Dave and Jay - Crazy Web Entrepreneurs

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After reading a number of Dave’s suggested blogs, I have to say one of the primary difficulties I think most fledging web entrepreneurs face is: staying motivated.

I’m not saying everyone in this line of work is lazy, but once you reach a certain level of success - when money is already coming in every month and you’re sitting at home - it gets mighty tempting to play a video game or chat with some friends, and with no boss to tell you “no”, it’s quite easy to fall into a rut of working for 1-2 hours and then waste the rest of your time… Dave and I have solved this with the ‘work day’, where we both spend approximately the same time sitting at our desks with a web cam aimed at our monitors, streaming our progress along with voice chat. It’s cheap and cost effective, but not everyone has or even wants a partner, so I made this top 10 list to help keep you motivated while working.

10. Set a defined start and stop time. Don’t just wake up in the morning and watch tv until noon and then work after a quick game of Gears of War; the more you play around, the easier it gets to play around another day.

9. Make a checklist of things to do for the day, and check them off as they are completed to give yourself a sense of accomplishment. When combined with #10, it makes it much harder to become sidetracked; if you plan to work 3 hours in a day and you have 3 hours worth of work yo do, you’re much less likely to get sidetracked .

8. Mix up your work! Fitness experts have been saying the same thing for years, if you go to the gym and every time you go you jump on the same treadmill and do the same 60 minute workout, it doesn’t take long before you’re bored. Instead of doing 8 hours of the same thing, mix it up - I’m not saying every task will be interesting, but if you do a few days straight of the same work, it doesn’t take long before you dread actually working.

7. Another big problem for fledging online moguls is the loss of social contact. It’s very easy to take for granted the friendships you make at work, but once you’re working on your websites full time, it doesn’t take long before your contact with the real world begins to diminish. Try to make an effort to be involved in some sort of activity, whether to be volunteering at a homeless shelter, going to the gym, etc… Any activity that gets you out of the house and making new friends will, in the long run, keep you motivated.

6. Be sure to maintain a balance in your life. While it’s not good to play around all the time, it’s also not good to work all the time. Granted, some people are great at working 8 - 10 hour days at home, but for most of us, the best part of this job is not having to do that anymore… but remember, balance doesn’t mean working for 1 hour and then gaming for 5 hours either.

The longer you work, the more likely you will eventually burn out and completely drain your motivation.

5. Maintain a professional environment. This means different things for different people, but as a general rule, try to work out of an office free of distractions. Some people need to take it a step higher and dress professionally - even if they are just working at home - to maintain the feel of having a real job.

Sitting at home in your underwear, while it might sound like a dream job, is a surefire way to sap your productivity in the long run.

4. Take power naps. While I can’t personally vouch for this one, Dave swears by it. The idea is that if you take a nap for 20 minutes, you will enter a light form of sleep which refreshes the body, but if you sleep for longer than 20 minutes, your body goes into a deeper level of sleep and you will wake up groggy.

3. Being a web entrepreneur is stressful work at times, so don’t forget the age-old business advice of “pay yourself first”. What does that mean? Well, as you attain success or accomplish goals, reward yourself for all the hard work. This could be something small like some quiet time after doing something especially tedious, or something more substantial like a weekend vacation or spending money.

Once you’re hooked on the rewards success brings, you will want bigger and better rewards.

2. Read the experiences of those who came before you. When things aren’t going so well, you can read the blogs of many already successful web entrepreneurs; if you don’t already, you can read Dave’s suggested reading list here.

Not only will you realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel, but you’ll pick up some useful ideas at the same time!

1. Create a separate MSN or Yahoo account for your business. If you’re following suggestion #2 already, look through the list of people commenting on various blog posts and who are obviously in the same business.

Try and befriend these people, and create your own support group of like-minded friends. That way the only people you talk to while working will be like-minded people, and as the saying goes, two minds are better than one.