The Webmaster Guilt Syndrome
by Sharon Davis
People don't like to talk about it, but it's time somebody did. Chances
are, you or someone you care about suffers from it. It's Webmaster
Guilt Syndrome, or WGS.
Why is it that so many webmasters feel guilty when they
work? This is not true for "traditional" business
owners. The shop owner who hangs out his shingle doesn't
feel guilty when he works day and night for a year or
more before turning a profit. In fact, it seems
admirable.
But yet, when a webmaster has to peck away at the
keyboard until all hours of the night, it's somehow
different, shameful. It's peculiar, this web-guilt
phenomena.
WGS manifests itself in many ways. Some of the more
common symptoms include:
- Working between the hours of 11pm and 3am when other,
normal people are sleeping.
- Overcompensating in other areas; refusing to use daycare
for their children, frowning upon any type of convenience
foods, frantic bursts of housekeeping in any spare
moment.
- Rationalizing to your spouse or others (I'm sorry I've
been at this so long, it's just that I'm installing this
script...).
- An inability to succinctly describe what you do (I'm the
Owner, Writer, Editor, Programmer, Web Designer,
Advertising Manager for an online Telecommute and Home
Business Website).
Not surprisingly, many online entrepreneurs also suffer
from the "SuperMom/Dad Syndrome".
I imagine it often stems from the fact that many virtual
business owners are drawn to web business out of a desire
to be at home with their families. And therein lies the
dilemma. Isn't the whole point of working from home to
be able to spend quality time with the family? So when
reality sets in, that is that starting and running a web
business is just as demanding on your time and resources
as many other businesses, we feel guilty.
So, what's a Webmaster to do? Well, being that the
numbers of online business owners are growing as we
speak, there's no shortage of peers to commiserate with.
I have found great comfort, support and validation from
my fellow webmasters.
The good news is that there is a cure. Symptoms almost completely
disappear with the receipt of a paycheck.
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© Copyright 2001 Sharon Davis. Sharon Davis is the Mother of two girls,
the owner of 2Work-At-Home.Com
and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine, America's Home.
In her spare time she reminisces about what it
was like to have spare time.
To subscribe to her free ezine, Click Here
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