“More men are killed by overwork than the importance of the world justifies.”

– Rudyard Kipling

When you’re working for yourself, measuring success in hours is stupid. I could “work” 40 hours and only make ten bucks. In fact, there are afternoons when I’ve “worked” five hours and not gotten a single thing done. I’ve procrastinated or goofed off. I’ll listen to mixtapes, read a book, or play my beloved Dwarf Fortress.

At my soon to be ex-job, wasting time was no big deal. There were even days when it was promoted. You were there for 40 hours a week no matter what. If there was only 30 hours worth of work, you simply did it slower. Lengthy discussions, hourly bathroom breaks, and a million other time diversions were commonplace.

That doesn’t fly now. If I want the money I actually have to earn it. A hundred dollars can come in four hours or forty. It’s all dependent on my effort.

To complicate things, my review writing business is booming. I’m flooded with customers. At the moment I actually have several hundred dollars in orders waiting for me. It’s easy to get stressed out. And it’s easy to get distracted and find yourself having to pull an all-nighter just to meet the deadline.

On Saturday morning I got swamped. A single customer purchased 40 Fiverr gigs from me. I had three days to complete all of them. That basically meant I had to start immediately.

I decided to try something new.

Instead of simply writing out a few of reviews every day, I sat down and wrote all of them at once. I saved my work on Google Docs, and started uploading them slowly over the remainder of the weekend. What I have left over will be going up today.

By getting everything done at once, I saved myself the stress and time of having to make a last minute rush. It took a couple hours, after which I felt great. All my work was completed and I had the rest of the day to myself.

“Blah blah blah, poor customer service. Why isn’t my gig done yet?”

– Bad customer

At three in the morning some dude ordered a Fiverr gig from me. By five in the morning he messaged me, asking why I hadn’t contacted him yet. At this point I knew I was in for a treat.

His order was tenth in my queue. I had other work to do first. Still he messaged me again, he needed that review. There was no time to waste.

At five in the afternoon he messaged me, claiming that he had ordered his gig days ago. Why wasn’t it done yet? According to the site’s countdown timer, and my basic math, he had purchased it earlier that day.

Finally I got around to fulfilling his request. I logged into Fiverr and saw… That he had canceled his gig.

Before doing so he had left a note. It explained how my service was awful and that I had kept him waiting for weeks. When I reached the end of his message I muttered “good riddance.”

I feel bad for whoever has to deal with him next.

“Sorry, but getting financial advice from a home-grown preacher is like using a Batman comic for a law enforcement textbook.”

– Reddit, thread about David Ramsey

Earlier this year I read that the average American saves something like 6% of their income.

I learned this on a Sunday afternoon.

When Monday morning rolled around I borrowed my mom’s copy of The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. The book was corny but it had some great information. I was able to set aside whatever ideological differences that I had and learn about personal finance.

Within a month of following the book’s advice, I saw a considerable increase in my savings account.

The Total Money Makeover might be “mainstream” and have a religious message, but it also contains a plethora of valuable information. despite this, most people get hung up on the fact that Ramsey is, as one Internet commenter put it, “a religious kook.” They’ll sacrifice wisdom because “religion is for stupid people.” In fact, a quick Google search will reveal a plethora of Ramsey haters who berate him for his religious views, I even found a site devoted to calling him sexist for his remark that “Most of the patriarchs in the Bible were wealthy.” Other people complained that his family friendly message was too tame for them. Apparently, these folks can’t sit through a book unless every other word is “f*ck.”

Basically, the presentation turns people away from quality information. oh well, their loss.

Another favorite of mine is a Youtube personality called King Human. I’ve posted his videos before, and have found a lot of his advice to be highly useful. I consider his free videos to big one of the biggest factors in my recent success as an online businessman.

Yet, once again, people complain that he’s a fraud or that his personality is cheesy. So what. His advice is solid and he’s not selling some get rich quick scheme.

There are plenty of people who I personally don’t like, but who I’ll listen to simply because they have great information. The only way that I will declare someone a fraud, or denounce them is if I’ve extensively tried and tested their methodology and seen absolutely no results.

“Champagne and Benzedrine! Never again.”

– Ian Flemming, Moonraker

In my efforts to eat healthier while not having to spend a lot of time preparing food, I’ve stumbled upon my new favorite meal. It’s a simple protein shake that I’ve started packing as my lunch.

Here are the ingredients:

Coconut Juice

Pineapple

Garden of Life Garden of Life Raw Protein

I merely throw all three into a blender, mix them up, and them pour the concoction into a container to bring with me.

This drink tastes great and takes less than 10 minutes for me to prepare. As an added bonus, it’s also incredibly cheap to make. I’ve been drinking it constantly while in Chicago, saving myself, and my wallet, from having to dine in overpriced trendy restaurants.

“I write messages on money – It’s my own form of social protest – A letter printed on paper that no one will destroy…”

– Josh Koppel

I skipped going to work so that I could play with Nootropic drugs. Rather than being a productive member of society, I took 5-HTP and spent the afternoon giggling like a school girl. Later I took a long nap.

I got some sort of quasi-polite lecture about “team dynamics” and “responsibility” when I came in the next day. I didn’t even try and pretend like I cared.

There was a presentation about sexual harassment in the workplace, I fell asleep.

Yesterday there wasn’t much work. Everyone got sent home early. All my coworkers freaked out, “how are we supposed to get our full 40?” I got home and did some Fiverr work. Then I went boxing.

When Monday morning rolls around, I’ll be waking up at a hotel in Chicago. All paid for by my Internet side business. As silly as my ventures may be, they all pay off.

Everyone talks about how much they hate their boss, their job, and their lifestyle. As revenge against society, most of them drink themselves to oblivion, live vicariously through television, or wrap their cars around telephone poles. Their rebellion is one based in self destruction.

It’s stupid.

If you want to get back at “the system,” ween yourself off it. The man who feeds you is the man who controls you, start taking care of yourself. Start a business, forge your own path. There are better ways to earn money than wasting away at a 9 to 5 job.