Written by Karen D. Swim
Image by Ben Harris-Roxas via Flickr
Have you ever felt like you were straddling the top of a runaway train, hanging on for dear life? Okay, well maybe that’s just me but stay with me. One of the hazards of virtual workers is the pace at which we receive information. It seems that every two seconds there is something new – an application, a plug-in, an analytical tool, or marketing technique. When information is being filtered in from every direction you can feel as if the world is moving too fast to keep up.
My friends behind the corporate firewall, in contrast, feel no pressure to know all the latest tips to grow their blog or twitter community. They could care less about RSS numbers and feedburner stats. Their egos do not live and die by SocialToo or Alexa rankings. These wonderful people who many would claim are languishing in ignorance, remind me that while my world feels like it is moving at 30 Mbps, the larger community is not as concerned with the same things.
Online communities are rife with Type-A people, who are always on the go. They are still tweeting, streaming and skyping when I am fast asleep. By the time I turn on my computer for the day, the Type A’s have read everything and are linking the way for the rest of us 8 am slackers. Add in the various time zones and it can leave you feeling like you’re spending all your time catching up.
The truth is we do not have to know everything and be everywhere. Yes, you will miss out on some things but you will regain a sense of balance and sanity. I was reminded of that in two posts written by Sanyika Calloway Boyce. She wrote of not approaching your day and resources like an open checkbook, and presented a list of tips to help you realign your purpose.
You do not have to be a master of all things, contrary to what you may hear. Instead, write down what’s truly important to you and pick one or two things that will help you accomplish your purpose. Master them and ignore the rest. You can always add to your toolbox later so don’t pressure yourself to know it all or do it all now.
Learning to let go may become the new competitive advantage. You may even find yourself following Tim Ferris’ advice to just lie down in public, simply because you can (and it’s funny).
Do you ever suffer from social media fatigue? How do you keep your sense of balance?
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I regularly feel overwhelmed by the social media world. I’m by nature a lots-of-alone-time person and I find reading/commenting on blogs and Twitter, MSN, Facebook, etc… totally invasive of my alone time.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..The choice of too much
@Friar, ROFL! I bet I could name them too! Sometimes I look at night without posting just to see, and sure enough! I’m with you, I love connecting with my friends online but I also enjoy offline time. So, I guess we’re not the ones missing anything. 🙂
I’ve only been on Twitter for a few weeks. But I can pretty much see that certain people are on at all hours of the day.
6 AM. Afternoon. Supper time. Midnight. No matter what time I happen to randomly log on…the same few keeners are always there. .
My God, do these people ever LEAVE!?
When Brett comes over for our weekly beer session, and we’re relaxing and unwinding, and it’s midnight. sometimes we speculate: “I bet you so-and-so is on Twitter…right NOW”.
And they probably ARE.
I think it’s pretty sad, actually.
When I’m on my deathbed, the last thing I want to remember is that I spent “lots of quality time” in front of a computer monitor”.
@Ulla, it is so tempting to check everything out. My social media list would cause you to go running and screaming for your life! Part of it is my need to know so I can advise clients in their marketing efforts BUT admittedly I am easily distracted by new shiny things. 🙂
@Andrew, I am like you. I have to focus to get things done, and don’t do well with working with a million ideas and things at once. This year, I’ve really gotten fanatical about sticking to that but then failed to leave time for any social media! So, it’s always a balancing act. 🙂
Beautifully said, Karen.
Priority management is probably the most critical aspect of time management.
Some people may be able to handle a zillion things on the go at once, but I am not one of them. Personally, I feel that in order to work effectively, it is critical to focus upon those tasks which are most important and forget the rest.
Andrew´s last blog post..Sign off time – Returning January 29-30
Although I am living behind a corporate firewall (though it’s a university I am working at, not corporate business), I like to try things out and have to admit that I am spending quite a lot of time with that. I am fascinated with web 2.0 tools, and I am spending more time with trying out those tools than actually doing work them. Sigh! Thanks to your blog post, I will cut down on that.
Ulla Hennig´s last blog post..The Lord of the Dance
@Susan, lol! No offense to the corporate folks, but even on my worst day I would not want to go back. 🙂 We’ll all have to keep each other accountable to make sure we’re staying balanced. We can do it!
@Janice, out of curiosity I took the Type A/B test, the scale goes from 35 to 380 with the low end being Type B. I scored 190, which validates what I thought, I am confusing! lol! @garyvee is a bursting ball of passionate energy, he makes me smile and tired. 🙂
Joanna, I so admire your natural balance. I love how you have been able to balance your business, tweeting, blogging and life. You are right about email being equally overwhelming although I seem to be besieged there too.
My mother used to call me “Nosy Rosy,” which explains so much! 🙂
Karen,
You almost make a corporate job sound good! Ok, not really. But your post is an excellent reminder that we virtual types are obsesseed with “the next big thing.” Every now and then it’s a good idea to slow down and enjoy where we’re at. I’ll try!
I just spent a good half hour “catching up” on this mornings tweets! There is some great stuff I would have missed otherwise so I like it, but wow, it DOES feel like a fast train.
But one watch of @garyvee’s street key note, and I smile…that is a picture of passion.
Maybe I am a type A MInus? But only for bits at a time. LOL
Janice Cartier´s last blog post..Jason Wu and The Spotlight
Karen, I think I’m lucky that I’ve never felt an urgent need to keep up – maybe it’s because I’m in a ‘quiet’ time zone in social media terms. I enjoy the interactions I do have, but I’m not too troubled about missing things. If it’s important you’ll find out some way or another.
Although your colleagues behind the firewall might be living in blissful social media ignorance… I bet they’re suffering e-mail overload. I much prefer the multiple ways of catching news / views that RSS, Twitter, flickr etc offers rather than it all flooding through your in box, and demanding a response.
Joanna
Joanna Young´s last blog post..How Twitter Can Help You to Write with Confidence