came in late today, it has helped a bit. In my industry, business is completely dead December - February, so there is going to be a lot of down time coming up. July - September I was slammed with work and couldn't keep up.

huggytree
10-16-2012, 07:29 PM
i had a 2 hour work week a month ago....i had projects around the house to catch up on

ive had a bunch of 10 hour weeks since

i spent a bunch of time bidding and catching up on work issues

i spent ZERO time on marketing (like i used to)

ive been in business long enough to know the cycles...i knew the work would come back and by the amount i was bidding i knew it would be good times coming.....so i sat and did nothing(not good)

and i was right...the good times are now here...i worked 12.5 hours in the field yesterday and im booked up 1-2 weeks out(havent been booked 1-2 weeks out in 7 months)

YES you should use slow times for marketing....sometimes it has worked for me, other times its done horribly.....when im slow, my potential customers are also slow....once in a while you hit them right at the start of a up cycle....last Fall i picked up 4 new customers in 2 weeks....these days i typically only pick up 2-3 new customers a YEAR

get off your butt and do something to improve your business

foidesigns
10-17-2012, 10:07 PM
For me even though my work is done while staring at my computer sometimes I can get sidetracked and just start surfing. What seems to help me is to take a break to do something else productive that will make me feel good. Play with the kids, mow the lawn, work out, etc. Then when I get back to my desk I already feel more productive and ready to work!

KristineS
10-18-2012, 12:06 PM
Sometimes not being motivated is a sign that you need to take some time away, a few hours, a day whatever you can spare. Of course, you can't let not being motivated go on too long, but sometimes taking a pause to refresh and regroup will bring renewed motivation and ideas.

fayt
10-18-2012, 01:16 PM
Luckily two jobs came in, that helps a little.

cobase
10-18-2012, 01:24 PM
Thankfully I have not had that kind of day in a very long time.

I would suggest taking today to write some blog articles or content articles for your website. Just a thought.

Hang in there.

This is an excellent idea! Maybe start a blog to get out your random thoughts -- don't think of it as "marketing", just put down any thoughts you have and then go back later and delete the ones that aren't relevant to your customers. People are social creatures, so if you have created a personal connection with them (even if it's through a personal blog), they are far more likely to want to buy from you than from someone else.

And I'll say it too; everyone has days like this. Hang in there.

Harold Mansfield
10-22-2012, 02:52 PM
Call it superstition, but the best way to insure that phone will ring is to get involved in side projects or personal projects.

When I was a bartender you could just about count on it getting busy, if you sat down to eat.
When I was a limo driver, same thing. On the slow days, the minute we all met up to sit down and eat dinner, the radios and phones would start going off.

Same thing happens now. When it looks like a slow day, I'll start getting engrossed in some side work or projects and sure enough the phone will ring for some maintenance work.

But you shouldn't waste that slow time, wasting time. Either get up from the desk and go out and enjoy the day, or work on some side projects. It's REALLY easy to get caught up wasting a day on Facebook or playing games and wasting that energy that you had that day, doing nothing.

There is always something that needs to be done. Updating your website. Working on SEO. Organizing your computer files. Updating your contacts. Or read some of those articles that you've been bookmarking and saving till later.

If you are going to be at your desk, try and get something done.

billbenson
10-22-2012, 05:30 PM
Call it superstition, but the best way to insure that phone will ring is to get involved in side projects or personal projects.

When I was a bartender you could just about count on it getting busy, if you sat down to eat.
When I was a limo driver, same thing. On the slow days, the minute we all met up to sit down and eat dinner, the radios and phones would start going off.



By that logic, since you are now always sitting down, you should always be busy :)

Harold Mansfield
10-22-2012, 05:33 PM
By that logic, since you are now always sitting down, you should always be busy :)
It's the opposite now. If I try to get something done outside of the house during business hours, someone always calls when I'm as far away as I can be from my computer.

daveM
10-27-2012, 11:05 AM
I have a goal for new pages that I attempt to reach each day, it keeps me focused on getting things done

Brian Altenhofel
10-27-2012, 07:40 PM
When I have those unmotivated days, I take a break, get away from the computer, and out of the house. Depending on the time of year, I'll go hunting or fishing for a few hours to recharge. I suck at both, but I'm mostly out to take in a little raw nature.

I haven't had a day with no work scheduled in over a year, and I've got some booking that last well into next year. Supply and demand in the web development industry is heavy on the demand side right now - as in its been "name your price" in some markets and niches. But what I did do then was network and educate myself. In my case, that meant that I spent a lot of time looking at what big developments were happening in the Drupal world and getting ahead of others on understanding how to implement and leverage those new developments while additionally getting small jobs from the #drupal-consultants channel in IRC. And even though I've got two big contracts going right now, I still lurk in that channel and make offers on little 1-2 hour gigs. If I don't get them - its whatever because I don't spend a lot of time trying to get them.