Input vs. Output

Most of the time, I measure my effort by the number of hours. I only measure my effort by the output on the 10th of the month, when I fill my provincial sales tax form to remit the tax collected.

My input is my labour and my outputs are the sales figures. I have come to realize that there is very little connection between my input — my hours and my output — my photos and my sales.

How many hours are wasted on research aka surfing the Internet, on getting new ideas... How many hours have I wasted setting up computers, getting this or that to work "properly"...? ThousandS of hours. None of that time did contribute to the success of my business. This has only caused me to be distracted from the goal: a successful photo business.

According to a study from AOL and Salary.com, full-time employees only work three days a week, and waste the other two days of the week.

Ideas happen instantaneously, in spurts. The problem is not the idea but the decision and the implementation of the idea. There is no short-cut, I need to bang my head on the desk and the keyboard to make the ideas happen.

How difficult is it to: "do work whenever there is work to be done"?