How to juggle work and posting?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff Homan
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeff Homan

Hello,

I pretty new here, and I'd like to be able to help out more. I feel
like I'm only asking questions, and not helping. I'm just curious how
most of you work and continue to post. Is this something you do while
you're at work, or do you work most of the time and help other people
in your spare time. Or, do you work for yourself, and do whatever you
want.

Just curious,
Jeff
 
Dear Jeff:

GOOD QUESTION!

Well, here's how it worked for me. The questions I used to ask here
were one's that were part of my work. I'd come back to the newsgroup
to see if my question had received an answer. While I was there, I'd
see a question about which I knew the answer. Often, it is only 2-5
minutes to make an answer (though I certainly get long winded and
spend 10-15 minutes on a question at least once a day any more).

I don't know about you, but there isn't a lot of "spare time"
involved. Rather, for me it is a part of constantly polishing my
skills technically. But the, being able to solve other programmer's
problems IS part of my job. Keeping those skills sharp is an
essential part of my skill set.

I am currently considering taking a full-time position, rather than
free-lance. I don't know yet how a prospective employer would feel
about the same issue. If your situation is like that, then it
certainly may be up to your employer how this may work out. Probably
few employers would want you to work for free on their time, but it
might be worth asking.

Another thing I benefit from the newsgroups is that I can see areas
where help is commonly needed and can publish on that. If you're
going to write, then this is an excellent place to practice.

I suggest you pick out a post or two that is as-yet unanswered, about
which you are pretty sure of an answer, and which you can compose
quickly. You may get some pretty fine appreciation for that, and then
again, your answer could miss the mark. Either way, see how that
motivates you. If both the appreciation and missing the mark motivate
you to do more, then you're hooked.

Tom Ellison
Microsoft Access MVP
Ellison Enterprises - Your One Stop IT Experts
 
A wife here....
Jeff, I've often wondered about your question as well. I
know I've benefited from the knowledge of others as I've
been trying to learn how to set up a customer database.
Thanks all!
 
Dear Jeff:

Your good intentions about contributing to the newsgroups are laudable. I've
felt the same way and have often tried to contribute. However, being a mere
dilettante, I have to wait and try to jump on the really simple questions.
Sadly, the experts here are not only numerous but they have the reflexes of
a mongoose! (Yes, I'm talking about you, John Vinson!! <g>) So, it can be
a bit of a challenge...

As to finding time to read and post, well, I have a computer in the
basement, and you'd be surprised how often the cat litter, laundry or
ironing needs attention during an evening...(of course, you do end up
actually having to do some ironing, cleaning.. but nobody said life was
easy!).

It can be tough to find time to feed the newsgroup urge at work. I suggest
you be creative. As a teacher, I enjoy the ability to assign massive
projects which keep my students entangled for long periods of time, during
which I can do some "marking" <nudge, nudge, wink, wink...>.

Finally, I'd caution you against getting *too* involved in these newsgroups.
They are *so* involving and invigorating and just so darn fun, that you
might find yourself having trouble resisting the newsgroup urge. We have at
least one documented newsgroup (and Access) junkie to our discredit! ;)

Best wishes!
Fred Boer
 
We all have different arrangements, perhaps. In my case, I have a full-time
workload (+ a bit more, actually). Most of my responses are in my "spare"
time which I don't have.
 
I personally find myself answering questions in direct proportion to the
amount of real work that I'm trying to avoid.

Sco

M.L. "Sco" Scofield, Microsoft Access MVP, MCSD, MCP, MSS, A+
Useful Metric Conversion #17 of 19: 1 billion billion picolos = 1 gigolo
Miscellaneous Access and VB "stuff" at www.ScoBiz.com
 
Sarah,

Have you considered hiring someone to build your customer database for you?
It have seen many times where someone hires me to build their first database
for them, the customer sees how things are done in a database they are
familiar with and then they make a large leap on the learning curve and go
on to build additional databases for themselves.If you want help on your
database, my fees are very reasonable.
 
I personally find myself answering questions in direct proportion to the
amount of real work that I'm trying to avoid.
Click to expand...

LOL!

"Alas, poor shepherd! Searching of thy wound
I have by hard adventure found mine own."
- As You Like It, Act II, Scene IV

Yep. I procrastinate (from my self-employed consultancy as well as
from housework and gardening) a lot, and the newsgroups are my prime
ground for so doing.


John W. Vinson[MVP]
Join the online Access Chats
Tuesday 11am EDT - Thursday 3:30pm EDT
http://community.compuserve.com/msdevapps
 
Well said! Posting to the newsgroups is a diversion from real life!

Tom Ellison
Microsoft Access MVP
Ellison Enterprises - Your One Stop IT Experts
 
Jeff

I started out visiting the groups to find answers. Pretty soon I realized I
could answer some, too. As I continued developing, I found I answered more
than I asked.

I work full-time. I have a consulting/developer business "in my copious
free time". I respond in the groups during my copious free time. I am
en-spoused, a home owner, and ...

Would you have an idea how I could get by on 1-2 hours of sleep a night? I
could really use the time!

(nice name, by the way)
 
Fred Boer said:
Finally, I'd caution you against getting *too* involved in these newsgroups.
They are *so* involving and invigorating and just so darn fun, that you
might find yourself having trouble resisting the newsgroup urge. We have at
least one documented newsgroup (and Access) junkie to our discredit! ;)
Click to expand...

Hey now!!!
:-)
 
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