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The Goal Setting System For Rest of USFor most people, we go thru life doing the same thing day in and day out. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that this is what life is supposed to be. Get an education and find a job that we’ll probably will end up hating. Get married, have kids, and settle down to the 9 to 5. We get up every morning, get the kids off to school and head to work. Do the job for a massive amount of hours and head home to relax in front of the TV and to wind down and be entertained. Which is usually so boring we end up asleep in the recliner, only to get up the next morning and do it all over again. Repeating that routine everyday for 50 years is not living, it’s insanity!Eventually we get tired of this insane rat race and we begin to think we should maybe get a planner or something, to get us on track with our life.So we try one and it doesn’t take long and we get bored with it. But no matter what you tried, you couldn’t find that one product that worked the way you work… well so you thought.So you kept looking, one after another, you keep at it. Looking for that one planner or “system” that would help you get stuff done. You completely believe the next planner or the next system you try or the next book you read will be the magical solution to your productivity woes. You continue to fail in each new direction you go, each new thing, planner, or “system” you try. It gets so bad that you began to miss deadlines. Projects aren’t getting done on time and obviously, that doesn’t work out very well.But you see, these new planners and systems weren’t the problem. With each new one, you spent the time to get it set up only to realize, that you don’t like that one either. You spent so much time doing productive stuff, that you aren’t being productive!After a lot of time, effort, and money, it becomes pretty obvious you aren’t getting anything productive done. There were so many ideas and techniques bouncing around in your head, you couldn’t keep it all straight. The end result is a complete failure at all of them, a complete lack of focus.The real problem is that we’ve become addicted to planners and systems. We have convinced ourselves that we had to have the very latest and greatest new planners and systems to be able to get things done.Once you realize that a lack of focus is the real problem, you’ll begin to change. As you began to break some old habits, you’ll notice some things that are inherent to all of the systems and planners you’ve tried.1. Focus on what’s important2. Be crystal clear as to what you want to accomplish3. Create a plan to get you thereHere’s the thing, the basics are just about the same in all systems, when you realize this you’ll have a system that finally works for you.It’s called … A Focused Life.What exactly is a focused life?It’s a simple system of planning and scheduling that gets you to focus on your life not your planner or system. Doing these leaves us time for anything and everything we want out of life. Living life the way you want to and doing it with an attitude of gratitude and happiness.It won’t be easy my friend. Nothing rewarding in life is. But it will be worth it.Before we get started with the Focused Life Process, we need to decide how we are going to plan and schedule our life. Do we use paper and pencil or some digital device and app?That is entirely up to you. The beauty of this system is that it can be done with anything you want, paper or digital. Once you understand what we are about to accomplish, you can decide what you want to use.But first, let’s look at the pros and cons of each…DigitalDigital devices and apps have come a long way since the early days of computers. They are now more convenient than ever. With today’s smartphones and tablets, we’re instantly connected to whatever app and system we tap into. Usually used for tasks and calendars, we find we can easily organize and search for whatever we need quickly. Unless we run out of space on the device, we never seem to run out of paper. And of course we can set alarms and alerts to keep us reminded of tasks and events we have scheduled.Initially we have the expense of the device itself, let alone the price of some of the apps we use these days. Internet access on cell service can be iffy at times. Wi-Fi isn’t much better if you’re away from home, and security of your data, well let’s not go there.PaperIn today’s fast paced digital world, there’s something about taking pen to paper that can’t be achieved with anything digital. The satisfaction of seeing and hearing the pen tip dragging slowly, scratching the surface of the paper, as your handwriting reveals itself. Nothing matches that feeling…nothing. It brings with it a different state of mind, a state of actually learning and accomplishing something. Isn’t that the whole idea of some sort of planning system, actually being productive and getting things done?It has also been proven that we retain more of what we actually write down over what we type on a keyboard. And nothing beats pen and paper for jotting down quick notes.Depending on what you actually use for a notebook, paper can be difficult to organize and impossible to search like digital can. Great ideas have come about to try and tackle these issues with paper planners. The Bullet Journal system comes to mind with it’s idea of an index page to keep track of where everything is in your journal.Digital and Paper CombinationsWith all the choices we have these days, which is the better way to go? That’s a matter of choice and you are the only one who can make that decision.Both have pros and cons that will make each advantageous over the other. So why choose? Why not use a combination of the two? Oh sure, it may be a bit of a hassle to keep two different collections of ideas, plans, notes, and schedules.Or would it?With a few simple changes, we can take the advantages of each and create a system that works the way you do. It’s a matter of using what you have and can afford. The Focused Life process is the same no matter what you are using to keep track of your life.For example, my current system has been a work in progress to get the confidence I have for the way I work now. I have always loved the pen to paper feel. But I have longed for a table and stylus to try and take that experience digital. Until recently, every tablet and stylus combination I’ve owned and tried, has been a dismal failure. Plus trying to find apps that were cross platform seemed like an exercise in futility.A combination of paper planner with a digital calendar worked great for a couple of years. I would use the calendar for events and set alerts to remind me of appointments. It worked great.Along comes Apple with the version 6 iPad. It’s now compatible with the Pencil.Now my system is completely digital. I get the proven ability to remember thoughts better by writing them down in the iPad. The iPad and Pencil combination doesn’t come close to the feel of pen to paper. As I said earlier, nothing matches that feeling…nothing. But it works surprisingly well for this type of combination. I’ve had some weird experiences in the past with other styluses that seemed to have a mind of their own. Some would draw lines in places the stylus tip wasn’t and other strange phenomena. It was quite nerve wracking at times and completely changes your train of thought when it occurred.I now use digital planners and apps that all work seamlessly together. No more cross platform issues with apps that work across the MacBook, iPhone, and iPad and designed to do so.At this point you’re probably thinking that this has been a giant ad for Apple products.Uh no…You see, the entire point of this ramble, is that over all the time this has taken place, my system didn’t change. Only the devices did. It just that now they work better, together. My point being, use what you have and work the system. You could do this all on the back of napkins if you had to, it doesn’t really matter.To Do List vs. Goal SystemsNow that you have an understanding of what a focused life is and you’ve thought about digital or paper to keep track of your focused life, you need a way to get there.If someone were to ask you what will your life be like in a year?How about 5 years?10 years?Could you answer them?Most people can’t answer these simple questions. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be we are so caught up with ourselves in the moment, that we haven’t even though about what we’re having for lunch, let alone where we want to be in a year from now.If you could answer those questions, do you know how you’re going to get there? Do you know what’s it going to take to reach that goal, the work that needs to be done, step by step?Do you?Then you need to create some goals and you need to do it now!In order to reach these kinds of goals, you’ll need a goal setting system. That’s what a Focused Life is all about.But the problem is, systems require habit changes. Serious habit changes and most people, well, they simply won’t do it. They have convinced themselves that they are doing what is needed because of…The 6 Lies Of ProductivityLie #1 - The To Do ListOne of the basic principles of productivity is to write EVERYTHING down and get it off of your mind. The idea is that your mind has a hard time remembering all this stuff we try to put in there. Well that’s sort of right. Science has proven that the mind is a great place to store things. Once the neuron links are established, it’s pretty hard to break them down. The problem is we are all human and getting our mind to reveal those things we stored in our mind, is maddening. Wouldn’t be great if we had a Google search engine for our minds and everything we’ve put in there was s simple search away?Well we don’t, so that ain’t happening…So what now? Write them all down on a list somewhere that we always keep handy, that we can pull up and pick out what we want.Yeah OK…That works to a point. But the problem with that is, then we treat everything like it all matters the same.Uh nope, it does not. Never has, never will…What we have here is a long list of to do’s that we have conditioned ourselves in playing the “check it off” game of productivity. And this actually works to a point. How many times have checked off a bunch of tasks off of your to do list and got that shot of endorphins that make you feel great and happy you did something? It’s a great feeling… while it lasts.Look at this way…On your to do list is "fold the load of towels" and "pick up the kids after school." You get those done and happily check them off your to do list. The endorphins kick in and you have that great feeling of “Wow, I got that accomplished!”Ummm…. Did we just tell ourselves that our kids are just as important as a load of towels? In our subconscious mind we did. It really doesn’t know any better. Of course our kids are more important than a load of towels. The point here is that playing the check off game has no real purpose other then getting a bunch of easy stuff done, that may or may not have any real purpose in getting us to our goals.In order to overcome this game, we must find out what are the important things in life we want. What is our purpose? And what habits do we need to break or create to get there?Lie #2 - MultitaskingAh, multitasking. The buzzword that everyone thought was the key to a purposeful life and you must master it to get everything done.Wrong O’ my friend!Studies have now proved that when we try to multitask, we actually get 25% to 28% LESS work done. Think about that for a minute. One quarter of our efforts are a complete waste of time when we multitask! AND the quality of the work we do during that time is subpar to what we could and should be doing.You see, our minds can subconsciously do many, many things at the same time. But we can only consciously focus and do one thing at a time.I’ll prove it to you…Be honest here, have you ever try to text and drive? Seriously, we all have at least once. That text comes in and you hear that ding that lets you know you got a text. Curiosity kicks in and you just have to see who it’s from and what they want. Right?I know I've done it. And then we do those stupid little mind tricks and tell ourselves, “If I hold the phone up high enough, I can still watch the road and see what’s going on.” How did that work for you?Blew it didn’t you?You looked at your phone for half a second and looked up again and found yourself facing oncoming traffic! WHOA!!!In this case, multitasking could actually seriously hurt you or someone else. You see, your conscious mind can…ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME!ONE!Ok that is a little extreme. But it proves the point, that the concious mind is not capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time.Let’s put this into a work environment. We do this all the time. Start on a project, only to be bombarded with phone calls, the occasional drop by to ask a question, along with a ton of other interruptions. Somewhere along the way, we have convinced ourselves that we are able to get quality work done with all of these interruptions. We’ve learned to call this multitasking. And it leads to a stressful, horrible way to get anything accomplished.Usually goes along the lines of…Your boss tells you at the end of the day, he needs a report done for a meeting tomorrow. And he needs it by 10 o’clock. You think no problem; I’ll have 2 hours in the morning to get it done. At 8am you‘re fresh and ready to get started. You know what happens next, right? For the next 2 hours you’re multitasking like a mad man. All of the sudden, everyone else in the company has a question for you. Just when you get started, your mind is focused and ready to go, and the phone rings. No problem I’m multitasking! I can put out that fire. Then just when you remember where you were and get focused again, your buddy pops his head in the door to ask about lunch. This goes on and on for the next 2 hours. You get the report done, but seriously, it’s not your best work and you know it.And your boss knows it too…Lie #3 - I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ CalendarEver tell yourself, “I'll remember that appointment…” and then forgot it as soon as you got home? Unless you have a brilliant photographic memory (great if you really do, they are very rare), you know you did. Maybe you’re the kind of person that goes with the flow, winging it no matter what. Yeah, that doesn’t work very well now does it?No real structure = no real resultsSeriously, if you have a bit of structure, you’ll find yourself struggling to get anywhere and get anything done. You simply won’t remember and something will come up (doesn’t it always?) and so much for finishing that project on time.I’m not talking about scheduling every waking minute of your day. You must give yourself some time to take a break and the unexpected. After all, something always comes up…Explore the idea of time blocking. Start out small and build up the habit. Like say, schedule 15 minutes to read before bed. Or set aside 30 minutes to work on the project your boss needs done... yesterday.The real trick here is to schedule this time and focus on working. No interruptions, no phone calls, no social media. Turn everything OFF and really focus on solid work for the scheduled time. I guarantee you’ll be amazed of what gets done. That’s how you really get into the flow; schedule it!Lie #4 - I Can Do It TomorrowNo you can’t! Procrastination is an incredibly powerful deterrent. Somehow it just doesn’t seem to get done when we put things off. This usually happens because of a lack of accountability. If no one knows what you’re supposed to be doing, then no one knows you not doing it.The real issue is we truly believe we’ll get it done…eventually. But, as you know, eventually never happens. As that task gets put off and another takes its place. Eventually, it never gets done.So what’s the solution? Find an accountability partner, someone who will keep tabs on you and keep you accountable. Of course you’ll do the same for them. Go ahead create a partnership of productivity!Lie #5 - Work More Hours, Get More DoneSomewhere someone told us that if we work 50 or 60 or 70 hours this week, we’ll get more done. That should be the biggest load of crap you've ever heard. Study after study after study, proves this is so wrong in so many ways.You mind and body can’t really take this kind of punishment. You begin to get run down, and the stress from it all builds up to unhealthy levels. Not a good thing to do… ever. Plus the quality of your work starts going downhill along with your health.Lie #6 - Get The Easy Stuff Done FirstHow many times have you looked at your task list and notice several things that you do and get those off the list? The thought process here suggests that the hard stuff will get done after the easy tasks.Once again…WRONG!Studies suggest just the opposite is more efficient. Get the tough tasks done first when your mind and body are the freshest and prepared.Seriously, flip the task list and reward yourself with the easy tasks after the hard ones are done. You just might find you actually will get more done this way.Goal Setting The Focused Life WayStep 1 - Discover Who You AreTo begin your journey to a Focused Life, you must do a little discovery work. You might think you know who you are and what you want, but you really want to solidify these thoughts and write them down. You must be crystal clear as to what you want to accomplish with your life, before you can make it a reality.The thing is, your conscious and subconscious minds are always at odds with each other. Until you put it down on paper, they will continue to battle it out.So get out a pencil and paper, print out this publication and write your answer here, or annotate the pages here with your answers. What ever you do get it down, so you can refer back to it when needed.Most will agree there are 4 Areas Of Focus (AOF) you should concentrate on:1. Home/Family2. Work3. Physical Body4. Spiritual BodyEach AOF will have it’s own set of goals, projects, and tasks that needs to be done. It’s up to you on how much you focus on each of these. Just focus on the things that are important to you. BUT… you must be completely honest with yourself.1. What are your strengths?2. What are your areas of expertise?3. Do you have specific skills, experience, and credentials?4. What are your weaknesses?5. Will you need more education to correct these weaknesses? A mentor?6. What turns you on the most? That thing that you can’t wait to get back to doing. When you are doing it, you become totally lost in time… in the zone?Step 2 - What Do You Want To Accomplish?Once you have finished the discovery process, you are ready to decide what it is you really want to accomplish with your life. Let’s call it your Dream List.The trick to doing the first part of this step is to open up your mind and just start writing. Don’t think about it, don’t wonder if you can really do it, just write down whatever comes to your mind. Write down everything you’ve ever wanted to do. If you ever thought it might be fun to skydive? Write it down! Want to learn to fly a plane? Write it down! Ever wanted to be a NASCAR driver, a fireman, or policeman? Write it down! Seriously, have fun with this and write it all down. Just get in the zone and start writing for at least 10 minutes to however long it takes to have everything written down. The idea is to get all of this out of your head and onto paper. Write down your goals, your projects, your dreams, and anything else that comes to mind.Remember the AOFs we talked about earlier? Take your Dream List and separate all of the items on the list into the 4 AOF. Just number them 1 thru 4 for each of the AOF. Your four areas don’t have to be even, either. It doesn’t matter how many are in each AOF.Now it’s time for some thinking.Answer this 3 part question…Where do you want to be and have accomplished in…1. The next 1 year?2. The next 5 years?3. The next 10 years?Take some time to really put some thought in to these 3 questions. Don’t worry about if you think you can actually do it or not, in any time frame. Just look at your Dream List and see if there is anything there that you want to accomplish in the next 1-5-10 years. If anything else comes to mind add that too.Congratulations! You just took the first step in making your dreams a reality. You see, as the saying goes, “Goals without a date are just a wish.” You just did that, you’re one step closer.Step 3 - Your Major Goals ListUp to this point, you have discovered who you are and created your Dreams List. Keep in mind that these aren’t set in stone and can change at any time, just like life. In fact, plan on it.Now look at your 1 year list and depending on how many items you have on it, pick 5-7 that are the most important to you to accomplish in the next year. Write this on a separate sheet of paper, in no order of importance, yet.Next number in order of importance, 1 being the most important, up to how ever many goals you have listed.Got it? Great!This is your one-year goals list. Keep in mind that this is a living, breathing list. These are your major goals and there will be a lot of minor tasks and projects that have to get done too. You may find some of the goals are in different AOF, which is great.Some of these might be large projects, that will take months to complete, others not so long. For now that really doesn’t matter. That’s what the evaluation step is all about that we’ll discuss later.Let’s take minute to clarify what goals, projects, etc. are for our viewpoint in achieving a Focused Life. I’m going to borrow a couple of ideas from David Allen’s GTD methodology.Anything on your list that takes more than one step to complete is a project. For example, let’s say you need to get some new tires on your car. Most of us will do a little shopping around for the best price. Then we need to make an appointment to get them changed. Will they come get the car and deliver it when completed? Or do you need to wait or make arrangements to get back to work and pick the car up at the end of the day? Do they have the tires in stock or will they need to be ordered first? Just a bit more then driving to the tire store and getting new tires put on, isn’t there? So each of the steps need to be addressed and dealt with. Even though you probably don’t think of this as a project, for our purposes it is. Also, if you have a single step task that will only take a couple of minutes to complete, do it now, while it’s fresh on your mind. Get it out of the way and off of your mind.Of course, use common sense when dealing with your goals, projects, and tasks. Don’t overthink this stuff. You probably would only write down, call for tire appointment in your planner after doing a bit of shopping. All of the other questions will probably be dealt with on the phone call. Seriously keep it simple.Step 4 - Start With Your Number OneWith that out of the way, take your number one goal for the next year and break it down into big chunks. Just the major steps that are needed to get this done. Don’t break it down yet into the individual tasks for the goal. Not a lot of detail here, that comes later. Don’t think in any time frames just yet either.Let’s say your #1 goal this year is to write the next great American novel. Break that into chunks something like this:1. Title2. Research3. Chapter outlines4. Write each chapter5. Hire a proofreader6. Have them proofread it7. Find a publisher8. Self PublishThere are probably more steps, but you get the idea.Now, take the rest of your goals for year one and chunk those babies out too. Again don’t spend a bunch of time worrying about details or time frames. Just chunk them out quickly and move on. These are just the basic steps for now. When we start to add detail and schedule, you may find tasks you forgot about, which is fine. Remember this is a living, breathing, and growing list. It will always be changing.Step 5 - Set Your goals For The Next 90 DaysLook over your goals with the chunks and decide how many you can get done in 90 days. Going back to our novel example, if you think you can get the entire novel written and published in 90 days, put it down! Do not and I repeat, do not start to second guess yourself and think about the time frame involved here.Get yourself a printable calendar for the next 3 months and lay out the chunks over the next 3 months (90 days) on these calendar pages. I find paper and pencil to work great for this planning, but I have also found my iPad and Apple Pencil, with a good note app works great too. Just find a calendar page you can import into the note app and use that. Keep in mind we are listing our tasks on to the calendar to give them a due date, so digital calendar apps, like Google Calendar, while great for events we need to schedule, doesn’t work so well for our tasks due to the shear steps involved in setting each task in the calendar. That would take forever and get old quickly. Plus, when we get to the evaluation phase, changing things around due to crap happening and the task doesn’t get done, can be easier on paper. Again, just keep it simple and do whatever turns your crank. Nothing is set in stone. Use common sense, nothing says each chunk has to take a week, just because it’s laid out on a calendar. If you can do a chunk in a day, do so and list the next chunk the next day. Keep going like this for your number 1 and 2 primary goals. If you try to list chunks from all of your primary goals, you will most likely become overwhelmed and to afraid to get started, procrastinate and end up doing nothing. Take it easy to start, make some measurable progress (more on that later) until you get the hang of the process. Focus on 90 days at a time.Step 6 - Break Down The Chunks To 7 Days And SmallerNow the real planning begins. Start with your favorite planner, be it paper or digital and let’s begin to break down the chunks into manageable tasks. Start with your number one chunk that you have and break it down into the steps needed to get it done. You probably already have these in your head or at least a pretty good idea at this point. Plus we’ve already set the due date for the chunk. Now you need to set the tasks that will be done this week. Just this week for now. At the end of the week, you’ll have a weekly review of your progress and adjust for the next week.Rinse and repeat for the rest of the chunks you’ve scheduled for this week.Step 7 - EvaluateYou can’t reach your goal with out knowing how you’re doing. Evaluating your progress is needed to adjust and replan if necessary.Daily Review:At the end of every day take a look at how the day went. Did you get interrupted and so something got put on hold for a while? Did that get done eventually today? Then it needs to be added to tomorrow’s schedule.Are things getting pushed back daily? Why is that? Are you trying to do too much in a day? Any obvious patterns taking place? Now’s the time to fix these types of issues.Weekly Review:1. Pick a day to evaluate the past week. Sunday evening? Put it in your schedule.2. Look at each of your weekly goals. Do you get them done? Be honest with yourself, why or why not? Do you need to learn a new skill? What else could be holding you back? What other reason is there that kept you from getting them done?3.Break down next weeks tasks into daily steps. Don’t forget to add in the steps from last week that didn’t get done.Monthly Review:1. Follow steps 1 - 3 above and evaluate how you did.At each review you should be seeing measurable progress towards your goal.Are you on track? Why or Why Not?What do you need to do to correct your progress and get back on track?Are you ahead of schedule? Can you step up your tasks and finish even sooner?Those are the questions that your review process should be answering for you.Achieving Your GoalsBy now you should have a solid working blueprint in place that clearly maps out what you’re going to get done and by when.So now what? Goal setting is the easy part. Now you have to get this stuff done. Just looking at a map doesn’t get you to your destination. Eventually you must get in the car and start driving if you ever have any hope of getting to your destination.At this point you could just put your head down and start working until it gets done. OK, but it won’t take long before you get burned out by exhaustion and stress.Techniques To Achieving Your GoalsBy using a few different techniques, we could actually get things done more efficiently. Things like…The Pomodoro TechniqueThe Pomodoro techniques has become a very popular technique that allows you to get your work done while being highly focused on your efforts.To become this focused, you need to turn off any devices or apps that aren’t expressly needed to get the work done. You also need it to be quiet. Find a place that works best for you.Start by deciding the task at hand, the one thing that has the highest priority for you today. Now set a timer for 25 minutes and focus 100% on that task. When the timer goes off, get up out of your chair and take a 5 minute break. Stretch and or take a short walk, something that gets the blood going and the oxygen back to the lungs.Now set your timer again for 25 minutes and repeat the procedure with the 5 minutes break after the timer goes off. After doing this four times take a 15 to 20 minute break. This gets your energy and focus back. Do this as many time s as possible through out the day.The Eisenhower MatrixWhen Dwight D. Eisenhower became the 34th president of the United States of America, he had already accumulated a great deal of knowledge on how to deal with difficult tasks and manage his time effectively.Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Five Star General in World War Two and became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.It became apparent to President Eisenhower that he needed a system to do the most effective job that he could. What he came up with is now known as the Eisenhower Matrix or as it’s also referred to, the Urgent-Important Matrix. This matrix helps you decide and prioritize your tasks by urgency and importance.This whole process works like this.Quadrant one, is our do it first priority. These tasks are of utmost important in our personal and business lives and require your immediate attention. Quadrant one tasks are tasks that must done today and these can’t be put off, nor can they be delegated to someone else.Quadrant Two tasks are important tasks that don’t need your immediate action. Examples of Quadrant two tasks might be planning out your healthy meals for the week. At work Quadrant two tasks might be composing emails and replying to customer’s questions they have regarding your products or services.Quadrant Three is where you delegate tasks to others. These tasks may be as important as Quadrant Two, but they don’t need to be done by you. Maybe you might have a trusted assistant that can wade through your emails and decide which ones are necessary for you, while answering or deleting the others.Quadrant Four is where you have tasks that can be removed permanently. These are the tasks that are neither urgent nor important. At one time or another, these tasks are ones you thought you needed to do. But as time has passed, you have found that they really didn’t need to be done at all, so at this point they can be deleted.The Eisenhower Matrix is a great tool to be using when you are scheduling your time on your calendar. It lets you focus in on the important taks that need to be done first.The Seinfeld MethodThe Seinfeld Method created by Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is a great technique for habit change. It’s a simple technique of checking off on a calendar everyday you complet a habit, like run 2 miles. The idea behind this is that when you do the habit enough days in a row, and you can visually see this on the calendar, you won’t want to break the chain of having a day or two with out this checked. Mentally we think we have to start all over. Try it.Time BlockingTime Blocking is a productivity-scheduling tool that helps you manage your time so you don’t become so overwhelmed with all you have to get done. This works well for large and small projects and tasks.Let’s say your project is to launch a new course. Instead of trying to do it all at once, you block out chunks of time for each part, for example 30 minutes for niche research, 1 hour for outlining, and 2 hours for writing.Time blocking isn’t about getting rid of your to-do list. It’s all about organizing your time according to priorities and making your to-do lists more manageable. Instead of working from a big, never ending, master to-do list, tackle those tasks with a specific time block (or several blocks for larger projects). This make your time much easier to manage. Having a few items scheduled in a time block as opposed to a master list of 20 tasks makes the list easier to control.The key here is NOT to schedule every waking minute of the day. Leave blocks of time open through out the day for the unexpected. Don’t forget to schedule yourself some down time for yourself, friends, and family.One At A Time… PrioritizeIn order to get anything done, we must prioritize. We’ve already discussed how bad multitasking is. Prioritizing just makes sense so we aren’t doing tasks in circles, trying to complete things that depend on other steps to be completed first.Prioritizing the correct way involves thinking about what needs done in the most sensible order to completion. Think about it like this, what’s the one step you must do next, that is not dependent on any other step or by doing this, might actually eliminate other steps? Do that…My Secret Goal Writing TechniqueIf you’ve read this far, you must be thinking by now that getting a focused life is a ton of work. Not really, it’s a lot of planning, that’s for sure. This planning actually makes all the tasks and projects we have in our life easier to get to a focused life. By spending 15 minutes to plan an hour project is much better then spending 1 hour on a 15-minute project because we didn’t take the time to plan it and know exactly what and where we were going. The mistakes we’ll make due to lack of planning costs us more time to complete in the long run.Here’s the secret…The next time you’re writing out your goals and tasks, write them like you’ve already completed them. This small little tweak takes out the stress of getting started. On your daily planner page, instead of having a section of today tasks, have a section titled, Today I. Under that list the tasks as if they’re already done. For example, “Today I, time blocked my week”. You see, writing in the past tense sets our mind up to think this is easy it’s already done, eliminating the stress and overwhelm of getting stuff completed.A simple little mind trick that works.Wrapping It All UpThe Focused Life system is a great system that will keep you on track. But, like any system, it takes work and dedication. Once you have things set up, a few minutes a day, refreshing yourself with your goals and tasks for the day is all it takes.

Ever wanted to start a blog but not sure what exactly you want to blog about?Choosing a niche is often the hardest part about starting a blog, since there are so many interesting things out there.Top bloggers highly recommend specializing in a niche instead of writing about everything and anything--especially if you hope to turn your blog into an online business.If you've hit a mental block when it comes to deciding your niche, this list is for you.Here are 111 of the best blog niche for 2020.Life1. LifestyleThe lifestyle niche encompasses everything under the sun related to daily life.It’s a much broader blogging niche than most and lifestyle bloggers may cover anything from fashion to life advice.Abby Lawson at Just a Girl and Her Blog combines discussing lifestyle topics with promoting paid printables and other digital products.Her blog typically brings in over $40,000 per month based on her published income reports.2. TravelWho doesn’t love to travel?Since most people don’t travel as much as they’d like, travel blogs are a way to live the experience through the written words of a travel blogger.International travel,domestic travel, or even just weekend trips around the local area-- people love hearing about another person’s travel experience and getting tons of suggestions before booking a trip themselves.Blogs like NOMADasaurus take readers with them while they travel the world.Here, It definitely pays to share your travels!Travel bloggers can earn serious cash, with many making $6,000 or more monthly.3. Local City GuideEven if you’ve lived in your neighborhood for a while, there may still be a ton of undiscovered local gems near you that you have yet to experience.Those who run local guide blogs know this all too well, so they make it their mission to share the uniqueness of their town or city with others.Events, restaurants, stores, spots to sight-see-- they’ve got it all covered.Check out the how Medellin Living explores everything from local businesses to night life.4. BeautyBeauty is a huge niche for women, which makes sense considering they purchase makeup and skincare products at a much higher rate than their male counterparts.Beauty blogs like The Anna Edit share beauty product reviews, hacks, and makeup/skincare tutorials.As far as beauty blogs go, most beauty influencers utilize their blog as an additional traffic source for their social media presence.The power of beauty influencers has grown exponentially and transformed traditional marketing, with even major brands like Estee Lauder dumping 75% of its marketing budget on these social media stars.5. FashionFashion has always been a big deal especially as lifestyle and fashion influencers dominate, so this is definitely a popular blog niche to enter.This is evidenced by the many fashionistas making millions from their blogs.Both men and women enjoy looking good, so you can write for one audience or even both.Many fashion bloggers (check out We Wore What) often branch out to include discussions on lifestyle and travel which opens up more creative freedom.Fashion bloggers promote their favorite brands, create sponsored posts, and cross-post to their social media accounts to generate income.6. DatingDating is stressful, unpredictable, and sometimes super awkward.As more people turn to online services for dating (over 49% of dating app users according to Statista), it then makes sense that they would utilize the Internet for dating advice.From determining your ideal partner to tips for the very first date-- you can use your dating blog to better prepare singles for the dating world.Evan Marc Katz shares his expert advice as a dating coach and also advertises his paid products and coaching program.7. ParenthoodThough you’ll often hear scare tactics from news stations, the truth is that younger generations still desire to have children just as much as their predecessors.In fact, according to Pew Research, in 2016 millennial women made up 82% of all births in the United States, though the age at first birth is higher than previous generations.There are so many facets to raising a child from birth to 18 years of age and first-time parents desperately seek advice throughout the journey.Seasoned parents are like a god-send to those entering every new stage, so you’ll undoubtedly build a readership with a parenting blog.Sarah Titus combines parenting advice with fun printables for activities with kids, generating over $200,000 PER MONTH with a combined income from her blog and printables store.8. Wedding & MarriageTying the knot is much more than just saying ‘I do!’There’s caterers, invitations, table toppers….and that doesn’t even begin to cover the complexities of married life after the fact!If you went through the fiasco, have been married for a while, and SURVIVED-- you could benefit from starting a wedding and marriage blog.The depth you want to cover is entirely up to you.Blogs like Marriage 365 delve deep into every area, down to fun date ideas with your spouse.Monetizing your blog can come from many sources including sponsored posts, affiliate links for wedding items, and even offering personalized marriage coaching.9. FamilyThe family unit is one of the most important structures in life, responsible for cultivating happy and well-adjusted adults in the future.Keeping your family close-knit in the midst of a fast-paced lifestyle is hard.Know how to plan fun family outings, engage each member of the family, and maintain a deep intimacy within your own family?Start a family blog!Pair your blog with social platforms like Pinterest and Instagram to develop trust and familiarity with your audience.Check out It’s A Lovely Life for ideas on the topics you can cover to run a successful family blog-- this blog makes over $170,000 per month.10. Personal FinanceThe personal finance niche extends to budgeting, creating wealth, and maximizing potential income streams.Many of these blogs also include information for pursuing a wide array of side hustles and online business opportunities.The good news is you don’t need to be a finance expert to start blogging in this niche, just passion and purpose.Michelle Schroeder started her blog as just a hobby while she worked full-time but she managed to use her own advice and scale her blog to over $100,000 per month.11. Frugal LifestyleEveryone could improve their spending habits but it takes real dedication to stick to a constrained budget.Living frugally entails closely monitoring spending, allocating money wisely, and saving long-term.Naturally, people seek out resources to guide them on the journey to frugal living and your blog will prove very helpful for those looking to make this change.The funny part is it pays to blog about frugality.The Busy Budgeter amassed a huge fan base with her blog that earns her over $86,000 per month.12. RelationshipsWe hold so many different types of relationships with others in our lives.From our parents and partners to our hair stylists and colleagues-- connecting and maintaining reciprocal relationships with other human beings is a key part of life.Even though it’s important…it doesn’t mean that everything goes without a hitch…If you’re awesome at forging long-lasting romantic or platonic relationships and have encountered difficult situations with successful resolution, you can provide value by blogging about relationships.You can target professionals navigating the workplace, people with complex parental relations, or even discuss them all like The Gottman Institute.13. Smart Phones & AccessoriesSmartphones are no longer a luxury, they’re a part of everyday life with over 3 billion smartphone users worldwide-- and this number is expected to increase by hundreds of millions of people in a few years.As people invest in the latest and most expensive models, it makes sense that they’d look for tutorials on features, model comparisons, and phone protection accessories.You may want to decide on a sub-niche based on phone model or brand to focus things better and get more into the nitty-gritty.This blog only includes information for iPhone users ranging from shortcuts to apps.14. Environmental SustainabilityAll experts agree that human beings hold primary responsibility for the majority of negative environmental changes.Yet we have the power to lessen the impact through sustainability and eco-friendly measures.You can create a blog within this niche that focuses on minimizing waste and educating readers on the daily things they can do to help save the planet.You can also niche down further and focus on a smaller sector, such as sustainable fashion design and clothing choices.15. RV LifeThis niche is increasing in popularity each year, as more people turn to alternate housing options.Not many people live and travel full-time in an RV, which is great news for newer bloggers within this niche.Your audience will most likely want to know the logistics of RV life: how you make money on the road, live comfortably in such a small space, and even set up systems like Internet connection.Follow Your Detour uses her blog to educate as well as fund her RV travels, generating around $2,000 monthly.16. Pregnancy & NewbornThis niche is actually pretty specific, though pregnancy spans a large topic range: breastfeeding, nutrition, postpartum care, etc.This time in a woman’s life is both exciting and challenging with so much support needed.You don’t need to be a medical doctor or women’s health expert to blog about the intricacies of pregnancy and caring for a newborn.Being a woman who’s personally gone through the experience is more than enough and also helps you relate more with moms who read your blog.You can create valuable content while generating revenue from recommending your favorite pregnancy and baby products.This is just what the mom behind Swaddles to Bottles does-- and she earns a healthy $9,000 per month doing it.17. MindsetA negative mindset can only get you so far. Consciously working on positive thinking can work wonders in your life.Oxford surveyed 246 entrepreneurs and found that those with a negative mindset were less likely to achieve their goals than those with a positive outlook.Changing your perceptions does take mental manpower and a mindset blog would help others kick-start their personal development.There’s tons of things you can write about related to mindset and the Blissful Mind does it well-- discussing stress, imposter syndrome, and developing healthy habits.18. Organization and DeclutteringMarie Kondo may have been responsible for the decluttering trend that swept across social media last year, but organization has always been a trending niche.The Seana Method follows the same tune as Kondo, emphasizing how the order resulting from organization trickles down positively to all other areas of your life.If you’ve got a knack for getting rid of old junk and turning any space into a clutter-free zone, an organization blog would be right in your wheelhouse.Incorporating video and visual content will help your audience get a feel for the benefits of organization while also attracting readers from social media channels.19. RetirementSaving for retirement is an oft-stressed point made by financial experts, who recommend starting to save as early as possible.The sad truth is that most Americans remain uneducated on how to properly save for retirement, with more than 64% of Americans retiring with less than $10,000 in savings.You can help decrease this unfortunate statistic by educating people young and old with a retirement blog.Follow suit of blogs like Retirement Cafe and pack your blog with accessible resources, break down bits and pieces of a retirement portfolio, and guide readers towards a happy and prosperous retirement.20. Hair CareCurly, straight, wavy, and frizzy-- hair comes in many varieties and each type requires a certain level of care and style.Anyone can be a hair care expert, not just hair stylists.Those who personally deal with the everyday maintenance of curly hair are more than qualified to speak on the topic, just like the blogger behind Curl Centric.In this niche, you can share your preferred hair products and tools to maintain health and luster and also create follow-along guides for cool hairstyles.Photos and videos are going to be crucial for blog posts within this niche.21. Farm LifeYou thought running a farm would be easy?You’ve got to worry about tending to animals, growing crops, and being pretty isolated from the rest of society-- all of which may deter those interested in giving it a try.If you’ve lived on a farm or cared for farm animals, your knowledge could help demystify farm life.There are so many minutiae details involved with running a farm that ideas for content are endless.Consider the wide scope that this blog covers for some inspiration.22. Smart HomesBy 2021, predictions pinpoint the adoption of home automation to around 55% of all households in the U.S. and Canada.Consumers still have a lot to learn when it comes to how smart homes can make their lives easier.Being an expert doesn’t matter as much as the validity and readability of your content covering this complex technology.It’s important to relay this information in your blog in simple ways the everyday non-techy reader can understand.Smart Home Solver reviews a multitude of smart home appliances using a mix of video and text to engage and entertain readers.Health & Wellness23. Ketogenic LifestyleThe ketogenic diet is a low-carb diet which restricts intake of carbohydrates and increases healthy fats and proteins resulting in weight loss and decreased glucose levels.So many people boast massive success with this lifestyle.Jenny Wagner lost over 50 pounds on the keto diet before she started implementing any exercise, according to her interview with The New York Times.Start a keto blog to encourage others with your personal story.You can post workout content, keto education guides, and sample meal plans for your readers to follow.Keto blogs like Cast Iron Keto share tons of homemade recipes and keto alternatives to help others transition to keto smoother.24. VeganismVeganism has taken the world by storm in recent years, highly advocated by many A-list celebs and medical professionals.While people explore how veganism can fit within their lives, an informational blog detailing vegan life can make a major difference in the decision to adopt this lifestyle or not.If you decide to pursue the vegan blogging niche, don’t think you have to be an expert chock full of scientific and medical knowledge in support of veganism.Yup It’s Vegan publishes nothing but recipe ideas for every meal, earning around $2,000 monthly from these efforts.25. Paleo LifestyleSimilar to keto, the paleo diet limits the consumption of processed and artificial ingredients, only allowing foods that the first hunter-gatherers relied on during the paleo era (hence, the name).Approximately 3 million Americans practice this way of life, citing improved digestion, skin, and overall well-being.Knowing what foods are deemed acceptable or not isn’t always crystal-clear to beginners, which makes creating a blog in the paleo niche super helpful.Blogs like Whole Kitchen Sink educate those interested in paleo with recipes and tips to stay on track-- and they net over $6,000 doing it.26. FitnessLet’s talk about getting physical!It’s a new year, which undoubtedly means an increased interest in fitness and exercise.Personal trainers and fitness junkies can capitalize on this demand and offer their knowledge and experience to readers in the form of a fitness blog, potentially opening up a lucrative stream of income.Popular fitness blog Nerd Fitness generates six figures yearly, based on an interview Blogger Jet conducted with founder Steve Kamb.27. Healthy LifestyleA healthy lifestyle includes food, exercise, and positivity.Getting all 3 areas down can be somewhat of a challenge.Small children, demanding careers, and busy lives in general can lead to junk food, decreased activity, and high stress levels.Publish your advice for living a healthy lifestyle in a blog to guide others on the right path.You can discuss many aspects of healthy living.Jessica Sepel not only shares easy recipes and workout ideas, but she also talks about body and mind positivity.28. Body PositivitySelf-confidence is so important to have nowadays, especially in the social media age.The body positivity movement has swept media, print, and online channels, encouraging people to love and embrace the body they are in.Words of wisdom, stories of strength and confidence, discussions on body image--all are potential topics discussed in a body positivity blog.Maria Denne tackles these topics as well as fashion, news, and lifestyle with an intimate and relatable flair through her blog The Curvy Fashionista-- a talent that’s made her a $100,000 yearly earner.29. NutritionA well-balanced and nutritious diet gives you the fuel to conquer your goals.Nutrition bloggers like Sarah B. at My New Roots provide suggestions for meals and snacks, with the added option of 1-on-1 mentoring.Nutritionists, R.D.’s, and other healthcare professionals can promote the power of nutrition through coaching programs, helpful blog posts, cooking and recipe tips, and informational e-books.30. Women's HealthWomen’s health care is severely lacking in the United States.Compared to eleven other developed countries, women in the U.S. are less likely to view their quality of healthcare as excellent, the Commonwealth found.Advocate and educate for better women’s health care with an unbiased blog.Post content related to sexual health, nutrition, pregnancy, and disease prevention, similar to the content over at Healthy Women.Include real-life stories sharing the experiences of other women to foster connection and relatability.31. Weight LossLosing weight is an important and pretty universal goal held by people from all age groups.Starting is the hardest part and a blog solely dedicated to weight loss can provide that extra push your readers need.Some of the things Andie Mitchell talks about in her blog include personal motivation, goal-setting for weight loss, and healthy recipes.32. Alternative MedicineTraditional medicine has made amazing strides, but alternative treatments often provide the peace of mind people seek.In fact, NCCIH found that 38% of adults in the U.S. utilize some form of complementary and alternative medicine.A couple of the most popular forms of alternative medicine are herbal remedies and acupuncture.This blog focuses on educating readers on both practices.Many people are unaware of these other options, so an alternative medicine blog is a wonderful way to increase awareness.33. DiabetesDiabetes is a debilitating illness that affects more and more people each year.Over 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes according to the CDC.A diagnosis of diabetes means major changes in a person’s lifestyle from food to exercise, which can be extremely overwhelming.If you or someone you love manages diabetes in day-to-day life you can make it your mission to help someone else in the same situation by creating a diabetes blog.For example, The Diabetic Foodie publishes so many yummy and healthy recipes that those with diabetes can enjoy.34. Mental HealthGoing through life with a mental illness is challenging and draining, so it’s important to have the right help and support.It’s not exactly rare either.In fact, 1 in 5 Americans experience a mental illness based on data compiled by Nami.org.Those living with a mental illness or mental health advocates can start the conversation and keep it open with the accessibility of a mental health blog.Natasha over at Natasha Tracy talks all things bipolar disorder, from locating resources to dealing with symptoms.35. Self CareSometimes we need to take a step back and make sure we’re taking care of ourselves before anything else.A self-care blog can cover tips for self-improvement, advice for major life decisions, and much more.The topics are limitless.This self-care blogger focuses on personal development, healthy thinking, and writing as a creative outlet.36. Yoga/MeditationYoga teachers can potentially create another income stream through a yoga and meditation blog.Guiding beginners through the stages of meditation, offering advice on mindfulness, and establishing yourself as a trusted yoga expert- these are all different topics you can discuss.Allie at the Journey Junkie promotes her workshops, creates helpful guides and articles, and also shares videos she’s created.Her paid coaching programs and retreats made a major income difference for her blog, as she generated $70,000 within 2 weeks of launching her first course.37. Self WorthFeelings of self-worth can be difficult to retain after a traumatic or unfortunate occurrence.Written advice helps soothe and support emotions to make the healing journey easier.Anyone is qualified to write within this niche with the noble aim of helping others cope and thrive.Check out Positive Provocations for a heap of articles, resources, and tidbits to boost happiness and positivity.Business & Career38. WritingBecoming a freelance writer is often thought of as unsustainable in the long run, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.Freelance writers often struggle to position themselves and find good-paying writing jobs.Blogs geared towards guiding freelance writers to prosperity prosper themselves.Jorden Roper of Creative Revolt offers practical advice, resources, and even a paid course.She claims to be making over 5 figures per month through freelance writing.If you’re a seasoned writer, your knowledge is pure gold to newbies. You can coach writers on positioning, branding, and improving their craft.39. TechnologyWe are in the midst of the technology age with still so many major innovations and new developments to be made in the future.Picture just how many industries there are and the number of businesses within each industry that exist-- millions.And technology impacts each and every one of them.Your tech blog can focus on tech news and gadgets within different industries like transportation and security.The interest in tech is most definitely there, as David Risley discovered once he turned his blog Tech Junkie into a six figure business.40. PhotographyPeople need good quality photos for so many purposes, such as for their company website or social media accounts.Other photographers also love to get inspiration for their own work and appreciate what their fellow photographers have created.Whether you’re a nature or portrait photographer, you can also utilize your blog to attract new clients and build an online presence.This is what Erick Im did when first starting his street photography blog.He sold his own products and utilized affiliate advertising to scale his blog to over $200K per year.41. Web DevelopmentWeb developers are booming in demand.It is now 2020, at this point business owners of every industry know a sites value.Those who learn to be full stack internet developers will stack cash (if you know what I mean)Thus, it’s no wonder that the need for these experts is expected to increase nearly 13% by 2028.If you’re a web developer or offer web development services, you could blog all about this field: trending design news, the fundamentals of design, resources, cool tools-- and more!Check out Web Designer Depot for some inspo.42. EcommercePeople have largely started to prefer shopping online, which is good news for aspiring ecommerce business owners.Creating an online store is fairly simple and cheap with Shopify and Woocommerce, yet actually garnering leads and making sales is another story entirely.Got a successful online store or know your way around ecommerce?Educate budding entrepreneurs with advice, case studies, recommendations for tools, and more.Check out Printful to get an idea of some areas you can cover.43. Digital MarketingThis niche is one of the absolute best to dive into as we enter a new decade of technological advancement.The importance of an effective digital marketing strategy is crucial to the survival of most businesses nowadays, yet most people are lost and overwhelmed figuring it all out.Digital marketing experts with a proven track record can serve as trustworthy guides for business owners and other online marketers with a blog in this niche.Plus, you can use your digital marketing skills to rank your site quickly and lead readers seamlessly to your paid products and services.Neil Patel runs one of the most influential digital marketing blogs today and has done all of the above to rake in nearly $400,000 with his blog.44. Interior DesignAs wages improve, people look for inspiration to spruce up their homes.You don’t necessarily need to be an interior designer to blog within this niche, you can also just be an avid lover of design.It pays to blog in this popular niche too, as blogs like The Harper House net over $6,000 per month.45. HRCalling all HR professionals!Employers and employees often have spur-of-the-moment questions that need quick answers.Having a reliable HR blog they can reference during these moments would be super helpful and also lessen the workload of that company’s HR department.Gather the most frequently asked questions and situations you encounter to create detailed guides. Include links to other resources for readers to peruse.HR Bartender also uses their blog to advertise their services, speaking engagements, and books.46. Computer ScienceThis subject is one of the hardest to conquer for most university students.Huge class sizes limit a professor’s accessibility, so many students search for online resources to aid them in understanding.Computer science professional or just a student who whizzed through the course?You can create videos explaining difficult concepts and solving sample problems to better equip students for successful course completion.Take it one step further and diversify your content with industry news and developments like this blog.47. Network MarketingMLM’s often get a bad rep, but they do represent genuine business opportunities.Success isn’t guaranteed and many uplines still teach ineffective methods for running a sustainable business long-term.You can use your direct sales experience to advise fellow network marketers on the best ways to sell, recruit, and build a successful business.If you continuously provide amazing value, you can create a paid coaching program and even attract prospects to your own MLM business.Ray Higdon is a famed MLM leader who has used his blog and vast success to market his services and business opportunity, scaling it to 7 figures yearly.48. SEOSEO is going to become even more important as time passes.Let your SEO expertise shine by creating an educational blog within the SEO niche.Learning effective SEO takes time and your blog will easily get a huge amount of views if your content and delivery makes it a go-to resource for marketers and business owners.The most reputable SEO blog I follow is Backlinko and its founder Brian Dean has used video and super high-quality content to build it into a 7 figure business.49. Career ChoiceIf you’ve landed your dream career, chances are you’ve navigated through many hoops and hurdles to reach this point.Specialty professions that require rigorous certification programs and exams are another beast entirely and you can bet that aspiring professionals are eager for as much help as they can get.Young Architect built a blog chock full of helpful information while also making money off of his value-packed paid bootcamp and training programs.Divulge your secrets in a tell-all career blog where you break down your best tips and resources from personal experience.50. Online Business OpportunitiesMaking money online is no longer a pipe dream.It’s become even more feasible for moms, students, and full-time professionals to create income using the Internet.What better place to find out ways to earn money online… than searching online?Gather all of your research together to create a comprehensive directory of money-making opportunities and side hustles from research and personal experience.Follow the lead of those like Nick Loper to make money from your efforts, combining podcast promotion and affiliate links.51. BloggingBlogging about blogging?Yep! This is actually a niche-- and a trending one at that.People are curious about how to start a blog and potentially make money off of it-- which is obviously the ultimate goal right?If you’ve had success building a loyal following and monetizing your blog, you can jump into the demand and start a blog about making money blogging!You’ll share your preferred tools, resources, tips for driving site visits, and landing sponsorship and affiliate deals.Take a look at a blog successfully generating $100,000 per month within this niche.52. EntrepreneurshipStarting a business seems like the logical next step for those unhappy with their careers and income.However, the U.S. Small Business Administration reports that 50% of businesses with employees last longer than five years.For entrepreneurs to get through this hump, they need a great deal of motivation, support, and positivity.Entrepreneurs like yourself can offer unparalleled first-hand advice with an entrepreneurship blog to pay it forward and increase the chances of others achieving success themselves.Yaro imparts knowledge about everything from mindset to pricing services-- a venture that earns him $40,000 per month.Activities53. Cross FitThe number of CrossFit gyms increased drastically from only 13 in 2005 to over 7,000 gyms today.What this means is that there is a higher demand for content like this as people are constantly seeking knowledge about it.The best part?There really aren’t many blogs dedicated to CrossFit on the Internet (Crossfit appears to be one of the leading blogs).Creating a blog in this niche fills an informational void while also potentially driving profit.54. CyclingWhether you bike professionally or enjoy a cycling session at your local gym, a cycling blog can be a creative way to further your passion.Pros like Juliet Elliott use their cycling blogs not just for self-promotion but also for sharing their personal experiences with training, gear, and competing.55. RunningRunning is a popular exercise for maintaining great health and also a huge competitive sport all around the globe.Experienced runners can create a blog in the running niche to offer up advice on endurance, nutrition, training, and preparation for competition.The desire to be of service can definitely pay off as evidenced by Daniel Hamel’s success with his blog Marathon Nation US which nets over 7 figures per year.56. GardeningGot a green thumb?Those with a knack for growing flowers, fruits, or veggies can let their knowledge bloom with a gardening blog.Whether you specialize in growing tomatoes or arranging beautiful bouquets, your knowledge can assist someone who may have just started.You can find tons of tips for plant care, fun crafts, and design over at You Grow Girl.57. PilatesThose looking to tone up, maintain weight, and even recover from an injury often turn to pilates as the most viable option.Pilates combines endurance, flexibility, and strength movements for the ultimate core-strengthening workout.Pairing an educational pilates blog with another online platform can prove lucrative.Just ask Cassey Ho who makes over $4 million per year from her pilates blog and YouTube channel.58. PokerThe game of poker takes some serious skill to truly compete.If you’ve dabbled in the game for a while and have tons of advice-- share it with a poker blog!Those who aspire to compete professionally or even just avid players could benefit from learning new tips and tricks to up their game.This is exactly the aim over at Upswing Poker, which not only offers training but also news within the industry and surrounding pros.59. FishingIs going fishing your favorite past-time?Perhaps you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve to get the biggest catches?A fishing blog is a great way to expand your passion and share it with others!Single Barbed discusses all of the fine details of fishing from recommended tools to news about upcoming competitions.60. Arts and CraftsThis niche is fairly broad so you can really let your creativity shine here.People often look for fun craft ideas to entertain their children or create homemade decor.Activities involving arts and crafts are also super popular for events, school functions, and parties.A Beautiful Mess mixes up tons of different crafts from plant arrangements to scrapbooking.Using social media platforms like Pinterest can help drive traffic to your blog and generate leads for selling your own creations.61. GolfGolf is both a famed sport and a casual hobby enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.You might be able to get the basics down…but fine tuning those skills will be difficult without the right guidance.A golf blog can be an amazing resource for last-minute assistance and continuous advice.Even top-ranked golfers see the value-- Stephanie Wei blogs about technique, news, and competition updates.62. MusicMusic transcends language and connects people from all backgrounds.There’s something out there to please everyone’s tastes, from hip hop to classical piano.So the direction of your music blog is completely up to you.Jason Grishkoff started Indie Shuffle to support the music of indie artists, scaling his blog to over $10,000 per week after selling music promotions on the site.You can review newly released music, post updates on your favorite artists, and expand upon concert experiences.63. Horseback RidingHorses are beloved creatures that require tons of love and care.Stacy Westfall utilized her passion for horseback riding to create an educational blog for horse owners and equestrians detailing horse care, advice, and various competitions.You can monetize the experience and knowledge you hold about horses with either your own horse blog or even writing guest blog posts for equestrian magazines.64. Bird WatchingBird watching is still a favorite hobby for many.FWS estimates that more than 45 million people participate in this activity.Bird enthusiasts can document the species they’ve captured on camera while on their travels.Helpful articles on bird behavior and tips for effective bird-watching are also great pieces of content to include in your blog.Take in the sheer amount of varied content found on Surf Birds as an example.65. Martial ArtsLearning any form of martial arts is an ongoing process rife with discipline and skill.Those who practice martial arts often spend ample time outside of the studio educating themselves on different techniques and movements.A blog based around a martial arts form can be a much needed resource for a fighter’s development, giving advice on training, technique, and even health and nutrition.This blog focuses on helping out Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA fighters.Opportunities for income generation include sponsored posts for gear and affiliate links.66. DanceThis niche encompasses a wide range of dance styles from ballet to belly dancing.You can offer insight on proper dance techniques, tutorials for new moves, step-by-step choreography, and just plain advice for becoming a better dancer.Many dance teachers use their dance blogs to promote their online dance classes and coaching programs as a way to make money.Steezy has guides on how to choreograph and freestyle for dancers as well as resources for dance classes with the option for readers to try out their paid online classes.67. ActingActing takes serious dedication and hours of grueling practice.There exist many different acting methods as well as a multitude of roles that an actor takes on.Exploration is part of the process and an acting blog that captures what it means to be an actor would be beneficial for members of the acting community.You can blog about the audition process, resources for new actors, and technique tips, similar to Margie Haber.68. BodybuildingBodybuilders undergo intensive training and follow strict nutritional guidelines to compete at the national stage.Though you can definitely start a blog in this niche if you’re a huge fan, you’ll be able to cover more content and grow a more personable audience if you have real-life experience yourself.This is because you’ll want to discuss workouts and nutrition and give recommendations for supplements, diets, and training routines--- similar to Strong Lifts.Blogs related to gym and special exercises remain popular, with some like Leaving Work Behind raking in $4,000 per month.69. SewingLove to sew?Diversify your income and creative potential with a sewing blog.You’ll be able to create tutorials for making blankets, articles of clothing, and more.It’s recommended to utilize social media platforms that focus on imagery to attract traffic to your blog.Blogs like While She Naps generate income from promoting paid workshops, affiliate products, and books, to the tune of around $3,000 per month.70. PaintingShowcase your work while sharing the techniques you’ve perfected as a painter with a painting blog.If you paint, using social media will be a great tool to bring traffic to your blog.Selling your paintings directly on your website is a great way to make money with your blog.Another option is to include links to your online store both on your blog and social media accounts.As is the case with all blogs, consistent posting is super important to retain viewers.Kem Studios does something interesting.The painter writes a blog post covering something painting related while also featuring her own paintings in each post.71. SportsSports are a favorite global past-time, both to partake in and watch.Fans eat up statistics, player updates, and power rankings.If you’re an impassioned sports fan who enjoys following all aspects of your favorite sport closely, you should explore starting a sports blog.While you can definitely gain views with a general sports blog, deciding on a sub-niche will make things ten times easier.Fan Sided centers on American football and keeps tabs on trade rumors, the draft, injuries, statistics, and much more.72. Outdoor ActivitiesEncourage others to embrace the fresh mountain air-- share your love for all the outdoors has to offer with an outdoor activity blog.There are so many different topics in this niche…you’ll never run out of things to write about!So if you want to discuss backpacking, hiking, or sightseeing, spread the excitement for adventure through your blog posts.The mom behind Mountain Mom and Tots adds a family element to her story-telling, connecting with readers on a personal and genuine level.73. JournalingBullet journaling has become a massively popular way to organize thoughts, plan schedules, and maintain continuity.You take a blank journal and fill it with your own lines, words, boxes, and designs.Many have sworn to the impact this journaling method has had in their lives. Are you one of them?If so-- awesome, you can teach others how to start a bullet journal with a journaling blog.It’s really important to rely on stunning visuals to illustrate examples so newbies can reference your work for inspiration. You’ll need to utilize social media to do so.Take a look at blogs like Life by Whitney for monetization ideas.You can create and sell a journaling course or even pre-printed bullet journals designed completely by you.Interests & Entertainment74. MotorcyclesOwning a motorcycle can get pricey.While a standard bike can start around $10,000, this figure doesn’t factor in insurance, maintenance, gas, gear, and more-- pushing that number as high as $50,000 and over.So it stands to say that motorcycle owners are serious about their passion.Motorcycle hobbyists would love a go-to resource for new bike features, gear, accessories, and advice for maintenance and repairs.The blogger running Bike Exif covers all of this information and more which has garnered him hundreds of thousands of loyal fans.75. Essential OilsThose who use essential oils swear by their healing and health properties.Whether these purported benefits are true or not, that doesn’t stop 34% of Americans from consuming an assortment of these diffused oils.Since these oils are in such high demand and learning the properties and uses for each one takes time, blogs like Recipes with Essential Oils help shorten the learning curve.Several MLM companies also tout essential oils as their main product, notably companies like DoTerra or Young Living.If you’re an avid essential oils users and they’ve benefited your life, share your experience with others seeking alternative treatments or home remedies.76. PetsOver 57% of the world’s population owns a pet, with dogs and cats coming out on top as the most popular.People often seek advice on caring for their pets from the food they should eat down to their daily behaviors.Dog blogs like Puppy Leaks share tips for care, activity, nutrition, and bonding.You can blog about pretty much any pet you want in this niche, whether you prefer goldfish or guinea pigs.77. MoviesThe cinema is a cultural and creative outlet that transcends language barriers.There are always new films to be released and timeless classics to reflect on.Just like there are always going to be people who base their decision to see a movie on a review they’ve read.Start some thought-provoking discussions with a movie blog where you review and discuss films.Cinema Blend takes it one step further and also publishes the latest movie news and rumors.78. TV ShowsDid you see the new episode last night?Not everyone has time to catch up on TV so they seek out updates from online resources and search for ways to watch their shows online.If your friends turn to you for updates on the latest TV shows because no matter what, you manage to squeeze in time for your favorites-- a TV blog is a great way to explore your passion further.TV Fanatic not only shares reviews, but they even go as far as providing per-episode break-downs of popular shows.79. BroadwayTourists from all over the world flock to New York City to watch a multitude of Broadway productions, resulting in over $1 billion in ticket sales in just 2010!Theater and musical lovers constantly research and plan for the shows they want to see.With the Broadway niche, you can create reviews for different plays to serve as a guide for newbies and hobbyists alike.You can also post industry updates, rumors, and Broadway star news just like The Broadway Blog does.80. HoroscopesSuperstitious to some and like gospel to others, the fact of the matter is that people care what their horoscope says.Millennials especially occupy a major market for astrology and horoscopes and they’re consuming them online-- opening up the market for online apps and blogs that are seeing the interest of major investors.Your blog can post daily, weekly, or even monthly horoscopes for each astrological sign.Ganesha Speaks also includes astrology news in relation to politics, business, and more.81. OperaHave you attended opera shows regularly and can make suggestions to ensure others have the best experience?Consider starting an opera blog where you share the latest news, show reviews, and even sell Opera merchandise to earn money.This niche is hot to jump in for newbie bloggers especially since there aren’t many unbiased opera blogs out there that aren’t affiliated with an opera venue (although LA Opera is a good one to peruse for inspiration).82. ComedyLaughter is the best medicine-- it reduces stress, eases tension and anxiety, and can even help prevent heart disease according to Help Guide.Do you have a knack for making people laugh?You can reach even more people by creating a comedy blog!A comedy blog can also help promote your chops as a professional comedian.You can blog about jokes and stage presence while advertising your show dates and merchandise, much like The Chive.83. Video GamesThe video game niche is hot right now.Contrary to popular belief, video games are in high demand for both kids and adults.E-sport gaming has transcended into a $1 billion industry as people compete in competitions playing video games of various genres.Avid gamers consume material on their favorite video games ranging from magazines to online forums, so driving traffic to your blog shouldn’t be difficult.It may help to niche your focus down further to rank higher in the search engines.Go Nintendo only posts news, reviews, and tutorials for Nintendo branded game consoles and video games.84. MemesA meme is a funny photo or video often including text that Internet users share widely on social media platforms.They’re used to infuse humor in news, politics, and everyday life.Finding the funniest meme is a big job to undertake, and you can make it easier with the meme stockpile you’ve compiled within your meme blog.You can even create your own memes and sell them to users.Sebastian Tribbie made meme creation his career and he earns anywhere from $2,000+ doing so for big name brands.85. Board GamesYes people, board games are still around and they’re insanely popular with audiences of all ages.In 2017, over 5,000 new board games were introduced alone with many more released in subsequent years since.Board games are something of a social activity, brought out during parties or social gatherings to provide entertainment.With your board game blog, you can attract readers by unboxing and reviewing newly released board games.The real money comes from creating your own board game, which you can promote to your audience.Matt behind Shut Up and Sit Down takes it a step further and cross-posts video content and podcast episodes.86. Celebrity GossipSocial media has changed the way we consume news, even celebrity gossip!Forbes reports that most people hear the latest news through social media first, which resulted in a 57% increase to news sites referred from social media channels.This is great news for avid followers of celeb gossip, who can capitalize on this trend with a celebrity blog detailing breaking news and monitoring of America’s favorite celebs.More often than not, more controversy tends to lead to more traffic.Perez Hilton made his $50 million fortune from his celebrity blog, though his methods are criticized by many.87. CrimeCold cases, missing persons cases, serial killers-- people can’t help themselves from following some of the worst crimes known to man.The crime niche is pretty general so wherever your passions are, you can still build readership and blog about the things that interest you most.All Things Crime remains broad, creating posts on everything from mass murders to crime literature.Crime bloggers tend to make money by promoting their own e-books and crime novels, in addition to making affiliate income off of referrals to other books and resources.88. PoliticsAhh, politics.People both love and hate discussing and defending their political views-- but hey, that’s what democracy is for!Whether you lean towards the right or left, or even somewhere dead center, you can share your political views and opinions through a politics blog.Ordinary people entering this niche will have more of an advantage, considering most political blogs branch out from media conglomerates or political affiliates.Discussing how policies and laws will affect the everyday American increases relatability with your audience, who may be disillusioned and unable to relate to the musings of political pundits.Study blogs like Think Progress or others within your political realm to see what talking points, discussions,and news they cover.89. ReligionSpreading the faith is not only positive-- it can bring you positive income too.Religion is still a dominant part of people’s everyday lives, with the Pew Forum classifying nearly 71% of citizens identifying as Christian and 6% following non-Christian faiths.You can explore a wide range of topics with your blog as the religion niche is relatively open-ended.Rose at Water chooses to talk about family life and recipes while sprinkling in little tidbits of scripture and faith.And it works, resulting in a nice $8,000 monthly income.90. CarsThe car niche has always been popular, from detailing to simply admiring.Starting a blog around cars will require a focus on visuals, either showcasing cars or providing step-by-step guides to fix common issues.Car Advice could be reviews, testing, comparisons or even opening it up to guest contribution!91. Book ReviewsYes it’s hard to believe, but people still read books for enjoyment.CNBC reported that book sales in both print and electronic format totaled nearly $26 billion in 2018.Passionate readers can start a book review blog to rate,compare, and recommend new and classic novels.This is exactly what the bloggers at Book Smugglers do-- and they also invite blog contributions from fellow bookies.92. DIYAre you talented at making household decorations, tools, and crafts?People are always on the hunt for simple decorations and party favors they can save money on and make at home.Empower others with DIY (do-it-yourself) skills and an appreciation for crafts by starting a DIY blog.Saving money with homemade crafts can also make you money.Check out this DIY blog that brings in around $2,000 every month.93. Product ReviewsThink about that time you searched online looking for the best blender that would make killer morning smoothies.What criteria mattered to you most when deciding which one to buy?If you said customer reviews, your response matches the 90% of consumers who weighed positive online reviews and the other 86% who paid more attention to negative reviews before making purchases.Online reviews continue to be important to potential customers. Facilitate this research and assist others in making the best decisions with a product review blog.Pick your preferred product niche, whether it’s blenders, massage chairs, or photography tools like this guy.Companies always seek out genuine opinions from their customers and you can potentially earn an income with sponsored posts and product referrals.94. Marijuana/CBDThough the federal front hasn’t budged, more and more states are jumping on board with marijuana legalization.Legalization has expanded business opportunities both in marijuana and CBD products across America, with the industry estimated to reach $30 billion by 2023.The consumption of these products is still very new to most people, so an all-encompassing guide on vapes, flowers, and marijuana paraphernalia would prove very helpful.Cannabis Cheri got creative and even creates marijuana-infused recipes for responsible adults to munch on.Build relationships with glass-blowers and artists to sell products for commision and build a large network and readership.Consult your state’s laws on online advertising related to marijuana/CBD before deciding to monetize.95. Social JusticeIt takes one person to foment a movement, but the power of the people to sustain it.Social justice takes up many arms, from defending the environment, racial equality, animals, and the underrepresented.For example, this blog supports eco-friendly measures and advances the tenets of Earth Day.Rally behind a cause and spread the word with a social justice blog promoting your group’s mission.Write opinion pieces, update activists on current news stories, and advance the meaning behind your message.96. Scents & FragranceConsumers’ obsession with smelling good has resulted in a $30 billion industry valuation.If you’re somewhat of a scent snob, you can earn and educate by creating a blog in this niche.Blogs like this one also compare different perfume brands and are able to earn commissions off of product referrals.Perfume and cologne are some of the most popular gifts to give and your opinions could help others make the right choices.97. SneakersCreating a blog in this niche is not only a smart decision for passionate sneaker-heads, it’s also a potentially lucrative move.Both consumers and big name brands have shown major interest in online sneaker reselling platforms, with even the likes of Foot Locker pouring in $100 million investments.You can talk all about your favorite kicks and also get involved in the huge money-making venture of shoe flipping.Successful blogs like Kicks on Fire have made hefty profits from combining both business opportunities.Food & Drink98. BakingCookies, cakes, and cupcakes galore!If you’re a whiz at baking, share your knowledge with a baking blog.People love whipping up tasty creations to satisfy a sweet tooth or finding baked good ideas for parties and other events.Making a full-time income from your baking blog is definitely doable-- just ask Sally over at Sally’s Baking Addiction.99. Restaurant ReviewsHelp people decide where to go for dinner to celebrate a major event with a restaurant review blog.People care about a restaurant’s ratings, as evidenced by the reliance on platforms like Yelp.You can explore restaurants across a certain geographic region, while traveling, or just your local area like Shannon of Urban Chic Guides, who breaks down the best places to dine in Sydney.100. WineThere’s nothing better than a fine wine.With so many varieties and brands of wine out there, even the biggest wine aficionado could use a guide of some sort.The direction you want to take a wine blog is up to your discretion.Vinography reviews wine books, rates restaurant wine stock, and updates readers on the latest wine news.101. CookingCooking is perhaps one of the most popular Internet searches so bringing traffic to your cooking blog shouldn’t be too difficult.There are almost limitless niches within cooking, you will always have something to write about!Cooking and food blogs go hand-in-hand with appealing photography making social media platforms a vital resource for attracting new followers.People love to read about food just as much as they love to eat-- Pinch of Yum earned close to $500,000 from their blog alone in 2015.102. CoffeeBlogging about coffee is a wise choice because it’s one of the most popular beverage choices worldwide, with people consuming over 160 million bags in 2018 alone.Making the perfect cup of coffee is somewhat of an art form and there are various brewing methods, machine brands, and coffee ground types to explore.You can do something similar to Bean Ground and review different coffee machines and gadgets and create follow-along guides.Spread the love for a morning cup of joe!103. TeaYou can’t go wrong with a good cup of tea.For those already so accustomed to their favorite blend, expanding their taste horizons can be a delicate thing.A tea blog with published reviews for different brands and flavors can be the perfect resource for new and curious tea drinkers.Understanding the history and culture behind tea is also important, and Tony Gebely makes sure to talk about this in his tea blog.There’s definitely money to be made in the world of tea.Andy Hayes was able to build a 7 figure tea subscription box business.104. BeerTimes claims that beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in the world, with 40% of people surveyed by a Gallup poll preferring beer over other types of alcohol.Popping open a cold one has become a part of life for most people with many traveling to other countries in pursuit of the best-tasting brews.The blogger behind Big World, Small Girl does just that-- documenting her world travels with her blog and consuming some of the best beer everUndoubtedly, the beer community is a huge deal and a beer blog can be a helpful resource for those who love the foamy stuff.Education105. Music EducationA music education blog can help expand a music teacher’s client base significantly.This piano teacher made it his mission to teach pianists to play by ear with a paid subscription.With the help of his blog, he was able to net over 8 figures per year.Music teachers would benefit from creating both video and written tutorials and cross-posting this content to other social media platforms.106. ScienceFrom the food we eat to the medical treatments that save lives-- we definitely owe a lot to the men and women of science.If you’re passionate about a specific scientific field and geek out over the latest news, a science blog may be your best bet.Educators can also use science blogs to foster student interests and promote a love for science.It’s best to niche down further if you decide to go this route since science stems into so many areas.Check out The Culture of Chemistry blog to get an idea of what I mean.107. InsurancePeople need insurance to cover so many of life’s valuables: vehicles, homes, boats, your business, and much more.But insurance policies can be confusing to understand and people may be unsure about what they really need.Spread your specialty insurance knowledge to increase consumer education.You can also use your blog to give recommendations and price comparisons between insurance companies, similar to Insurify.com.You may find quick traction with your blog as not many insurance blogs exist that aren’t affiliated with an insurance or law firm.108. LanguageLearning a language can be difficult despite the library of resources out there.But the pursuit of language learning can be extremely beneficial and even help increase your potential salary by as much as 15%.The language blogging niche offers yet another means of support for language learners.For example, the folks at Spanish Obsessed have lessons, language guides, travel, and culture.Language bloggers may also offer paid memberships, tutoring, or digital products to make an income.109. InvestingThe path to a higher net worth is typically through investment of some kind.Investing isn’t as passive as most people seem to believe as there is a slight learning curve to overcome.Deciding where to pool your money can be stressful whether it’s in real estate or stocks.Take the lead of blogs like Bigger Pockets and educate consumers on smart investment practices, wealth building, and networking.Who knows?Your investing blog could be the next success story to net $100,000 in four short months.110. HomeschoolingThe option to homeschool children is becoming increasingly popular, with the homeschool population growing between 2-8% each year based on data collected by NHERI.The herculean task of educating children can be daunting for parents without a teaching background.Parents who successfully homeschool as well as homeschool educators can create an amazing support system with a homeschool blog.This blog shares sample lesson plans, advice, activities, and connects homeschool parents together.111. CollegeSecondary education is somewhat of an expectation in the United States.NCES estimates that around 20 million students enrolled in college for the fall semester 2019.Many students and parents often find themselves unprepared with all that college entails.Know powerful study tips, smart budgeting tricks, and how to survive a frat party?A blog like this would help support and guide others through the crazy, lackluster experience that college is!Blogs like College Cures can provide inspiration for the depth and quality of your content.Starting a blog can be profitable... but lead generation is still my #1 online business recommendationStarting a money-making blog is definitely doable.But let's face it, it can take months and even YEARS to grow your blog before you start making any money at all.With local lead generation, the results are much quicker and take far less work after the initial process.You don't need to scramble around dabbling in email lists, four social media accounts, and paid advertising to generate profitable leads.You simply rely on the free and powerful influence of good ol' Google.While affiliate income from a blog is often termed 'passive income', you still need to spend time writing and updating a constant flux of blog posts.Lead gen is truly passive income once the site is built and ranked.Some of my sites haven’t been touched for several years…yet they continuously make me money month after month.This is the best business model I've found that requires a small upfront investment for a lifetime of financial freedom.Lead Generation is my #1 Online Business Choice(IMO Less Hassle Than Starting A Blog)Yes Show Me This Biz!Which niche are you going to get rich with?I only went over 111 blogging niches but trust me, there are TONS more out there.Above all else, my suggestion is to go with your passion-- and learn to make money from it afterward.What blog niches did I miss that should be added to the list?Share them with me below in the comments!

I’ll preface this by saying that the reason wasn’t necessarily ridiculous as much as the way it was done, and how long it took…In the late 90’s I worked a data processing job at a small movie production/distribution company. My job primarily was to gather and process daily reports from the sales offices as well as run on demand reports for individual customers (things like pulling the actual call logs when someone asks “Why have you called me 10 times today?”)My predecessor in this position had been spending about 4–5 hours per day manually extracting the data for each sales office from their individual NetWare servers, manually entering the numbers in a spreadsheet that contained formulas to process and organize the data, then manually moving the results into another spreadsheet that was then submitted to the finance department and other bosses to be manually entered into their tracking system. (It was a really dumb system.)I got tired of doing it that way so I spent whatever free time I had writing a rather complex SQL query that automatically pulled all of the data from the central SQL server that actually tracked every call that was made by the automated dialing system and that also made a backup of the sales databases from each of the individual sales offices, automatically processed and organized the data, automatically produced a formatted/printable report, and could automatically upload the formatted data to the finance database (if they wanted me to).Not that this data was already being gathered together into the central SQL server some time before I started working there, but nobody (apparently) was actually using it…At first, my query was pretty cumbersome and not very efficient (it actually crashed the SQL server a couple of times) so the Oracle server admin contacted me to find out what I was doing that was putting so much stress on his baby, and together we optimized my code so it completed the entire process in about 10 minutes. So the time requirement for that part of my job responsibility dropped from about 4 hours to about 10 minutes.Then, with suddenly a lot more time on my hands, I started writing queries with Visual Basic front ends so the sales office managers could enter a customer’s phone number and a date range and automatically get a list of all of the calls made to that customer with the date, time, and result of the call. Looking up this information manually each time it was needed was the second highest consumer of time in my job prior to the automation, so I knocked another 2 hours or so of work off of my schedule.Now I’m left with about 2 hours of actual work in an 8 hour shift (I was also responsible for printing the invoices to be mailed out to customers that hadn’t paid for their products, and printing the packing slips for the warehouse to pull, pack, and deliver orders). I spent the rest of the time watching movies, surfing the Internet, or playing games. I begged my boss for more work, but he didn’t have anything else he could give me, so he said to just fill the chair and be there when I was needed.After about a year of that, my first child was born and I took several weeks of paid vacation to be with my wife and the baby after the birth. When I went back to work on my scheduled return date, my boss looked at me when I walked in the door and said something like, “Oh, I forgot you were coming back. You were right that there isn’t much work left to do after you wrote those programs. We don’t need you any more. Get your stuff and go home. Sorry..”Now I don’t really disagree. They didn’t need me any more. But waiting to tell me until AFTER I got back from vacation, and with a newborn baby in the house, was ridiculous. He knew the first day I was gone (he actually knew long before that because I kept telling him, but I don’t think he paid attention until he had to cover what little work there was to be done) that he didn’t need me there, but couldn’t be bothered to tell me so that I could be looking for a new job while I was at home with the wife and baby…