On Work

Category

Risk Tolerance in the Creative Life

The past two years of not writing very well have been instructive. I would rather they had been instructive and productive, but such is life, because what they’ve been instructive about is why they haven’t been productive. One major reason has to do with uncertainty. Writing novels is an inherently uncertain activity. Both in the day-to-day—I can plan out what a desk job day will look like, but dead ends and writer’s block can play havoc with an author’s best laid plans—and...

I get it now!

I finally get it! Writers and salespeople are the same! They’re whiny, lazy, cowardly, constantly make excuses, always blame others, and are generally reprehensible! (Also, the drinking. All the drinking.) They’re the same because writers and salespeople do the same thing: they dance with the fear. Day in and day out, the thing they do is tiptoe up to the edge and, when they can no longer put it off any longer, they jump. And once you jump, it’s easy!...

Daily 12: 25 hours a week

I was talking with my roomie earlier, and we were discussing work. This is a frequent topic, since I work too damn much. While we were talking, he mentioned a recent week where he worked 25 hours, and said how nice it was. He said it was about perfect, since he got all his work done and still had time to relax. I corrected his math. He probably did 25 hours of paid work, but add in chores, errands, commute, exercise, and everything else that needs...

Daily 6: New lessons on sleep

I’ve struggled all my life with sleep, though not in a way that inspires pity or empathy. Historically, mine has been the ultimate sleep first world problem. It’s not that I can’t get to sleep—I can fall asleep within minutes, and can nap readily—it’s that I’ve always had trouble getting myself to go to bed. For a natural night owl who has always had so many things he wanted to do (like, ya know, write books), I have long had a habit of staying...

What happens when you work 80+ hrs a week

If you want to understand why it’s so hard to rise out of poverty, work 80+ hrs/wk for not a lot of pay. Even if you’re (mostly) doing work you enjoy, as I am now, it’s illuminating. What I’m being brutally reminded of is that it takes time and effort to save money. That seems obvious, and the typical rejoinder is “If it’s important, you’ll make the time!” But what if there isn’t a lot of time to make? I can manage all...

I love sales jobs

It might surprise you to know that I, the author of Wage Slave Rebellion, a book where one of the main characters is so disgusted with his crappy sales job that he’d rather become a glorified mercenary, do not in fact hate sales jobs. In fact, sales and marketing fascinates me, and I may soon have a sales job once again for my full-time side job (i.e. the one that pays well enough so I can keep writing books). Does this surprise you?...

Rejection, the secret place, & fundamentals

From writer, producer, & director Brian Koppelman, on rejection (emphasis mine): You must do a dispassionate evaluation. The step you try to take is, “Okay, that’s a body blow. My emotional reaction is anger and hurt. Now let me step back and dispassionately, to the best of my ability, evaluate the rejection. Is there something in that rejection that hits home in the secret place, where I know the thing is flawed? If it does, is that addressable? If it doesn’t,...

Absence (from work) makes the heart grow fonder

A year or two ago, I begin lifting weights. As a lifelong skinny bastard, I wanted to fill out my body, and deserve my nickname (Stilts) slightly less. And not long after I started lifting, I learned a valuable lesson that extends to other work as well. I learned the value of rest. In weightlifting, rest is extremely important. Not only does it prevent injury, but if you workout too much, you can actually hurt your goal of getting stronger or looking buff or shredding fat...

Stop sending me job ideas

This is an open letter to my friends and family: Please stop sending me job ideas. Please stop telling me about jobs I could do. Please stop emailing me job listings. Please stop suggesting companies or careers. Please stop giving me options. I found the job I want. I want to write, and its going pretty well so far. (Not phenomenally well; I’m not getting rich over here. But thanks to the power of low overhead, I’m doing all right.) I know these...

Wasted work

Earlier today, I wrote another post. I started off with an idea, lost it part way through, and rambled to an incoherent conclusion. That’s why you’re reading this post instead of the other one—it will never see the light of day. Not unless I remember what I was trying to say and rewrite the whole thing. A younger me would have been annoyed at this. “What a waste of effort!”, I would say. “I could have been writing something good!”, I would complain. To...