Blogging Can Be Bad For Your Health
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 6.08
Of course it is different at TreeHugger, with our Zody chairs and daily online pilates classes, but according to the New York Times, life can be hard on the full time blogger:
"They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.
A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment."
Silly article at ::The New York Times UPDATE: See Marc Andreessen's suggestions for future headlines on blogging. My favourite is "Bloggers Shorter than Normal People."
It is much the same for freelance translators and/or software developers.
Clients call at all hours, nobody seems to understand what a weekend is, and I end up working 18 hours/day, seven days a week...
I have carpal tunnel to show for my efforts, too.
On the other hand, I interact with people all around the world, get paid to read (and translate) interesting articles and documents, work in my pyjamas, listen to my favorite music, or even watch TV while working (sometimes).
It all comes out in the wash.
Not to mention the hours not spent preparing for and traveling to and from work, the cost in actual dollars for the vehicle and fuel along with the harder to pin down hidden medical costs (stress,germs,accidents) and environmental costs. The benefits of feeling more in control, independent and productive added to that and it's not a bad way to go.
"They work long hours, often to exhaustion."
So... just like basically 75% of people? Wow.
"For obsessive information workers, that can mean never leaving the house."
Key-word: obsessive. Really, the world won't stop if you miss one piece of news, go out and take a walk.
What they're addressing seems not to be "bloggers", but "famous bloggers". But what manager wouldn't be stressed out when leading a successful business? More money, more stress.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for these people?
They have brains don't they? -- use them to make a choice, don't work more than a set amount of hours - if its 6pm to 6am or 6am to 6pm, great, just set your hours and stick to them.
It's called discipline, if you want to be successful in anything sure you have to put the hours in, but you also have to be disciplined and be aware that your health should come first.
It doesn't matter how much money you have, you can't buy your health ... some of us are trying, but it can't be done.
Anyway, the deaths were people 50 and 60 years of age ... hello!! ... the lifestyles these 2 probably led before their deaths were more than likely the cause and not the fact that they actually blogged ... it was more than likely though, and please excuse the pun "the final nail in the coffin" !
Jeez...