The blog for anyone that works from home

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About the Author

Who is Nexus Publishing? Originally from a small town called Darlaston – about ten miles north of Birmingham – I moved to West Sussex about ten years ago to help develop one of the first online retailers. Having recently moved to Shropshire I am now enjoying the working from home life in a semi rural location. I have been a freelance writer and journalist for about fifteen years. Eight of them were spent doing various other jobs such as bookshop assistant, print finisher and returns clerk for a large library supplier, with the writing taking up evenings and any of my spare time. As you can see, much of my life so far has been spent working with books and publishing of one kind or another. My time as an employee came to a conclusion some six years ago with redundancy, so I took the opportunity – and the money – to see if I could survive as a full-time freelance writer. That was five years ago. There have been some lean times – just ask my wife, Joanne. But after tasting the freelance life, there’s no going back.

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Digital Sweatshops

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

Another interesting piece in this week’s media Guardian covered the much-hyped topic of bloggers dying for their art. You may have seen the news story all over the net about what has become dubbed the ‘digital era sweatshop’ with thousands of people compelled to constantly write their blogs, some to the detriment of their health.

It reminded me of a similar story of obsession with people that use gyms. They report an almost addiction to exercise that they are powerless to resist. It seems that blogging can have a similar pull.

I can fully understand this as I have only been blogging for a short time, but it is an addictive exercise. You can do so much with your blog that time can simply disappear. Procrastination is a problem for many home workers as it is without the added distraction of a blog to keep up-to-date.

The sedentary lifestyle that many home workers have clearly can add to the risks that you could face when blogging regularly, but I think the fact that two guys had heart attacks who happen to be bloggers is pushing the story a bit too far.

Yes you must watch out for MSDs and take some precautions with RSI if you – as I do – spend hours at the keyboard, but if you have a good fitness regime – I just got back from my usual 20 brisk walk I take each morning before starting work – blogging shouldn’t damage your health. Blogging can, though, put a major dent in your available time. Watch out as you could end the day not having done any paid work!

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