I have been writing about the recession since March. Specifically, I’ve been writing about the benefits of starting a company during a recession. As this year has unfolded, and as I watch the loss of thousands of jobs taking a toll on people around the country, I can only feel more and more grateful for what I’m working on. I saw this Twitter post from Penelope Trunk today, and it made me want to clink glasses and toast to one year down.

By the way, you can follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mchang16.

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Of all the business disciplines that are involved with running a start-up, accounting is my weakest link. Even after more than a year at my business, even after buying the book Accounting for Non-Accountants and “reading” it during my time off last summer, I still struggle to understand depreciation and balance sheets. But I have a secret weapon – an accountant.

Every month I drive to my accountant’s office to sign checks and give her a giant manila folder with my expense receipts. Today, I also dropped off a tax form that came in the mail – Package 1096 from the IRS. Package 1096 from the IRS is just one of many, many reasons that I’m thankful for my accountant. I had never heard of this form, had no idea what to do with it or how to file it. Now, it’s in her capable hands and I never have to think about it again. (It turns out that you have to file this form if, among other reasons, you issue a 1099 to an independent contractor.)

If you aren’t so lucky that you can drop off your tax forms to someone else to deal with, here’s a bit of information about Package 1096, along with a link to the IRS form (PDF).

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If you read this blog with any frequency, you already know that I’m in a bit of a “blog slump.” It’s gotten so bad, that the recent series that I wrote took me nearly a month to complete. A month! I didn’t even realize it was that bad until I just went back and looked at the dates. I should have realized that things were dire when people started alerting me to the fact that I completely missed my promise of a second post being “up tomorrow.”

So here’s the thing – I have a blogging problem. Actually, I have a few of them. First, I write long posts. Again, this is not news to anyone who reads this blog, past English teachers, or anyone who has ever received an email or a greeting card from me. I’m wordy. I don’t think that this is an inherent problem; the issue is that it takes me too long to write a blog post. When I was in the early days of blogging, I had time on my hands. Now, my business obligations are taking up a great deal of time and I need to cut back on the amount of time that I spend blogging without cutting back on blogging itself – this has been tricky. Actually, it’s been more than tricky. I’m totally bombing at it.

Second, I have heard from a lot of people that the posts that they enjoy the most are the ones that bring in my personal experiences with starting a business. So I’ve been working on trying to figure out a format that I could use that would incorporate more of that type of content. But I’ve been struggling with trying to figuring out the balance of how to write about what I’m doing without a) sounding like a total prima donna and b) actually including information that will be interesting and/or useful to people. If I start writing about my day-to-day experiences, I am more than a little concerned that it will bore all of you to tears.

Finally, I do enjoy the long-form, analysis and informational writing that I have been doing all along, and I don’t want to give it up.

Those are the confessions.

So starting today, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to start adding a different kind of post to my blog repertoire. I stole this idea from one of my favorite blogs, Dooce. In her blog, Heather Armstrong includes a post called Daily Style, which is a short, daily post that includes a photo and a description of some kind of product that she likes and uses. The idea is that she takes something from her everyday life and writes a bit of commentary about it and includes a picture. The end.

Let me first say that Heather Armstrong does this incredibly well. So well, that this year she won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bloggies. She’s been copied many times before and will be many times again – and what I do will be a cheap rip-off imitation and probably slightly embarrassing, especially if it is compared to her site.

But here’s the thing. Starting a business is a risky thing. It involves a lot of borrowing nuggets of ideas from people who have gone before, mixing them up in a new way and throwing them out there for the world to see, comment on, reject or embrace. The start-up world isn’t pretty or neat. And nothing would ever get done if someone didn’t get an idea and just decide “What the hell. It’s worth a try.”

So here I go with my experiment in blogging more personally about my start-up journey. This is not a resolution – I am not promising a certain number of posts per day or per week, and I’m not sure that I’ll stick with this format forever. After all, an entrepreneur must be flexible and willing to make quick strategic changes. But based on my confessions, I need to try something new. And although I can’t be sure that this plan will work, I can at least remind myself that the experiment is part of the journey.

Photo by miss pupik

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Although it probably came as a surprise to no one, the National Bureau of Economic Research announced today that the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007. But even with bad news about the economy, it is still possible to stay positive.

This is the third and final post in this series, you can read the first two here:

10 Ways to Stay Positive when Times are Tough
3 More Ways to Stay Positive

7) Read a book. Books have been my drug of choice since I was young. That might seem like a strange thing to say, but books are the best and primary way that I alter my mood. This strategy works best if the book is uplifting, but even if it’s just engaging, a book is a great way to help you stay positive. Books are kind of like vacations – they give you new experiences, out of the ordinary, away from your routine. I remember one time when I was going through a particularly low time, I read the entire Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. Granted, this is not high literature (or anything remotely close). But there are approximately 10 books in the series, and each of them has about 900 pages. By the end of those 9,000 pages, I had a newfound appreciation for the Fantasy genre, and I had mostly gotten over whatever it was that had gotten me down in the first place.

Take a longer view. Sometimes, when things aren’t going well, it feels like they will never change, like what is happening currently in your life will go on forever. But this just isn’t the case. Change happens. And if you can keep that fact in mind during the tough times, it can help you stay positive that things will get better one day, that what is currently happening won’t be the same forever.

9) Take one day at a time. On the other hand, sometimes a situation seems so overwhelming and so exhausting that the best thing to do is to take each day as it comes. Difficulties can become smaller if you just tackle one day at a time, and by focusing on today, you can help to alleviate worry about tomorrow.

10) Call (or see) a friend. When times are tough, sometimes it’s best to talk to someone who loves you and knows what you need to hear to cheer you up. I had dinner with four of my high school friends on Friday night, and the glow off the conversational therapy will last me a solid couple of weeks.

BONUS 11) Exercise! There is plenty of research that shows that exercise not only helps us be healthier, it also helps improve our mood. But even with all the data, only 22% of Americans get the recommended amount of exercise, while a full 25% live a sedentary lifestyle. You may not be used to exercising, it may be hard at first, but go do something to move your body. Start with a short walk around the block or down the street and work your way up to something more vigorous or rigorous.

You’ll stay even more positive if you can find somewhere to exercise that’s aesthetically pleasing. For example, walk near a lake or the ocean, bike down a street that you like in your town, or jog in a nice neighborhood that has beautiful flowers. Pick a spot to exercise where you feel happy to be when you’re not exercising. It will make the experience more pleasant and you more positive.

Photo by frankjuarez

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