As I discussed in my TFT14 talk, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the activities from social media. Multitasking won't help. Ignoring or demonizing the tools is a disease worse than the cure. Don't despair - we can take control by being more deliberate in how we use social tools. Here are some simple ways that can help.
Determine what success means to you
You have more options in how to live than any of your ancestors. Choose to live a meaningful life. Ask yourself:
- What do you want to be? (NOT "What do you want to have?" - we are human beings, not human havings!)
- What do you want to experience?
- What relationships do you want to build?
Write them down and look at them every day. These items are where you want to focus your attention.
Shape your environment for success
Your attention is your most valuable resource. Treat it as such. Turn off alerts, notifications, etc by default. Limit who can interrupt you to the people and ideas that matter.
Set smart boundaries around social tool usage. Put distracters away when you need to focus. Set aside time each day to review your feeds.
You will fall behind on occasion. Don't panic! Let go instead. You do not have to keep up with everything.
If you start to get overwhelmed, take a deep breath. Then start pruning your feeds. What no longer helps you be successful? Don't apologize for unfollowing, hiding and ignoring what no longer works for you.
Build relationships
Success is not a solo sport. Connect with others. Instead of posting what you had for lunch, reach out. We feel closer to people we communicate with regularly. Don't mistake this for following someone, though. Communication is a two-way street!
When you are connecting with others, be there and be authentic. Use technology to support the conversation, not instead of conversation. If the other person starts to tune out, shift the discussion to something they are interested in. Or end the chat - respecting their attention is important too!
Use the attention you get
Learn from everything you share. Every response is useful, even no response.
Set smart boundaries around social tool usage. Put distracters away when you need to focus. Set aside time each day to review your feeds.
You will fall behind on occasion. Don't panic! Let go instead. You do not have to keep up with everything.
If you start to get overwhelmed, take a deep breath. Then start pruning your feeds. What no longer helps you be successful? Don't apologize for unfollowing, hiding and ignoring what no longer works for you.
Build relationships
Success is not a solo sport. Connect with others. Instead of posting what you had for lunch, reach out. We feel closer to people we communicate with regularly. Don't mistake this for following someone, though. Communication is a two-way street!
When you are connecting with others, be there and be authentic. Use technology to support the conversation, not instead of conversation. If the other person starts to tune out, shift the discussion to something they are interested in. Or end the chat - respecting their attention is important too!
Use the attention you get
Learn from everything you share. Every response is useful, even no response.
- Positive response - keep it up!
- Negative response - refine and adjust
- Trolling/hate - don't respond, but don't stop because you are doing something that is attracting attention
- No response - reassess and ask for feedback from people you trust
Lastyly, be a venture attentionalist - invest your attention in resharing and encouraging others that create great content but don't have a lot of attention. This helps them and helps you too!
