Input Junky?

mattstrike

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This is for everyone who wants to generate online profit, but finds themselves having trouble actually acting on that desire.

I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine, who was complaining that he really needed to make an additional hundred dollars a week. He's intelligent, well read, college educated and somewhat computer literate, so I started rattling off ways that he could make an extra hundred bucks a week online, but even as I was telling him, I knew that there was very little chance of him following up on any of my advice.

He has a regular day job, but it is one of those jobs that makes it pretty easy to "zone out", and listen to music/podcasts/etc. while you do it. When he gets home, he has 101 things that take up his time as well. In short, he is what I would call an "Input Junky".

This need for constant information input has made it essentially impossible for him to produce any output! It seems so obvious to me now, but I had never really considered the problem from this perspective before: even the laziest methods for making money online require a person to produce at least some focused output. Be it creating a Web site, sending emails, posting in forums or anything else, action must be taken!

There have been a number of excellent threads here (http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/making-money/33588-every-single-person-who-wants-make-money-online-view-thread-now.html) about the need to take action, and it is so true, but I think that many people underestimate just how much information addiction is one of, if not the, major culprit that is keeping them from taking that action.

For many of us who are Internet savvy, and inclined to spend time online anyway, the problem is even worse. In this modern world of ours, with a $500.00 computer (or even less), and a $30 a month Internet connection (or less, especially if someone else is paying for it ;)), a person has access to an almost infinite amount of information. There is written information enough to last a million lifetimes. A person could download and watch several hours of new HD television and movie content, daily, for free, and essentially never run out of stuff to watch. The list goes on and on, but the point is that every waking hour spent on input, is an hour that is not spent on output.

At this point, I should make it clear that I am as guilty as the next guy of wasting far too much time chasing input when I have not produced as much output as I should. In large part, this rant is me expressing the thoughts that I have been having about being more productive.

However, to bring my conversation with my friend back into it, the thing to look at is why he wants another hundred dollars a week in the first place: There are things that he wants/needs to do, but that he cannot do without more money. In theory, he wants to do these things even more than he wants to pursue his various distractions, but in practice, he has chosen the distractions!

So, I put the question to you: Are you an input junky? If you are, don't worry, there is hope! I'll end this rambling post with a list of suggestions for going on an input diet, and reaching your goals. These should be taken as suggestions only, not gospel, and there are no doubt many worthwhile tricks that I will leave out, but this should be a good start:

  • Define a daily goal both in terms of output (blog posts, etc.) and in terms of money to be made. Don't indulge your need for input until you have met both of your goals, or until you have put in at least 4 hours that day.
  • Change the wallpaper on your desktop to something that asks you if you have met your goals for the day. It should be bold, and impossible to ignore. If you always have windows open, so that you don't see your desktop, consider printing the question out, and folding the paper so that you have the question sitting right below your monitor.
  • Learn to say "no" to people who want you to do things before you have met your daily goals. If you make your money online, your friends will treat you as if you have no job - unless you make an effort to show them otherwise. Turn off your phone, if you have to. Set up a separate email for work related stuff, and don't check your personal email every 5 minutes. Ignore personal IM and SMS messages while working your campaigns.
  • Designate one or two days a week to get "caught up" on blogs, shows, etc.
  • Make a list of things that you want to do, but can't afford. When you are tempted to cut out early, ask yourself if you would rather spend an extra hour watching TV, or if you really want to make that list a reality.
  • Keep a log of how you spend your time. Look at that log, and ask yourself what it means.
  • Any time that you hit your daily goals, consistently, for 30 straight days, increase your goals by 10-20%.
  • Don't spend more than 25% of your time "working" on research. Any endeavor will require some research, but a successful endeavor also requires actual work, and most people learn much more by doing than by reading. Even if you fuck up, especially if you fuck up, the next time you read up on what you are doing, it will make that much more sense.
  • If, after a month or two of successful input dieting, you find that you don't miss some of those distractions as much as you thought you would, let them go. It is possible to lose a habit, but it is also possible to gain it right back.
  • Learn to think in terms of "opportunity cost" - there is nothing inherently evil about most of your distractions, but every hour that you spend on them is an hour not spent making x$, spending time with family or friends, etc. Does TV seem like free entertainment? I would argue that nothing could be further from the truth. My productivity fluctuates, but on my worst day, I can make $50 with an hours worth of work. So, every hour I spend watching TV is an hour that "cost" me $50, minimum. Does that mean I watch no TV? Hell no! There are a few shows that I absolutely love, and that I consider absolutely worth 50 bucks to watch.
  • Don't go overboard. It is easy, in our zeal to be more productive, to cut out too much of those little enjoyments that make life worth living, and this is not what I am advocating that you do. Moderation in all things.

End of rant, and best of luck.
 
good post. time management, decision making and a sprinkle of technical skill are some of the key elements to make it online. if you are constantly reading you will never get anything done. you provide some great tips for staying focused. unfortunately, i think people need to come to this realization themselves though.
 
Haha. Here's an example - I read the whole damn thing last night, completely agreed with every point, promised myself to learn the lesson....

Then left without replying or giving thanks...

No output. But i caught myself. so here's me. Putting out.;)

Something that can be added to the list, which I have very much been trying to figure out how to do - is finding a way to use all those things I've absorbed. Think of all the watch-tvshow-online.net type sites. Somebody basically said - I am addicted to this show and the second it comes out, I am there - I bet there's must be a million other people like that - I'm just going to upload it, drop a zango installer on top...money. or the basic niche gameplan - man I love product X and know everything there is to know about it because I've been following it since it came out - domain, blog, forum posts, ezine articles, AC, Youtube channel, lenses, hubs...money.

Monetize your interests. Find a way to transform input into output. Win-Win.


Thanks for the well thought out post. it got me thinking. Which is not really output. But at least I'm typing and thinking now.
 
nice post would take on those tips straight away iw been doing 1 of my project wich is boring me to death and takes time , i could make that amount i made in dam 5 by selling some aff stuff, but well i took this and im going to finish it once and for all. After that all money it brings are automatic as long as mofos dont take down all my videos :O

thnx for tips "changes dam desktop image "
 
thanks for thinking i had a great post ^_^

i agree though, completely. Everyones guilty of it sometimes. Luckily i get some quality time every day where i have no distractions and can get some work done, however, this is rare and never used to happen so only now am i seeing the full results of my work!

If you get distracted, stick a post-it note on your monitor, right on the side. Write on it in BIG letters what you need to do. No more than one per post-it i.e. "CREATE 10 MORE BACKLINKS" or "CREATE NEW WEBSITE" etc.

works every time ;)

we should write a "blackhat methods to increase your productivity" book :P
 
I've gotta agree with you on everything. In fact, I was kinda suffering this till 4 days ago, when I actually started moving my ass to implement a method(had done testing before, but not real world, production level, money making machine implementation). Today I got my first 3 leads with 5 minutes work :).

Taking into account what you posted, tomorrow, I'll work 5 hours, and if leads multiple accordingly...
 
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