Editor’s Note: Today we have a guest post from fellow blogger and friend Christine at Wealth Way Online.  Christine and I share a passion for the Four Hour Work Day and she has done some amazing work with building up her self-employed income.  I really encourage you to go check out her blog and take a look at some of her income reports, they are very inspiring!

I have been self employed for almost two years now. I started a travel blog a few years ago and from that started freelance writing and selling advertising. I have expanded and now my work is at the level where I’m making a lot of money. If you’re curious as to how much money I make per month, solely from working online, you can check out my monthly income reports.

When I first started making money online I was traveling, in long term travel holiday mode. This probably wasn’t the most productive way to start working, as I didn’t have the enthusiasm for work and much preferred to be laying on the beach somewhere getting hourly massages. However, my rapidly declining bank balance was a great motivator and I started to expand my business quickly. I was making good money for the first time and eventually I got to the point where I was living and breathing work.

It was an addiction!

I would wake up in bed and roll over and check my emails. I would consider whether I could ‘afford’ the time off work to have dinner with friends, as I’d miss out on $xxx worth of working time if I did.

Yes, I was pulling in a lot of money and doing pretty well, but I don’t think I was content. My work life balance was out of whack and my life was just work.

It wasn’t sustainable, I was burned out and my productivity was suffering.

I knew it was time to do things a little differently. Here are the steps I have taken to maintain a good work life balance: [Read more…]