A horse that tills the "land fed with chaff, an idle jade have provender in abundance; him that makes shoes go barefoot himself, him that sells meat almost pined; a toiling drudge starve, a drone flourish. To see men buy smoke for wares, castles built with fools' heads, men like apes follow the fashions in tires, gestures, actions : if the king laugh, all laugh.

-- Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy

Over the last year I have learned a valuable lessen.

Be your own client!

Work that is for myself and not for a client always seems to end up on the bottom of the pile. That work will never get done unless you treat it the same as if a client requested it.

I hear you saying "But I don't get paid for that work, so it is not as important." The truth is though that keeping up on your own work is just as important if not more important than work for your clients.

Your own work reflects on you. Would you hire a maid that has a dirty house? Probably not. The same truth goes for your self esteem and your social life. If you are a positive influence on yourself other people will want to be your friend.

So what is the moral of this story? If you take the time to be your own client you will get more clients.