I know that there was a time not so long ago when the Internet didn’t exist. And then the Internet did exist, but it was a luxury. And then it came to our homes in dial-up, then cable, then… well, you see where this is going. We’ve come a long way since Al Gore invented the Internet and today we live in a world in which a great majority of our ideas, products and services are exchanged “in the cloud.”

I make my living entirely online. I don’t have an office and every product I make or service I deliver is digital. And yet, I am currently living without reliable Internet for the first time in almost 15 years.

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. My workload is nearly the same as what it was when I was living in a house with 24/7 wifi service, but I’m getting it done in three days a week instead of five or six.

Ironically, a lack of Internet has made me more productive.

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I spent the first 15 years of my career working in sales, with a big chunk of that time being devoted to advertising sales. I’m not sure if there is a more competitive work environment than one that is populated by people who live on commission. There’s a very distinct sense that the pie is finite and anything you get represents something I’m not getting.

There wasn’t a lot of building co-workers up going on in our morning meetings and the only people you’d expect to see offering a salesperson guidance was a sales manager. Sales people are tight lipped about their leads and their tricks of the trade because their co-workers are their competition.

Since changing career paths recently, I’ve been surprised to find that this unwillingness to share is not confined to sales. I’ve seen the proprietary hold on trade secrets in writers, editors, and designers. I’ve heard about it among project managers and legal experts. Time and again I see professionals keep a white knuckle grip on their knowledge in a desperate attempt to avoid helping anyone else get unfairly ahead.

What the heck is that about?

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One of the most amazing women I know recently returned to work after being at home with her two boys for eight years. The transition happened a little earlier than she and her family had anticipated, but the perfect opportunity came along and she decided to jump on it. I’m excited for her and proud of her.

And I was completely shocked to learn that her confidence isn’t what it used to be.

This is a woman my husband has met exactly once and instantly admired and respected. This is a woman who is smart, compassionate, and articulate. This is a woman that other women want to be like when they grow up.

And it turns out she struggles with some of the same nerves and doubts that may of the rest of us do.

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Has it only been a week since I was whining about the ineffectiveness of business cards?

Ah, yes. And what a difference a week makes.

In that time I have handed out approximately 10 business cards and received exactly 13. As I sit in the airport lounge, not even home from my business trip yet, I have already scanned and saved every card into Evernote. I have also followed up with every single contact in the manner most appropriate for each.

I have never followed up on a business card exchange after a networking event.

Ever.

What made me (and the cards) so much more effective this time around?

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Last night, I began the process of making new business cards. (I would have finished the process, but I ran out of printer ink at 10:30 pm. Naturally.)

It pains me to spend the time and resources making new cards, even though my job description has changed significantly over the last few months. I still have well over a hundred perfectly good business cards (except for the outdated job description and really old picture). I have plenty left because I almost never hand them out.

It’s not that I don’t meet new people. I do, often.

But I also use technology to collect, store, and organize contact information. If you have an iPhone, I’ll use the Bump It app to swap details with you. If you’re on twitter, I’ll quickly start following you right from my phone. I rely on Google and Apple to work seamlessly together to keep my contacts organized.

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Full disclosure: I just stumbled on THE MOST BRILLIANT SOLUTION EVER yesterday afternoon. It may, in fact, end up not being as brilliant as initially believed. But I doubt it. Prepare yourself for awesome, is what I’m saying.

I despise paper clutter.

Actually, I despise piles of paper even when they are perfectly organized. And yet, stacks and files and mounds of paper have always seemed to be an inevitable part of life, both in an office and at home.

Recently, I decided to actively seek out a solution to the paper as I’m going to be moving into an RV in a few weeks and will have very limited space in which to live and work - space I’d rather dedicate to dishes and food and the one pair of black boots I can’t quite bring myself to get rid of.

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I haven’t worked in a corporate office environment for almost five years now, but I remember vividly the stress of office politics. I hated it and I wasn’t good at the game-playing. Worse than that, I hated who I became when I tried to be good at them.

I had hoped I’d left the politics behind when I left Corporate America.

Alas, no.

In every industry I’ve worked in, regardless of the office environment or company size, I’ve encountered some type of politicking. Even now, working from home, I still encounter a great deal of insincere schmoozing, back biting, and questionable business practices that go unquestioned - it’s just done by email and social media networks now instead of over lunches and in break rooms.

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I spend a great deal of my life trying to motivate other people to do things.  Whether it’s asking my children to pick up their rooms or encouraging writers to meet deadlines, I’m often relying on other people to do their part to make my day go smoothly.  Such is life when no man (or woman) is an island, I suppose; even the most resourceful and self reliant among us must learn how to inspire action in someone else at some point.

The question is not if we’ll have to motivate others, but how we’ll choose to do it.  Specifically, will we rely on negative or positive reinforcement?

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It is 11:00 am and I am just now getting started with my real work today, despite the fact that I’ve been at the computer for about three hours.  Why?

Email.

Something must be done.

It’s driving me crazy how frequently I end up spending twice as much time at the computer than anticipated.  I’ve worked hard to ensure that I only need to get paid for about 4 hours worth of work a day, and yet I routinely spend 8-12 hours a day stuck behind a screen.  I know that email is a huge part of this and I’m determined to figure out a way to get a handle on this issue.

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I am constantly amazed at what little respect employers and co-workers have for other people’s paychecks.

A morning phone call with my husband reminded me of how frequently this problem comes up in the workplace.  He is a subcontractor and bills for his work on a daily basis.  The person in charge of processing that billing is consistently dismissive about any problems that come up.

“Oh, it will probably be fine.”

“If there’s a problem, we’ll just resubmit the invoice and you’ll get paid for it next time.”

“What’s the big deal? It will get taken care of eventually.”

Statements like this make my normally mild mannered husband fume, and understandably so.  After all, the reason he shows up to work every day is to get paid. It’s kind of a big deal in our household.  And while his monthly bills aren’t his co-worker’s concern, presumably she has personal experience with the expectation of being paid properly and on time.

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