I have recently realized that, without some kind of structure in my life, I am not going to be successful (in terms of career and money). The times that I have had structure (college) have been my most successful and productive. However, the idea of structure sends me running, fearful of losing the freedom and flexibility to do what I want, when I want. I can see rationally how this aversion has hurt me: My freelance business is dying, I'm out of money and I'm not much further along in my "career" now than I was when I graduated from college 10 years ago (I'm 35). It's obvious to me that not having an income will restrict my freedom and flexibility even more than structure would, but this knowledge doesn't seem to make it any easier to bite the bullet and make myself a schedule or apply for a job. How can I give myself the structure I need without it hurting so much? Or, alternatively, how can I cope with the fact that it will hurt, because I know it's a trade with a net-gain? I'm already working with a therapist on this, but I'm looking for personal experiences with similar issues. What techniques, books, videos or anything else have helped you? [more inside]
posted by The Dutchman on Sep 30, 2009 - 7 answers

Looking for multi-threaded narratives in film and video games, such as Pulp Fiction or Go. [more inside]
posted by ga$money on Sep 11, 2009 - 51 answers

Does anyone have any idea what this structure is, or what its purpose might be? More pics and information past the break. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Sep 10, 2009 - 11 answers

I'm trying to create a magazine via Drupal, and I'm having some problems using node references. Should I be using books or taxonomies? Or can you just help me iron this problem out with what I'm doing now? [more inside]
posted by suedehead on Aug 30, 2009 - 4 answers

How do you organise, structure, and run a LARP - particularly one that's a little bit unusual? [more inside]
posted by divabat on Jul 26, 2009 - 3 answers

Real life hobby for someone who enjoys building structures in computer games? [more inside]
posted by wastelands on Jul 8, 2009 - 11 answers

Why are taxi fare structures so complicated? [more inside]
posted by cilantro on Jul 5, 2009 - 10 answers

Is there a site structured like onehundredpushups.com, but setup for free weight weightlifting? [more inside]
posted by Slothrop on Jun 2, 2009 - 16 answers

I am attempting to reorganize the structure of my business and was wondering if anyone had experience with this or could direct me to some templates. [more inside]
posted by Tavern on May 28, 2009 - 5 answers

Does anyone know anything about the back corridors in malls behind the stores? [more inside]
posted by Sully on Mar 15, 2009 - 31 answers

Is Robert Siegel's screenplay for The Wrestler an example of a two-act structure? [more inside]
posted by Jeff Howard on Jan 30, 2009 - 7 answers

I would like to get some more structure in my life. How do I go about it? [more inside]
posted by blueyellow on Dec 31, 2008 - 17 answers

What is this metal structure called? [more inside]
posted by Tube on Nov 27, 2008 - 5 answers

MySQL problem [more inside]
posted by Astro Zombie on Nov 20, 2008 - 2 answers

How can my synagogue organize a large and developing library of liturgical recordings? I'm interested in (inexpensive or free) specialized software or in suggestions on how to use more commonplace software for this purpose. [more inside]
posted by likedoomsday on Aug 11, 2008 - 7 answers

What is this mysterious structure? [more inside]
posted by Tube on Jun 14, 2008 - 6 answers

Can you help structure my oracle database appropriately? [more inside]
posted by urbanwhaleshark on May 1, 2008 - 10 answers

I am looking to form a partnership, Company A, with someone to buy a franchise. A couple of points to note are: This type of franchise only exists in order to each partner to do business (i.e. do deals) within the franchise territory. [more inside]
posted by thinktwice on Apr 15, 2008 - 1 answer

Maddening database question- Why are hierarchical/tree databases (seemingly) unavailable to me? Structures of structures of structures. [more inside]
posted by gjc on Apr 1, 2008 - 8 answers

Which Chicagoland parking garages are most notable? [more inside]
posted by asuprenant on Mar 11, 2008 - 7 answers

Is there an online resource that describes the different business functions of Fortune 500 companies ? e.g. Sales, Marketing, Legal, It, etc ? [more inside]
posted by ashepp on Feb 12, 2008 - 2 answers

MediaWiki + hierarchies: Can it work? [more inside]
posted by Blazecock Pileon on May 23, 2007 - 4 answers

Stuctural-engineering filter: I need some help figuring out requirements for a temporary art installation that needs to stand up to the wind. [more inside]
posted by adamrice on May 3, 2007 - 8 answers

Does the type of Japanese structure seen in this photo have a name? [more inside]
posted by BorgLove on Mar 4, 2007 - 13 answers

Databasefilter: I'm a self-taught 'DBA' (I use quotes so as to not offend those who have this knowledge through a paid education). I'm having an efficiency problem with a few of my tables, and I thought maybe one or two of you could help. [more inside]
posted by thanotopsis on Jan 31, 2007 - 20 answers

What is this huge long line in Canada? A friend of mine was flying back from europe and saw this huge long grey line going across Canada. It looks to big to be a road. We're stumped! Does anybody know what it is? Look at it on Google Maps
posted by excitementMD on Jan 1, 2007 - 23 answers

Please help me identify the location and significance of this (possible) War Memorial structure. [more inside]
posted by obloquy on Sep 6, 2006 - 9 answers

I have lots of educational content that I need to organize in a systematic way. What is your most helpful naming convention for files and folders? [more inside]
posted by _zed_ on Jun 6, 2006 - 5 answers

I work for a medium sized software company with a significant professional services practice. This consists mainly of implementation consultants and project leads who do the hands on work of defining deliverables for clients and configuring the software to their specs. As part of a re-org last year we pulled a few people off of the line and set up what we called the Resource Team. This included a Knowledge Manager to organize all of our implementation articles and training, a project manager to build and rollout project management tools for the consultants, a design specialist to participate in the more complex projects, etc; about 8 people total that report to me. We recently did another re-org and I wanted to reconsider the name - looking for something a little more impactful. Any analogies out there or ideas for places to look? Thanks in advance!
posted by jbradley on Jan 17, 2006 - 19 answers

I'm confused by the sentence structure of "The more I chew, the sorer my jaw gets" and "the heavier the atom, the less it rotates." Do these "The more..the less..." sentences have understood omitted verbs or something? They seem to not have all the prescribed elements of a sentence.
posted by eighth_excerpt on Jan 1, 2006 - 12 answers

I need some advice about house structure/frame problems. I don't know if it is foundation or what. But we are having issues with seams in our ceiling and walls. I have no Bob Villa in me at all. [more inside]
posted by dios on Dec 13, 2005 - 10 answers

Via a FPP, I found this: a "Mindjet brainstorming tool" that can be integrated in Word. It seems like a good way of structuring your thoughts , even better than paper (I always seem to mess up the structure). The only downside is the price: is there any freeware that does something similar, that is easy to use and integrate in Word? Thanks.
posted by NekulturnY on Feb 24, 2005 - 5 answers

EpistemologyFilter What is the important literature regarding knowledge creation via formalization/structuring? [mi] [more inside]
posted by badstone on Aug 18, 2004 - 7 answers

Military question -- On a website I was reading recently, I came across this tidbit: "The military continues to experiment with command and control structures designed to delegate and drive decision making to the front lines." Can anyone tell me more about this? I'm interested in how the U.S. military (or any other) has overcome the problem of decision-makers being too far from the action. [more inside]
posted by oissubke on Mar 24, 2004 - 7 answers