Blogging at home: Don't feed the morlocks

I've been meaning to blog about what it's like to blog as an occupation. I do other things -- consulting, writing for other media, managing web sites, L.A. lunch-taking, running my NCAA 08 team -- but most of my time is spent butt in chair, in my home office. Blogging. Or futzing with my blogs.

So I'm busier than when I worked for Corporate World Inc. Fortunately, another blogger has a head start on this topic. The post is called "Cons of Being a Problogger." Here is some selected wisdom of David Peralty at the blog xfep.com (Extra for Every Person):

Most people wouldn’t expect working from home to be an item on the cons list, but it is. There are a lot more distractions at home from telemarketers, family and friends, and objects you own. I have found days wasted in front of the television, or on the phone, when I should have been getting work done instead. ...

When working as a problogger, you will spend an inordinate amount of time on a computer. So much so that you will have to become an expert at using one. ... (Your) computer(s) will stop working at the worst time, so you best get good at repairing them or know someone that can. ...

There is something about problogging that requires a strange personality. One that can deal with being alone for long periods of time, and yet that same person also has to be able to network, and be interesting to be around. This type of personality is rare, and also a bit odd. ...

Between the high amount of focus and concentration, and the near zero amount physical activity, blogging can really wear you down.

Not sure these are all negatives, but they are true in my experience.

I was surprised to experience what David talks about in the last item, about blogging taking a physical toll. When you go to a bricks-and-mortar workplace, you expend energy all day long just moving from one place to another, getting gas, picking up dry cleaning, walking down hallways, dodging the boss, wandering off to lunch. Even if you sit on your rear all day at work, you're burning calories with supplemental activities. So you're going from sedentary to, um, blob.

If you're home all day, and "going to work" means moving from one room to another, nothing is burned off. Even if your exercise routine and diet stay the same, you're soon in a hole and the extra pounds start adding up. (My official excuse: My trainer moved to London. Bad timing, mate!)

So if blogging full-time is in your future, budget another hour or so a day for hiking, swimming, whatever.

Any form of "getting out of the house" takes extra time out of the workday.

Some other quick thoughts: Your presence at home means more mess, more shopping, more domestic projects. ... Email, IM are just as bad as phone calls in the distraction dept. ... Blogging advice is everywhere and it's tempting to read it all, seeking that one terrific tip that'll turn it all around for your projects. You can chase links and read all day long. ... It is easy to lose control of your schedule. When I get on a roll with writing, I sometimes go until dawn. Argh. Being a morlock sucks. Resist the siren call of the night shift.

(Hat tip to copyblogger)