Anyways back to what this post is about…getting things done. Do you ever feel like there is just not enough time in the day? That you are always behind on your work? This happens to me constantly and you would think by now I would have a handle on it, but I never do. There are many reasons for it, but let’s not get into that right now. Let’s talk about how to fix it.

So many times I wake up in the morning and I go “Damn I have so much work to do!”, but do I really? I am a master of procrastination so that never helps. You know if someone told me “hey let’s go to a Penguins game I have free tickets” and the game was in an hour you bet your ass I would get my work done before that. Think about that, when there is something important we will get all of our work done. But the thing is important things do not happen that often so what do we do? I have a couple of tips to help you get things done.

Set a Prize
Do you remember how awesome it was to get a prize for doing something good in school? This is the same thing. Set a goal and a prize associated with that goal. Say for me it would be to have 5 reviews written in three days. If I do that maybe I’ll treat myself to a nice dinner. This may sound stupid, but when you reinforce goals with prizes it does tend to help.

The 1 Hour Rule
I put things off, like I said I am a procrastinator. Work can suck sometimes and it can be a pain to complete the most important tasks of the day. I tell myself let me work on this one important task for an hour. I usually knock out this important task and now I have the rest of the day to complete the easier and less stressful tasks.

15 MINUTES!
Another way to really get things done is to just stop what you are doing and ask yourself “how can I get this done in 15 minutes”, believe me it works. Doing this really helps you be effective rather than just slowly doing work tasks.

Pomodoro
This is a productivity technique of breaking time down into 25-minute intervals with 5 minute breaks in between. So you work for 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break then back to work for 25 minutes and so on. This again helps you be effective and really limits distractions.

Hopefully these tips help you get work done! I know I need to use them more, if I did you would see more blog posts!

ThinkComputers
ThinkComputers remains to be my #1 priority. As busy as I am with it I have put even more work on myself as we have started a whole new news section (which I write 90% of the content), but it has been a success so far. People come back to the site each day to see what the daily tech news is etc.

While I am also still writing most of the reviews on the site I have been actively looking for more staff. I have found someone to cover CPU coolers and cooling, which does help out a lot. I’ve also been using MyBlogGuest to find relevant articles to help fill the void when I have too much going on. The goal is to keep on looking for staff to help with reviews and news. That way I can concentrate on really managing the site.

CES was very motivational for me. I could see what other sites were doing and I really took in everything and I want to make ThinkComputers better. On both a content standpoint and for the users that come to the site. I have removed the annoying video ad and changed some other things around. While this move will cut into overall income it should keep people coming back.

A Few Other Projects
I have been doing a little web design / consulting on the site for a few friends. It has actually worked out pretty well and they love the websites that I have built for them. I eventually want to turn that into a real business. I have a name for the company and domain already. I should have everything in place by the summer to take on more clients.

Another project in the works in a how-to site. I really can’t go into specifics right now, but I have been creating content for it since I’ve been back from CES. I hope to launch the site by the end of summer.

The biggest thing I have been trying to keep up with is a “high level of work”, basically working hard each day and really accomplishing things. It sort of took a while to get caught back up at the beginning of the year, but they past few weeks have been really great. Hopefully I can keep it up and keep you updated on the progress of things on this blog!

I think this picture below explains it best…

The event was actually held by Thermaltake as a gathering of media and friends. Walking in it really has a different feel than many of the other buffets in Vegas, although you should expect that as the Hotel is only 2 years old. I was surprised at how much food there actually was, quite a lot to choose from. The photo below shows some of my plates, although I had about twice as many! I really did pig out!

One thing I really liked about Wicked Spoon was that many of the selections were served in cool little dishes or serving plates. This not only made each thing seem special but it allowed you to really try a lot of different things. Most buffets you just choose something and end up taking a lot of it and get full.

One thing that I really enjoyed were the mini salads. As many of you know I am a huge salad fan and they had a few different mini salads to choose from. My favorite was a sort of mixed green and herb salad that had little pieces of fish in it.

All of the meats were excellent. They had many different selections from ribs to chicken wings, but the two that I really enjoyed were the Prime Rib and bone marrow. Although I had to point to which bone marrow I wanted as many of them were overcooked.

There was an entire section of deserts. They had pretty much anything you could imagine, even a full selection of different ice creams. You just walk up and tell them which one you want and they put it in a nice little cup for you. Again so you can try more than one thing.

I ate so much that I did not even notice the crab legs. Apparently there were king crab legs at the buffet, but even though I missed them I was more than satisfied with everything. Each of the little dishes I selected had a very rich taste and were unique. The only thing I would say was weak was the sushi selection and soup, but again all of the other great food really made up for it.

If you are in Vegas and are looking to eat a lot and have an extremely large selection make sure you check out Wicked Spoon.

Ah swag, you know the free stuff you get for attending conferences and events. I make this post every year after CES and I usually end up coming home with something cool. Out of all the events that I attend CES is where I know I will get the most swag. I actually plan for it by bringing an extra suitcase to take swag home!

Above you can see most of the swag I got this year, minus all of the t-shirts that went into the wash before I realized I needed them for this photo! With the shirts I normally wear them in my unboxing videos, so if you want your companies shirt in a video send me one!

The green and black bookbag was the press bag this year and it was not that bad. It sure beat the bag from last year! One thing I always look to get at CES are flash drives, I mean who can’t have enough flash drives right?! Some companies are very cheap and only give our their press released on 512MB drives, but this year I got a 32GB drive from Mushkin, a 16GB drive from Corsair and two 8GB drives from MSI.

The coolest thing I got this year was a Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch tablet. I won it at the Cooler Master party, so it isn’t technically swag. I actually don’t even know what I am going to do with it. I already have a tablet…which I rarely use. Did you attend CES? How much swag did you get?

Well it is that time of year again!  Tomorrow morning I will be jumping on a plane to head to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  If you are going to CES make sure you check on my guide on how to survive the show.  Conferences and trade shows are great to go to, but many people do not attend them.  One of the main reasons is the cost.  Flying anywhere these days is not cheap and renting a condo for a week in Vegas isn’t either.  I used to try to justify the costs of the trip by telling myself the coverage would bring more people to ThinkComputers, but it is so much more than that.  So here is why I attend trade shows and conferences.

Facetime with Companies
If your business is online there is a pretty good chance most of your communication is done via e-mail.  While this is not a bad thing it is always good to meet people in person.  If someone actually knows you they will be more likely to help your business or want to do business with you.  This is one of the most crucial parts about attending these events and will really help you grow your business.

Networking
Say you are attending a conference about online marketing, there is probably a good chance there are people there who are in the same business as you.  Or maybe they do something completely different, but you meet and really hit it off.  This could be a future business partner.  Networking at conferences is just as important as attending the sessions.  Don’t be afraid to talk to people and ask them what they do.  It is always good to meet new people in your industry.

Learn Something
This is a given if you are going to a conference.  You are going to attend sessions and hopefully learn something new that will benefit your business.  Really pay attention during sessions because remember you (or your company) is paying for it.  Even if you are going to a conference you are going to get a hands on experience with products or something similar.  Make sure you take home some valuable information.  Most likely if you are attending a conference you traveling so this is another way to learn something.  How do you think I know so much about Vegas?

Seeing Friends & Getting out of Town
Working in the same office day in and day out can be very annoying.  Often you may feel stuck or that you need new surroundings.  A conference is the perfect cure, it gets you out of town!  Along with that if you are attending a conference there are probably people in your industry that you are friends with that are also attending.  For me CES is the time of year when I see all of my friends who work in the tech industry or that run a tech site.  I normally only see them once or twice a year so it is a great time to catch up.

Coverage
As I said I used to justify my trips with the whole “coverage” thing, but as you can see it is much more than that.  But you should cover or blog about the conferences you attend.  I would assume many people would be interested and it can serve as an excuse to get your company to send you to trade shows or conferences.  Also if you cover conferences you can most likely get a press / media pass to the event for free!

So I’m off to Vegas tomorrow, make sure you follow me on twitter to see what I’m up to all this week during CES.

Productivity – I think it happens to everyone, but sometimes I literally sit in front of my computer and get nothing done. I made an effort this year to start working smarter and I need to continue to do that in 2013. Also if I am not doing work I need to walk away from the computer and do something else.

Getting Ahead – The way ThinkComputers works I try to stay ahead. It is so stressful to be writing the review the same day as it needs to be posted. Towards the end of the year I’ve got behind and I am only 1 day ahead, which is still stressful. My goal would be to be a week ahead of content, let’s hope I can maintain that in 2013.

Blog More – Sometimes I forget about this blog, but it really is a great outlet for me to talk about what is on my mind. It also serves as a personal journal and something I can look back on from time to time. So in 2013 I want to keep up with this blog

Be More Active – I can’t even tell you the last time I was at the gym. I go running, but that is not enough. Once I get ahead on my work I really plan on working out much more.

Learn More – This year I really did not learn too much. There are some things that I could learn to better my business like SEO and a better understanding of online marketing etc. I really want to dedicate some time to learning things that will better my business.

As the year comes to an end that means the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is right around the corner. I’ve been going to CES since 2006 and I have learned quite a lot since that first trip where I was totally clueless. This guide should help you survive CES even if you have attended the show before.

Make use of the Monorail – This is one of the most useful things during CES. The Las Vegas monorail will take you from most of the hotels on the strip to the convention center…in 6 minutes. No taxi is going to get you there faster than that, hell you will most likely wait in a taxi line longer than that. A 3-day pass for the monorail is around $30-40, you could easily spend more than that per day on taxi’s. My first year I spent close to $300 on taxi’s just the first 2 days of CES!

Wear comfortable shoes – CES is the largest trade show in North America, which means there is going to be a lot to see. This means you are going to be doing a lot of walking. Make sure you have comfortable shoes or you are going to end up with blisters on your feet. This has happened to me quite a few times.

Make sure your room has a fridge – Most hotels will give you a free mini-fridge if you request one. This will allow you to store drinks etc. You don’t want to have to leave your hotel late at night to go get a cold drink. This just gives you easy access.

Find out where companies are located before you schedule your meetings – The Las Vegas convention center is HUGE! Before you schedule your meetings find out where the company you will be meeting with is located. You don’t want to have to walk across the entire convention center 10 times for different meetings. Also many companies are setup in hotels so schedule accordingly.

Take advantage of the free lunch / dinners – If you are a member of the press you are provided with a free lunch each day of CES, take advantage of it! CES is a busy week and you can forget about eating because there is so much going on. Without food your body is going to shut down and you don’t want that to happen during CES. Many of the events have free food as well.

Attend the Parties – There are normally 3-4 parties a night during CES. Even if you are tired I suggest attending them. First because they are the best networking events and second because they will allow you to wind down at the end of the day.

I hope this guide helps you survive CES and if you will be in Vegas in January let me know!

1. Family – Sometimes you don’t realize how important family is till you need them and my family has always supported me in what I’ve done.

2. WordPress – All of my websites are based on WordPress. Since I really do not code that much wordpress makes it much easier to setup a website or even a business in less than an hour!

3. Nik – My friend Nik and I have been hanging out a lot lately. He is a great person to bounce ideas off of and he has been reviewing gaming peripherals for ThinkComputers this year. People really enjoy his take on gaming accessories.

4. Instagram – Before there was instagram I had to post photos on twitter and facebook separately and that was just annoying. Instagram makes things so much easier and is an awesome app. I know all of you love my #foodporn photos!

5. The ThinkComputers Community – I really made an effort this year to build a community around ThinkComputers. Whether it was on twitter, facebook, youtube or even on the ThinkComputers Forums. I want to thank everyone that has become part of the ThinkComputers community.

6. StartUpTown – I spent a good amount of time at StartUpTown this year. It is a great place to work from and the people there are just awesome.

7. Spotify – All the music I want anywhere? Since Spotify launched in the US I have been hooked!

8. Haeley, Katie, Kimmi – These girls have simply been awesome. We all have become so close over this past year and we always have so much fun together!

9. Mailchimp – I finally moved away from dadamail and signed up for Mailchimp. It is a great way to manage an e-mail list / newsletter and has just made things so much easier for me.

10. Adam Werkmeister – My buddy Adam was nice enough to invite me to go on vacation with him this past year. The vacation was just what I needed and was the perfect motivation to finish out the year strong.

11. Payday The Heist – If there was one video game I played the most this year it had to be Payday The Heist. It is a blast I mean what can’t you like about robbing banks?

12. Schenley Park – I love living right by Schenley Park. Whether it is to exercise or just go for a walk its a great place to go and get my mind off work.

13. Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy – This has to be my favorite beer. It is the perfect summer beer and I order it pretty much everywhere I go during the summer!

14. Travel Blogs – After my vacation I really got into travel blogs, more specifically digital nomad blogs. Some of the ones I really enjoy are: Making It Anywhere, Location 180, Never-Ending Footsteps, & Legal Nomads.

15. Audio Books – Another thing I discovered on vacation was audio books. I think this is the best way to digest information and “read” a book. Nothing is more relaxing than sitting on a beach and listening to an audio book.

16. HootSuite – If you manage more than one social media profile Hootsuite is what you need to be using! It is completely web-based and you can manage Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and even Linkedin profiles. The best feature is the ability to schedule posts.

17. Nakama – You will normally find me here on Monday nights having a late dinner with friends. Amazing sushi and great bartenders, if you want good Japanese food in Pittsburgh this is where you need to go.

18. John Chow – One of my good friends and someone I can always count on for business advice.

19. Pho – Simply one of my favorite foods. Nothing is better than a nice large bowl of warm pho! If im not feeling well or just want to feel refreshed pho is the perfect thing!

20. ThemeForest & VideoHive – I am in no way a designer, actually I’m horrible at those things. ThemeForest is a great place to find quality wordpress / website themes. VideoHive is just like the same thing, but for video. That is where I got the intro for ThinkComputers videos.

21. Google Docs – I’m not sure how I survived before without Google Docs. Whether I am writing something, or using the form function for a contest Google Docs is awesome. Oh yeah and you can access all of your files anywhere there is an internet connection.

22. Panera Bread – There are really not a whole lot of places in Pittsburgh where you can get good food and work on your laptop for an afternoon. Panera Bread is normally the place I go when I need to get out of my home office and work.

23. Dropbox – Dropbox is the easiest way to share files. I use it for both personal and business applications and I love that I can access my important files wherever there is an internet connection.

24. My Health – While I am not in the best shape of my life, things could be a lot worse. Being healthy is something many people take for granted so I am happy that I am healthy.

25. Great Friends & Good Times – At the end of a long work day nothing is better than going out and spending time with friends. It just allows you to forget about all the stress of work. To all of my friends thanks for being so awesome in 2012!

I could add much more to this list, but I don’t want to go on and on. What were you thankful for in 2012?

First off this is the busy time of the year for ThinkComputers. Companies are releasing products for the holiday season so we have a lot of products in to review. I am still doing 95% of the reviews on ThinkComputers, sometimes I think I will never find enough good and reliable staff members to really contribute so I don’t have to write 3-4 reviews a week myself. So between writing the reviews, doing the unboxing videos and doing pretty much everything else for the site I am pretty busy.

Talking about writing I am having a hard time really concentrating. It’s amazing when I am in the zone and I can pump out reviews one after another. I’m not sure if I need a change on scenery or what, but this is not a good thing. I think with everything going on I am just stressing too much and I can’t really relax to get into that writing mood.

Another thing with concentrating is that I am not being effective at all. Many days I have not been making a to-do list so I sit at my computer and complete easy tasks that really are not that important. I should be getting the high priority tasks done, but I am guilty of being lazy. I really need to stick to a firm schedule and stop being lazy.

For a good while now I was doing really good. I would be pretty productive during the day and before I would go to bed I would sit on my laptop and read travel blogs, sort of like my sanctuary. I could forget about work and think about traveling to Thailand or somewhere else. Now by the end of the day I am just exhausted and want to pass out.

So why am I telling you this? Well one I knew I needed to write a blog post and two I think it is good to write about it. That way I am able to define the problem and solve it. Also I wanted to give everyone a little update, hopefully you won’t have to wait another month for another one!

It’s crazy to think I have been running ThinkComputers for 10 years, but I have.  Over this time many people have said to me, “man your job must be easy”.  At the same time just as many people have said, “I wish I could do what you do”.  The truth is anyone can do what I do, but they make the mistake of thinking that it is easy and that it is not a real “job”.  I have given so many people advice and more or less a blueprint to do exactly what I do, yet they give up because they realize it is not as easy as they think and it actually requires real work.  Keep in mind I never decided to make ThinkComputers my full time job because I thought it would be easy.  I did it because I wanted to do my own thing and hey it’s nice to work in your boxers!  So if you are thinking about starting your own online business here are some things you may want to consider.

You are your own boss
This seems like a great thing right?  No one telling you what to do, being able to make your own schedule etc.  The thing you don’t realize is being your own boss is a hard thing to do from time to time.  Because technically no one is holding you accountable.  So if you sleep in, don’t work for a day, sit and watch YouTube for hours etc you cannot get in trouble as you are the boss.  This makes it very easy to be lazy.  I try to wake up at the same time each day, but when you technically don’t have to be up for anything it is really hard to drag yourself out of bed.  Being your own boss also means you need to have your day planned out with tasks.  If you do not you will just sit around and become “busy” but not productive.  These are just a few things that are not that great about being your own boss, the list can go on and on.

Working for Free
Wait what?  When you are building website or product you are technically working for free.  No one is paying you to develop the product or website.  If you are selling a product you are only going to get paid when you get orders.  When it comes to websites and ads for the most part unless you already have a website that has good traffic and a following no one is going to pay you upfront for advertising.  You will have to go with a 3rd party service like Google Adsense, which means you will not get paid for at least a month if not more.  Google Adsense like many advertising services require you to have a minimum balance (usually $100) before they will cut you a check.  So you will need to wait until you reach that amount.  To make matters worse a lot of advertising companies work on anywhere from a 30 to 60 day net payment.  That means if I made $500 in November I will not see that money for 30 to 60 days (whatever the net payment is) starting from December 1st.  This means you really have to manage your cash flow.  It can be annoying because if you have an awesome month it’s not like you can go celebrate because you don’t see that money for at least a month if not more!

Unsure of Income
One of the most stressful things about doing what I do is not knowing how much money I will be making each month.  When you are working for a company you normally know how much your check will be on the 15th and 30th.  If you are selling a product online you have no clue how many orders you will be getting each month.  If you rely on advertising then unless you are charging a flat rate you have no clue how much you will make.  That all depends on traffic, how many people click the ad etc.  If your site goes down in the middle of the night and ads do not display you are technically losing money, which you will definitely notice at the end of the month.

Always something to do
If you happen to follow me on twitter you may have seen me post the hashtag #nodaysoff, because in this business there really are no days off.  Well I mean there are, but there is always something you can be doing.  People think its crazy that I work on my birthday, on holidays and even on vacation, but I’ve done it all.  Whether its doing website optimizations to make your site load faster, finishing up an article, sending an e-mail to a potential advertiser or finishing odds and end on my birthday so I only have to work 2 hours the next day its all work that needs to be done.  Your website and online business is something that you will always be improving so if you want it to last there is always work to be done at all times.  Now just because you can work does not mean you should work, but that whole concept is for a future post.

These are just a few reasons why running your own online business is not easy and can be extremely stressful.  Does this make you want to change your mind about starting your own online business?  I really hope not.  The decision to run ThinkComputers full time has been one of the best decisions of my life.  When I see 80% of my friends who hate their job and are stuck in an office from 9-5 I know that I have made the right decision.

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