productivity

What Does 10,000 Tweets Mean?

By Mark Evans in Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

10000I’m not sure how this ranks in terms of an “accomplishment” but I recently posted my 10,000th tweet on Twitter.

That works out to about eight tweets/day. If a tweet takes a minute to create, I’ve spent 160 hours creating content. Either that’s been a good investment in terms of personal branding and providing value to the community, or it’s been a lot of productive time wasted.

Given I’m so vested in social media as part of what I do for a living, I can only see 10,000 tweets as a solid investment. A necessary evil in offering social media consulting service is you have to walk the walk in addition to talking the talk. It is difficult to suggest a client commit themselves to Twitter if you’re not already drinking the Kool-Aid.

I do have to admit that cracking the 10,000 tweet barrier also provided more food for thought about the amount of time spent on social media. One of the key issues I’m trying to attack is how to become more focused and productive. For all the benefits of social media, it’s also a time and focus killer.

In many ways, social media is double-edged sword for me. I see it as valuable but, like many people, grapple with how and when to use it.

Here’s the Thing About Twitter and I

By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , ,

I have a love-hate relationship with Twitter. On one hand, it’s a fascinating and valuable resource to discover news and content from a wide variety of people. On the other hand, it’s a distraction, a time-suck and a productivity killer.

As much as Twitter is a big part of my digital world, it’s a beast I try to manage so it works for me rather than against me. To keep things under control, here’s my approach to Twitter:

1. I use Twitter when it works for me. When I’m busy with work or personal stuff, I pretty much ignore Twitter and, to be honest, it’s not missed. In many ways, Twitter is like a parade: if you bend down to tie your shoe, you might miss several parade floats but there are dozens more coming down the road soon.

2. I don’t feel the need or desire to document my daily existence through tweets. I’m not sure many people care that I drink coffee, play hockey, visit certain places, go to different cities, or watch TV.

3. Twitter is not a personal toy. You may get a hint of what I do during non-works hours but it’s never going to be a full-disclosure medium. It never ceases to amaze me how many personal details people are happily willing to disclose via a steady flow of tweets.

4. Twitter’s real value for me is connections and access to content. The world is too busy and there’s too much content being created to keep up. I leave this grunt work to my followers who pick off the most interesting content, and then share it.

5. There’s no need to follow a lot of people. I have a little more than 300 followers, which provides a healthy enough and large enough collection of people. I’m not sure how anyone gets any value in following thousands of people: it’s like going to a humungous party in which you only manage to talk or listen to a few people. The party could have easily been 100 people as opposed to 1,000, and the experience would have been the same.

6. Twitter works for me, not the only way around. I don’t spend hours scouring tweets, looking for places to have conversations or adding new content. I’m always amazed to see people actively tweaking day and night. Being on Twitter this much would be mentally draining.

So, that’s it. The tao of Twitter, according to me.

Why Less (Digital) is More (Time, Focus)

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

In 2011, less is going to be more….and that’s a good thing.

It’s a decision that comes on the heels of a happily hectic 2010 in which my business surged ahead, and a number of other projects (including the mesh conference) consumed time. It was a great year but it felt like a hurricane, leaving me with the feeling that things could be better organized, more efficient and more productive.

So less in 211 means:

1. Less time online. Given how much time I do spend on time, spending less time will still be a lot. Nevertheless, this means being online not because I should or it’s convenient but because there’s something to do. It means using the time for just fooling around online to read a book or a newspaper, play a game or call a friend.

2. Less time on the iPhone. I love smartphones but they’re starting to rule us rather than us ruling them. We have become compulsive obsessive about checking our smartphones all the day. How many times do you think people check for e-mail a day? I’d say at least 25 times. Our smartphones have killed our time to think and take a mental break because they give something to “do” when there is a break in the action.

3. Less apps. I’m a app-aholic, always looking for the new and shiny application that will do things differently or better. It’s fun to check out new toys but it also means spending less time when the apps that do the work. For me, this includes WordPress, DropBox, Freshbooks, Skype, Google Docs, Bit.ly and, hopefully, Manymoon. While it’s great to discover a gem that not a lot of people are using, it also take time.

4. Less time in the in-box. People may say e-mail is dying but not for me. The amount of time spend in my in-box is terrifying. That said, most of it is work-related. It’s managing projects, reaching out and talking with clients, responding to inquiries, and doing stuff like mesh. Still, I’m in the in-box most of the day as opposed to checking several times a day. We all tend to forget that e-mail isn’t going to disappear if it’s not checked hourly. At the same time, not checking and responding to e-mail may re-set expectations about quickly someone should respond to an e-mail.

5. Less social media. Now, here’s the elephant in the room. For me, social media is mostly professional and brand building vehicle. They are tools used to establish a stronger digital presence, consume valuable information and, as important, drink the digital Kool-Aid. After all, it is difficult to be a digital marketing and social media strategist if you’re not using and experimenting with the tools.

Still, social media is a time-suck. Blogging, my social bread and butter, takes up a lot of time and intellectual energy. I’m not really into Facebook so I’m good with the little time it does consume. That leaves Twitter, which I love but probably spend too much time scrolling through tweets looking for gems. If less is truly more, then less time in Twitter is the goal for 2011. I’ll probably create as much content – seven to 10 tweets a day – because it’s how build digital street cred but it’s the consuming that needs to be addressed.

We’re only into day three of 2011 so the “less is more” theme is a new and fragile concept. That said, I didn’t open my laptop after 5 p.m. yesterday until this morning so maybe it’s taking root!

What about you? Could less be more?

Where Do You Find the Time?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 7 Comments Tags: , ,

One of the many things about social media that is fascinating and intriguing is how many people find so much time to be so engaged. It got me thinking about the following questions:

- How can they be on Twitter day and night? It’s not just posting tweets, which can be scheduled, but engaging in active conversations, answering questions and retweeting?
- How do they generate a steady flow of blog posts, many of them longer think or opinion pieces as opposed a 200 to 300-word riff on something?
- How can they have an active presence on Facebook with regular updates, Likes and comments?
- And how can some people also be active on Posterous, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media services?

If social media consumes so much of their time, what has to give? Is it the amount of time watching television? Do they not exercise as much, if at all? Do they not read books or have hobbies? Are they less social?

There is only 24 hours in the day – some of it is spent sleeping, some eating and then there’s working. When work is busy, social media seems like a luxury. There are days when social media isn’t an option at all but it is not something that I miss or feel that I’m missing out on.

So all you digital and social media animals out there, where do you find the time? What aren’t you doing now that you used to do?

How to Be More Productive at Work

By Mark Evans in Main Page 1 Comment Tags: , ,

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column for the Globe & Mail on how to be more productive and efficient at work. It was inspired by the constant challenges that I meet in making my business operate better. This is particularly relevant given I’m a one-person operation.

The column was read by someone within PWC Canada’s marketing department, who thought I would be a good speaker for one of their weekly meetings. This is despite the fact I’m by no means a productivity or time management practitioner or expert. I do, however, continually seek new ways to become more efficient so what I do bring the table is real-world experience and, of course, an enthusiasm to share.

Below, you’ll find my presentation. Don’t expect to discover any silver bullets that will change how you work overnight. But you might come across some tips, techniques or tools that resonate in some way. As I said during the presentation, getting more productive and efficient takes time and it’s always work in progress. The good thing is if you focus on applying new tools and techniques, there will be dividends.

Work Better, Smarter and More Organized

The Early Bird Can Catch the Worm!

By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , ,

Mitch Joel wrote a post earlier this week in which he talked about how much he liked waking up early. “I’ve learned to embrace, love and be inspired by the quiet of the early morning and the silence of the world,” he wrote.

It was a post that resonated because I have become an early-riser. It doesn’t help that I’m not a good sleeper but I think one of the reasons why waking up seems such a natural thing to do is that the world seems like a different place when everyone else is still sleeping. It’s quieter, the coffee tastes better, there’s more time to read the newspaper and the ideas seem to flow easier.

A key part of how I do business is writing – be it proposals, reports, Web site content, video scripts or blog posts. Most of my blog posts happen during the first cup of coffee in the morning. I don’t know where the ideas come from but I think they have been nestled somewhere in my dreams, and waiting for me to wake up to get them out. Earlier this week, for example, I was coming downstairs in the dark when a great idea for a Sysomos blog post popped up.

The mornings are a great time to share content because it’s a good time to consume content. If you look at my Twitter stream or Facebook updates, most of my activity happens between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. I’m not sure how much of an audience exists at that time of day but it’s the time when the content flows out.

Another great thing about the early-morning is the sense of accomplishment that you have done so much even though it can only be 10 a.m. Sometimes, I do mini-review that shows I have written three blog posts, gone through a bunch of e-mail and sent out some proposals. Not that it lets me cruise for the rest of the day but it means the day has gotten off to a productive start.

One thing I don’t like to do in the morning is talk a lot. When my wife also happens to wake up early, she’s happy to talk about stories in the newspaper she finds interesting. It takes a healthy amount of self-discipline to happily nod in agreement.

Of course, waking up early isn’t for everyone, which explains why a lot of my 6 a.m. e-mails don’t get answered until after 10 a.m. But that’s okay because if everyone woke up early in the morning, it wouldn’t be a quiet or as nice.

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