Getting Back to Basics

As some readers may know, I’ve been doing this dual presence thing for the past couple years; the Jim Mitchell Design business where I offer Yasu and FileMaker development services, and the Jim Mitchell dot-org presence where I give a glimpse into my personal life as well as offering my silly little WordPress themes and other whatnot to whoever wanted it.

Last week, I came to the realization that I’m no longer being as productive in my personal life as I’d like because of the “duality” I’ve created with maintaining two online presences, and that each has suffered because of it. So I’ve decided to make the change back to the way I found myself most productive and fulfilled… And that is to simply offer it all under “jimmitchell.org” again. That means one site, one email address, one place to download everything from, etcetera.

The truth is, my day job has changed so dramatically over the last 5 years that I’m not anywhere near where I was when I chose to split my personality. Back then, I was working as an in-house FileMaker developer and Mac systems support specialist. Now, I’m working as a business analyst and handling special projects for my employer — and have found myself busier than I’ve ever been. Trying to keep that many balls in the air at one time has been causing me more stress than I think I was aware of.

So, I’ve decided to get simple again. I have projects I like to dink with. WordPress themes, Yasu, AppleScripts, and even some small FileMaker projects — but I’ve made the choice that they are not going to dictate how my personal life is spent anymore. Family is far more important right now, especially with my youngest son entering the formative teen years.

What does this mean to you, the reader? Probably more “personalized” content, with more of a view into my real life. You’ll see some updates to my WordPress themes (Plane Jane is in bad need of modernization – I’ve got some killer CSS3 ideas for it). You’ll see updates to Yasu (one is “thisclose” to being released), and maybe even a new app this summer (I’ve got a great idea for a freebie app).

Thanks to all who’ve hung around, keeping me in their RSS feeds. I promise there will be more than just twitter updates from this point forward.