My Month Off

During most of October and November, I took a leave of absence from my job at Adobe. The original reason was to take care of baby Leo, but it took an incredible turn when I was invited to work on Obama '08 for iPhone. Here is a sample of the stuff I got done, in no particular order:

1. Launched three versions of Obama '08, getting it to the #7 Free App
   
2. Practiced my cutback
3. Wrote the DollarApp principles
4. Discovered the DollarApp mission
5. Participated in The Great Schlep
6. Fixed my posture, which was killing my neck and hands
   
7. Taught Leo how to say "dada" and gave him his first computer
   
8. Got DollarApp's first app into the Beta stage
9. Sold enough things to pay for a new MacBook Pro
   
10. Retained a Good Lawyer for my company
    
11. Got my company a bank account, credit card, and debit card
    
12. Created a company Logo
13. Printed company Cards and Stickers
14. Talked about Twitter on TV
15. Gave a speech entitled "Why a Dollar"
16. Gave my mom a hug

In case you are tempted to take time off to work on an important project, or to build a side business I highly recommend it. Here were several lessons that I learned about working for myself:

1. I have high expectations for myself, which is daunting
   
2. I can't give myself any valid excuses for slacking or procrastinating, which is annoying
   
3. When you're doing everything yourself, you can only do one thing at a time, which is frustrating
   
4. Having a fiscal goal and deadlines will focus you dramatically, which is invigorating
   
5. Sometimes you have to completely shed every habit in order to gain new healthy ones, which is transformative
   

Thanks to everyone who supported this important transition, used the Obama '08 app, or otherwise stoked me on my journey!