It’s the first of February and in my industry at least January is always a mental month. Despite that I have managed to keep improving the two sites I’m experimenting with. Both are getting better as each week rolls by. I’ve made good progress in the first month.
New things take longer
It’s been interesting tracking down various broken links and wordpress issues. A bit of a nightmare if you don’t know what you are doing. However, I do now know what I’m doing! Ish! I found that my broken link checker told me links were broken even when they weren’t. Also the new Gutenburg editor doesn’t really like my Spicepress theme! The famous WordPress 5 minute install is anything but 5 minutes in my case. Took me ages to install from scratch onto a new domain.
You dont have the time you think!
Worse of all however is the problem with actually allowing the time to learn a new skill or run a side gig. I have intentionally restricted this to my spare time so that my full time career is full on. There in lies the problem. After a full time day I’m honestly lacking in motivation to do anything other than flunk out on the sofa. It seems easy in theory, an hour here or an hour there. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue but it is.
If you are thinking of doing a side gig I think this is the biggest issue you’ll face. I class myself as a hard worker but the problem with side gigs or online learning is the most obvious one. It’s time, and when you put that time into your side gig or learning as I am doing. That also means you will have to be realistic with what you can achieve with the time you’ve got available.
A cinch by the inch, hard by the yard
What has worked with me is small chunks of time. So I’ll finish at 5pm and then do a 30 minute block on Lynda.com. On a saturday I’ll do an hour if Debs is out. Bit by bit it’s taking shape. Alas availability of time really is the problem with side gigs.