For home-based professionals, it can be easy to get into a comfort zone, doing the same kinds of work over and over again in the same way. While it is good to have a niche and be comfortable with what you are doing, it is also important to keep your skills fresh and occasionally learn something new. Unless you are a member of a profession that requires continued education and effort in this area, you will have to take the initiative to seek out opportunities to learn new skills and deepen your professional knowledge.
Today, I realized that while I have been attending professional development activities for one of my home based business (the law office) because it is a part of the licensing requirements for that profession, I have not engaged in any professional development activities that are related to my work as a writer. At first when I realized this, I groaned. Lately it has been difficult enough to find enough time to do my writing work in addition to fulfilling my other work and home responsibilities. The very thought of trying to find additional time to seek out activities like webinars and workshops where I can sharpen my writing skills was rather unappealing.
As I thought about it more, I realized that the way that I was feeling about attending to my professional development needs for one of my businesses was not just a problem in and of itself, but a symptom of something greater. I realized that I have fallen into the place where I have cautioned home based professionals to avoid, the place where you spend all of your time working at your business and little to no time working on your business. With this in mind, I also came to realize that now that I know I am in a rut, the best way to get out of it is to work on my business as well as working at it. Seeking out professional development activities for myself as a writer is a good step that I can take in that direction. I look forward to sharing what I find with all of you, so that the writers among you can learn about resources that you may be interested in. If you are a writer and you have engaged in a professional development webinar or read a great book or done another great activity to build or expand your writing skills, I would love to hear about it.
Photo by cohdra on morguefile.com.