On Doing Nothing

John Harrington has a great post entitles The Problem with Doing Nothing.  Though John’s blog is geared toward professional photographers, you could easily remove all of the photo specific information and insert whatever field you are working in - software, design, photography, whatever.  It is another take on a quote I picked up from a Jim Rohn program I listened to years ago:

Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.  If you work hard on you job you’ll make a living, if you work hard on yourself you’ll make a fortune.

(I believe Rohn attributes that to his mentor, Earl Schoff.)  I firmly believe in that philosophy, and by “making a fortune” it isn’t always monetary.  Getting good at your chosen profession or vocation is very fulfilling.

So what have I been doing while I’m not working?  Beyond family duties, I recently picked up some books on CSS and web graphics (specifically, how to use Photoshop from a web point of view as opposed to a photography point of view.)  My development skills for what goes on behind the scenes are fairly decent (I’ve been surprised at how fast they’ve come back after being out out the game for a number of years), but my knowledge of what goes into the presentation layer of a web site is sorely lacking (as evidenced by this very site).

What do you think about on your commute home?