The Webmaster Guilt Syndrome
by Sharon Davis
People don't like to talk about it, but it's time somebody did.
Chances are, you or someone you care about suffers from it. It's
Webmaster Guilt Syndrome, or WGS.
Why is it that so many webmasters feel guilty when they work?
This is not true for "traditional" business owners. The shop owner
who hangs out his shingle doesn't feel guilty when he works day and
night for a year or more before turning a profit. In fact, it seems
admirable.
But yet, when a webmaster has to peck away at the keyboard until
all hours of the night, it's somehow different, shameful. It's
peculiar, this web-guilt phenomena.
WGS manifests itself in many ways. Some of the more common
symptoms include:
- Working between the hours of 11pm and 3am when other, normal
people are sleeping.
- Overcompensating in other areas; refusing to use daycare for
their children, frowning upon any type of convenience foods,
frantic bursts of housekeeping in any spare moment.
- Rationalizing to your spouse or others (I'm sorry I've been at
this so long, it's just that I'm installing this script...).
- An inability to succinctly describe what you do (I'm the
Owner, Writer, Editor, Programmer, Web Designer, Advertising
Manager for an online Telecommute and Home Business Website).
Not surprisingly, many online entrepreneurs also suffer from the
"SuperMom/Dad Syndrome".
I imagine it often stems from the fact that many virtual business
owners are drawn to web business out of a desire to be at home with
their families. And therein lies the dilemma. Isn't the whole point
of working from home to be able to spend quality time with the
family? So when reality sets in, that is that starting and running a
web business is just as demanding on your time and resources as many
other businesses, we feel guilty.
So, what's a Webmaster to do? Well, being that the numbers of
online business owners are growing as we speak, there's no shortage
of peers to commiserate with. I have found great comfort, support
and validation from my fellow webmasters.
The good news is that there is a cure. Symptoms almost completely
disappear with the receipt of a paycheck.
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© Copyright 2001 Sharon Davis. Sharon Davis is the Mother of two
girls, the owner of
2Work-At-Home.Com and the Editor of the site's monthly
ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what
it was like to have spare time. To subscribe to her free ezine,
Click Here
