Mmm, it’s been a while since I last wrote anything here. I haven’t forgotten, and I haven’t given up - I’ve just been rather busy. Starting up a business like this is pretty hard; I’ve had a lot to learn and still have a long way to go.

So, what have I been learning? (A.K.A. All I don’t know about websites.)

I think I’d start by saying that most of my ‘learning’ has come in the form of finding out what it is that I don’t know (so I can attempt to learn about it), what not to do and what can’t be achieved. For example, this is my first ever website, and I know, or rather knew, nothing about what is involved in designing, publishing, hosting and maintaining a website. Domain names? Hmm, sorta… Code? Not a clue. Widgets? What are they? SEO? Uh… What about heading tags? Nope. Ah, responsive design? Not heard of it. The list goes on. I still know very little about all these things (you can probably tell by this website, hah!), but I’ve got a much better idea about what it isn’t.

It’s no small task. It isn’t magic. It isn’t unachievable. It isn’t as scary as it all sounds. It isn’t cheap either. Ah well.

And no, I’m not going to explain what any of those things are, they’re just so not in my expertise.

Enough about the website. What else have I been learning about? (A.K.A. PRS for Music)

I’ve been reading and rereading many times over all I can find to do with performance rights societies. Particularly, being UK based, the one called PRS for Music. PRS for Music seems to me to be like an evil machine that should be your best friend and could be very much your friend, but is far more intrusive and controlling than it needs to be and so isn’t really a very nice friend to have, but is still necessary to have on your side despite being evil. *deep breath* Okay, so evil is a bit of a strong word to use. It isn’t evil. It can in fact be very nice. But try reading through all their legal documents and you’ll soon start to feel like they are some kind of looming shadow that will watch your every move once you’ve joined forces with them.

I’m sure they’ll make a very nice friend.

Getting tedious tasks done.

I’ve been learning that jobs don’t make progress towards being finished when left to their own devices. (I knew this already, but sometimes it's worth testing out what you know to see if it’s true…  …and this is.) So, whatever needs doing, no matter how small or large, easy or seemingly impossible, one shouldn’t leave a job to do itself. It won’t happen. Nor will it disappear. What a pity.

Bodging the impossible.

I’ve learnt that some problems are unsolvable, and so one must make do and move on. Sounds rather pessimistic, right? Sometimes, there are jobs one can’t manage, and puzzles one can’t figure out. One of the best things to do in those situations is to ask people for help. Preferably qualified people, but if there aren’t any of those available, unqualified will do nicely. Just asking someone can shift your brain into a different gear, enabling you to approach the problem from new angles. I’ve come across puzzles recently that people, whose very job is to solve those puzzles, have been seemingly unable to help. Well, after trying and searching for solutions for an extended period of time, eventually, you really do just have to bodge it and hope that those bodges don’t grow teeth and come back to bite your future self.

One more thing that I’ll tell you about.

I’ve been learning, and I think still am learning, to work with my limitations. Not within, but with. That means not beating myself up over my inabilities. It also means not ignoring them. It means understanding them and pushing against them enough to stretch myself without breaking myself.

That’s something worth thinking about. Ask yourself. Are you working with your limitations?