Public Service Announcement – Twitter is addicting!

A 12 Step Plan to Manage Your Time and Effectiveness on Twitter

If you have spent any time on Twitter recently you know how addictive it can be. Because its free and the very nature of Twitter provides instant gratification, Twitter can downright disrupt any plans you have to get REAL WORK done.  Or not. 

In fact, if you get really involved in conversations or reading what others are posting, searching for new people to follow or finding new apps you know that the time seems to fly by.  May be why they use the little birdie as their logo???) *SMILE

I know I have.  I go on Twitter to post one or two things, maybe reply to people who have sent me a DM (Direct Message) or see what the top ten topics of the day are.  And then it happens! I get all caught up in the moments (or hours) and pretty soon its time to get dressed or put my jammies on or eat dinner (or breakfast) and viola’. Ten hours later….. Well maybe not ten hours, but more than one.

This has been happening all too frequently lately and I knew that I had to do something about it.  I must say here that I absolutely love Twitter and have received MANY benefits since really diving into the conversations and becoming familiar with the terrain. But (and this is a BIG BUT), sometimes I spend so much time on Twitter that I don’t finish the things I need to do for me and once or twice for clients.  I can use the excuse that I am learning, which is true. And yet, it has been interfering with other important things in my life.  So I decided to come up with a system to help me manage my Twitter time online.  

So I came up with a twelve step program for maximizing my time both on Twitter and when I’m not. Each step has the 140 characters or less (BOLD) lead in and then the explanation following.

Step 1 ~ Know what you can and cannot change on Twitter. You can change your posts (before you post) and even trash them when you don’t like them. But you cannot change what others say about you. You can, however CONTROL what they say, by being considerate, kind and brief. That’s why 140 characters work so well. People have to be really succinct in their posts and replies. I think Twitter has made me a better writer. You can read My Twitter Story here: http://speakingwithspirit.com/the-twitter-phenomenon/

Step 2 ~ Manage your twinterruptions. Interruptions include things that come into your inbox related to Twitter and not. Did you just read a great article about how someone has used Twitter to gain new clients, find new followers or some other tips that could help YOU too?  Instead of reading it right then and there, put the email into a folder or somewhere in your email management system to refer to later at a scheduled time.

Step 3 ~ Make Twitter Time Your Time. Create a schedule and stick with it. We all have 24 hours in a day and hopefully sleep for a few of those. We need to schedule our Twitter time just as we schedule our work and play time.  Even if Twitter is part of your work day, you will find yourself being much more effective when you put Twitter time on your schedule. This allows ideas to germinate and form that you can then share with your followers or implement once you do get on Twitter.  The other thing it does is gives you more energy and focus so you don’t have distractions from the “outside world.”

Step 4 ~ Get up and move around.  That’s right! Get out of your seat before you tweet! Sometimes I can look at my computer screen and cannot think of the next thing to say. Other than what I had for lunch (that’s a topic for another time). Walking around helps the creative juices flow freely and when you sit your butt back down, you are much more likely to come up with just the perfect phrase or content to write about next. 

Step 5 ~ If you have notifications on auto pilot (such as Tweetdeck) dramatically reduce the notifications you receive. Or turn them off all together. There is a time and place to review your notifications and it’s probably not when you are having lunch with one of your best clients.

Step 6 ~Focus on the things you really NEED or WANT to know about. If you are following hundreds or thousands of people who don’t offer value or help you expand your mind and resources, you can do a couple of things. You can unfollow them (which will cut down on the type of conversations you would rather have in your spare time) or use a system like TweetDeck which allows you to multiple topics and people at one time. For more information on Tweetdeck read “All Your TweedDeck Questions Answered by Richard Barley at http://www.richardbarley.com/2009/02/22/all-your-tweetdeck-questions-answered/

Step 7 ~ Make a List before you login to Twitter for the day.  Write down or at least think about what you want to accomplish before you login to Twitter. This will help you focus better and spend more quality time online.  I write a daily list of articles to posts, people I want to connect with and topics I’d like to learn more about and share with my followers. This is also a great way to increase your followers because they become familiar with what you are all about and look forward to what you say. I have a folder in my outlook where I save everything I want to share on Twitter. Its also a great way to build content to share.

Step 8 ~ Use #Hastags to easily locate topics you are interested in following.  An easy way to follow your favorite hashtags is to go to search.twitter.com, and enter your tag into the search box.

Step 9 ~ Set the Alarm when you Twitter.  Because of Twitter’s addictive nature, if you set the alarm and decide how much time you want to spend on Twitter you are more likely to pay attention when it goes off. Unless you do what I do and Ignore it!

Step 10 ~ As with any 12 step program, we need “sponsors” others we look up to that are achieving what we want to achieve. Help others help themselves. My philosophy is to live, learn and pass it on.

Step 11 ~ Stick with your plan.  If you know what you want to get out of Twitter, it is much easier to do this.  It’s also easier said than done. We are human and we love conversing with others.  But if you want to really make Twitter work for you, don’t allow your involvement to stray from your bigger goals.

12 ~ Share these 12 Steps to Managing Twitter Addiction with others. Like this:  A 12 Step Plan to Manage Your Time and Effectiveness on Twitter ~ http://tinyurl.com/dm49e9  When you find a good resource and share it with your followers you become a hero – or at least quotable (retweeted). So pls RT!

Is it time to find a Twitter Anonymous Meeting?

Pam Archer said,

May 4, 2009 @ 12:06 am

You are so right, Heidi. Twitter is addictive. There is so much good information on it, and lots of neat and interesting people that it can rob your time.

I haven’t figured out Tweetdeck yet, so I will save this to refer to later. I will also tweet about this post this week.

Pam Archer’s last blog post..Wedding Planning

admin said,

May 4, 2009 @ 3:13 pm

Pam,

Thanks for your comments. Tweetdeck is also on my to-do list. I hear it can slow down a computer but I was at a conference last weekend and was sitting next to a guy who was using it. It is AWESOME and I cannot wait to get started. So many great tools, finding time to try them all out can be a challenge. I’m up for it. How about you?

Warmest regards,

Heidi

Debra Stokes said,

May 9, 2009 @ 6:40 pm

Hello . . . my name is Debra and I’m a twitter addict!!!!
Not so much anymore, but when I first started – talk about a time thief! I fully embrace your 12 step program and hope it will help others. You are a wise woman!

Debra Stokes’s last blog post..What Matters Most (trite but true)

admin said,

May 11, 2009 @ 9:00 am

Hi, Debra!

You are so right, Twitter can be a big time thief, if we let it. That’s why these steps can help us better manage our time on Twitter.

Glad you found them useful,

Heidi

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