The 15-second Commute

Actually, I lied about that...  My commute is probably more like 5-seconds -- from the bedroom to my laptop.  But then, it takes a goodly amount of time to get my first morning coffee.  :)

As for that expression -- about the short commute, it's well known and well worn in Internet marketing circles.  In other words, few of those guys and gals spend hours in rush hour traffic, and squeezing their steering wheels 'til their knuckles turn white.

Today, though, my sweetheart, Brenda, got me on this subject.  I mean, as I could tell she was running the day's schedule through her head, I posed a question I knew would ease here mind...  Ya, once I asked her how long her commute was this morning, she started to smile.  And that smile broadened quite a bit when I reminded her about the morning and nightly traffic jams that dominated her earlier life.

For me, the 15-second commute trickled into my life about 30-years ago, although it was never a full-time thing.  No, I was still running hockey clinics or camps or team practices and games out at rinks around New England.  Those usually weren't hectic trips, though, and I still got to do my 15-second commutes on most days.  (There was a stretch over about a decade when I had to have a downtown office, but even that didn't confine me to what you'd call "office hours".)

A quick Internet search had a company called "12 Second Commute" dominating Google's first page.  Buried far down the page was another company describing itself as "The 2-second Commute", with other so-many-seconds commuters showing on subsequent pages.  My points being:  1) that the expression is pretty prevalent in Internet marketing circles, and 2) that there are a lot of people trying to earn a living without the possibility of dying on a local highway.

Truthfully, I'm not here to promote anything -- except a lifestyle I've grown to love and thrive in.  And I'd like to tell you why I think I've thrived.

My hockey friends know well the story I tell about "The Start of Creative Hockey Coaching – My Bunker", and they know my bunker is not a specific place, but more like a state of mind.  The real point of that piece is that different places are more or less conducive to being creative.  In my case, I can go nuts under certain circumstances -- like at poolside, on a beach, at a campsite, or in the mountains.

I don't mean to imply that I need an exotic place to be creative, but...  The last two favorite "bunkers" have included a nice area I set up in my backyard up in Massachusetts, and then a comfy patio we had at a townhouse when we first reached Florida.

Neither location was exotic at all, but the ambient sounds -- like birds chirping -- along with a little cockapoo named Raggs sleeping at my feet -- really helped to get my creative juices flowing.

If you're getting the gist of what I'm saying, I don't appreciate just sitting inside and staring at four walls, and having someone suggest to me, "Write!"  Ugh.  I can do it, but it definitely isn't fun -- and it's not going to represent my best work.  No, the ideas aren't going to be flowing as they would in a nice, bunker-type situation.

Now, quite some time ago, I penned an article called "Performing Within Your Areas of Brilliance".  I wrote that partly to needle a few friends and family members who constantly advise me on how I should spend my time -- as if they know better.   But I also wanted to explain how none of us will ever be at our very best unless we're doing something we can become totally engrossed in.

As for my personal story, I've spent an adult lifetime working at hockey.  Sure, I worked "in" hockey -- teaching, coaching and lecturing, but I also spent my time away from the rinks and podiums, studying and studying and studying the game.

Along came the Internet, which helped me tremendously in so many different ways.  It started with an old fashion static webpage, but soon blossomed into my CoachChic.com hockey advice site, and it ultimately led to my digitizing my instructional videos, some training manuals I'd previously sold as hardcopy,    

   


PS:  As I was writing this piece, Brenda was speaking on the phone with a young lady who had just lost her job.  Imagine:  she showed for work on Monday morning and was told then.  Sadly, that's how things work today, though -- no staying with one employer for a lifetime, being faithful for all that time, and getting your gold watch in the end.  No, what was once thought to be job security doesn't exist anymore -- unless, of course, your boss is you.