If you're anything like me, you love diving into new things headfirst, all or nothing.
Sometimes, that's a great asset; other times, it can cause a serious drop in productivity, especially if you work from home or if you're at a computer most of the day.
You guessed it -- I'm talking about Twitter.
It's hip. It's fun. It's addictive. "But I'm networking to build my home-based entrepreneur business," you say. Great, I say. More power to you! Just as long as it doesn't come at the expense of whoever's paying your salary right now.
How I started.
Probably the most difficult part of learning to use these new types of social media is learning how to manage their proper usage, rather than employing a "kid in a candy store" approach. I'll be the first to admit, when I first discovered the "world wide web", back in 1995, I was amazed by the fact that I could "chat" with someone in Indonesia or Australia as if they were right next to me. So amazed, in fact, on that first day a friend introduced me to Miss Internet, I spent 12 hours straight chatting. I was hooked.
I tell you this story only to use it as an extreme example of how e-socializing can zap your productivity down to naught. Over the past 14 years, I've seen a lot of internet trends and fads rise and fall. Social Media is definitely here to stay, so it's important to have this discussion now while the phenomenon is still "relatively" young.
Social Media can be a wonderful tool if handled properly. For you DIYers out there, I know you wouldn't try to use a drill as your only tool when remodeling a kitchen (well, maybe some of you would, but that's for a different post). Similarly, Twitter must be considered one tool in a full toolbox of networking and marketing tools. With that said, we'll now discuss how to properly use said tool.
Just our inventions.
Many authors bludgeon the phrase "time is money" when referring to how social media affects productivity, but I disagree. I believe time is time, and money is money, and both are simply inventions of mankind as ways to measure the value of something. As in, "this must be good, it (took a long time to make / cost a lot of money)," choose your own answer. Either way, neither existed before us, and both will evaporate when we're all gone.
I use this argument as a way to show that productivity doesn't simply mean you spend more time on something, but rather, of what quality was the time you spent on the assignment? Were you focused on your task, distraction-free, really aware of what you were doing in that moment? Or were you trying to write an article with one eye (ahem) and follow your tweep's updates on TweetDeck with the other? (Who, me?)
My conclusion, based on a decade-and-a-half of online networking, is that you don't always get better results from something just by spending more time doing it. The solution isn't as easy as "spend less time on Twitter and more time working". I would suggest spending less time doing both, but being more focused on the task at hand so that the work you are doing is quality work. (This leads to more free time, which as we all know, is the best way to increase productivity.)
The Zen approach.
Zen students would call this approach "being in the moment", and I must admit, it's an approach that has worked well for me. I used to be a strong believer in multi-tasking, having a dozen or more tabs open in my browser, reading an email while waiting for another site to load, then squirting out a couple of tweets in one tab, skimming a blog entry in another and reading headlines scrolling across the bottom of my window...did the other page load yet?...need to open a new tab...
...BREATHE!!
My proposed solution to this mayhem may sound archaic, but what works for one sometimes works for another, so here goes: devote 30 minutes twice a day to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (or your favorite other forms of social), and when you're through, close it.
Shocking, right? I know I'm not the first to suggest this, and at first it can feel like you're cutting your own umbilical cord, but it does work. For extreme cases, there's even a program you can download that forces whatever programs you choose to be closed during certain times of day, just so you can get things done.
My proposed solution works from the inside-out. It's a conscious decision to organize and prioritize your daily goals instead of trying to do everything at the same time. This way, instead of trying to "do more" in "less time", as some other sites would suggest, you are taking steps towards improving your quality of life as well as your quality of work, by simplifying your current task and giving it your full engagement.
Get it done early.
Personally, I always try to accomplish one semi-important task each day before I read any emails or even open my browser. Then, I'll spend a few minutes reading and responding to emails, followed by a 30-minute Twitter session. If I'm focused, all my social marketing, networking, and email responding is done by the first coffee break, plus I've already got one task done off my daily list (which I always make the previous day, right before leaving the office.)
Then, after lunch, I'll do another *shorter* social media stint, catch up on replies, and see what the rest of the world is up to. What I've discovered, ironically, is that even though I'm not "connected" to Twitter all day long, I'm really not missing that much. Don't get me wrong, though -- Twitter is a fantastic resource, albeit one that is easy to abuse (as many tweeters do). The key here is, as with almost everything in life, finding a balance.
In closing, this discussion isn't supposed to induce a magical cure-all to relieve the symptoms of Social Media overuse and indigestion. It's purpose is simply to suggest that by being in the moment whatever you're doing, whether it's tweeting, preparing a new business proposal, or writing an article for your company blog, you'll be more productive if you stay completely focused on the task at hand.
And you'll only need one tab to do it.
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