Walt's comments on Liblog Mortality reminded me that I have a blog that surprisingly few people have unsubscribed from in the past two months. Thanks for sticking around.

I'm sure you spent absolutely no time wondering where I went, which is good, but I'll tell you anyway. I've been in the midst of a substantial reorganization of my life's priorities in an effort to become an overall healthier person. I'm working on being a better, more attentive and involved daddy and husband. I'm working on not spending all of my time staring at a screen. And of late, I'm working on being a better guardian of my temple, so to speak. Better diet, less snacking, more exercise, that kind of thing.

It all started with the new job. IT is a new world to me and I found myself still preoccupied with its complexity when I came home. No time for blogging/podcasting when I could be doing all the little organizational things that one can't get done during the work day. And more significantly, the preoccupation was negatively affecting my family.

So change was needed, and quickly. First, I removed all self-imposed pressure to produce, whether that was in the form of blogging, podcasting, public speaking or otherwise. I then made two tough decisions:

1. Pass the Carnival torch.
2. Pass the podcasting torch.

The Carnival torch was passed formally to my buddy Chadwick (thanks again). The podcasting side was a little more behind-the-scenes. In part, I simply stopped producing. But I also redirected all requests for consulting or speaking to other qualified individuals. It was a difficult decision to abandon the niche that I'd carved out for myself, but quite frankly, I was growing tired of the topic anyway. [This is not unusual for me, as I constantly crave new avenues to focus my energies on.]

As part of reducing my information intake and self-imposed pressure to "keep up," I reduced the number of feeds in my Bloglines (current count is 128) and cut out many of the podcasts that I was listening to, including most of the library-related content. Again, tough decisions, but better for my overall state of mind.

I also made a commitment to myself to not do any non-critical working from home. [Note: This has been only somewhat successful, as I really like to keep on top of my Inbox.]

So is it working? Absolutely. I feel more involved with my family and less obsessed with work and career, which really makes me more focused and effective during my working hours.

Satisfied that these approaches have improved my mental health, I'm turning my attention to physical health. I'm horribly overweight and my love of sweets has been a lifelong battle that I've never chosen to fight. Until now.

Getting up at 5:45 every workday to hop on the elliptical trainer is tough, but necessary at this juncture. Walking away from the box of Russell Stover chocolates that stares at me in the office is even tougher. But I'm enjoying the battle and I know the long-term goals are worthwhile.

Anyway, thanks for indulging me, both in my extended absence and in my present logorrhea. I hope all is well with you and yours in this new year.