Busy = good or bad?

It's been a bit more than 2 weeks since I returned to being my own boss (read freelancing) and life has been hectic. If anything, I'm busier than I was when I had a full time job! Oddly, as much as at the end of the day, I feel like the day's just zoomed by, when I try to recall what I was doing in the morning of the same day, it makes me realize how long it's been! So far my 8am schedule has been up and down. I usually wake up 30 mins +/- of 8am so it's still good, although 7:30 seriously would be awesome if I could pull that off every day!

The cool thing is, now that I realized I have a need to do my own stuff, I try to get all my own stuff finished before I officially start working at 10am. Sometimes I let myself off and start work at 10:30am, but I really shouldn't because 10:30'll turn into 10:45, then 11, and so on. The discipline I need right now is crazy. I need to be really focused if I plan on getting everything I'm involved in done. In a way it's good, all that reading and experimenting with trying to be more efficient and productive is slowly paying off now although I have to admit my greed for doing more and more is also creeping into the gaps during which I'd normally be free to do my own stuff thanks to my new found productivity.

Like I said before, it's all about balance. I really think it's essential I know how to turn off my workaholic switch in the evenings. Last night I decided enough was enough, I'd worked really hard these past 2 days and I deserved a break of not getting anything done. As much as the guilt slowly started seeping in every now and then, I just let myself surf the Internet and accomplish almost nothing in like 2 hours! Right now my brain is thinking "What a waste!" but at that time, it felt good. I felt recharged by just not doing anything that requires total focus for 2 hours. Today I'm ready to tackle some huge things I have to get done for some of my projects. I don't know if all the breathing exercises (mini meditations) have helped with my focusing, but it sure as hell gives me a reason to slow down and relax. I find myself all hyper/tense while working because I want to get things done asap, but I really need to relax a bit more.

Anyways, so today's a lovely Day 10 entry and I only have the following to say. I read half of The Complete Art of War (History and Warfare) and I must say, this book is quite boring. I mean I've read passage of The Art of War before but this book just feels so damn boring so I decided not to waste my time anymore with it and moved on to Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning (started reading it yesterday in the morning when I was with my grandmother at the hospital waiting for her Ultrasound scan) which I think is really quite good! I mean, I never had any formal exploration in design documents and that's what this book is all about so I'm all yay'ed about it :). Hopefully this book will help me incorporate better processes into my workflow.

So there you have it, my Day 10 entry which is a bit disappointing compared to what I had hoped it would be, but I did shed some wisdom .... I think :P Anyways its 9:52am and I need to get a lot of my own stuff done, not to mention shower and shave! Eek!