An eBay Balancing Act

Yesterday, as I sat here at my computer, working on email and other eBay stuff, looking out the window at an absolutely glorious summer day here in California, I thought to myself, "Wow, what an absolutely glorious summer day here in California..." and went right back to work checking my favorite eBay searches and putting together some descriptions and photos for a new batch of eBay listings.

Even after ten years, I am still completely wrapped up in eBay buying, selling and hanging out with other community members. Who can blame me? eBay is so much darn fun that it never gets old! Take my employment into account and I pretty much live, sleep and breathe eBay. And, I am not alone.  Managing ones time can prove to be a challenge to anyone. Many of us tend to lean towards the obsessive when it comes to searching for treasure online or running our own businesses on eBay.  In fact, for thousands of eBay sellers, selling tasks can take up much more than the standard 40 hour work week. Most full time eBay sellers spend close to 50 or 60 hours a week on their businesses. This leaves little any time for other diversions like dinner parties with good friends and trips to the beach with the kids or just spending idle time lolling about on a chaise lounge, sipping a beverage and soaking in an absolutely glorious summer day. You know. The things that make up a real life.

So there I was, typing and click, click, clicking away, when it occurred to me that there are only a limited number of absolutely glorious summer days to enjoy in ones life, even here in California. That's when I made a July 4th resolution (which is like a New Years resolution only made six months later as befits a serial procrastinator).

I made a solemn pledge to balance my time more evenly, more sanely, between the computer and, well, pursuits away from the computer...like, walking, and the beach and dinner parties with close friends and lolling about on a chaise lounge with a favorite beverage under the shade of a palm tree.

And so I did. Shut off the computer and go outside that is. If only for an hour. And yes, I confess, I took my wirelessly-enabled laptop with me and yes, yes, yes, I spent some time between favorite-beverage sips and lolling about on the chaise like a beached seal, searching eBay for treasure. So sue me. But I did visit my eBay tasks outside under the shade of a tree on an absolutely glorious summer day so I think it definitely counts as a step in the right direction towards a little more sanity and balance in my eBay life, albeit a tiny little baby step.

Hey. I wonder if I can rig up some type of harness for carrying my laptop in front of me while I go for walks? How cool would it be to snipe while strolling downtown! Is beach sand really anathema for computer hardware? And for that matter, where does place one's laptop within a dinner table setting? Next to the waste bowl, the salad fork, the dessert spoon?