360DigitalInfluence

That’s the question I often get when I talk to people about my participation in online social media. Where DO you find the time to update your Twitter stream? Where DO you find the time to upload photos to FaceBook? Where Do you find the time to read all those blogs?

The question is inevitably asked with a tone that implies I am either a total social misfit, ignore my family or slack off at work (or D: all of the above).
My initial reaction usually takes a defensive tone – where do YOU find the time to sit on the couch and stare at the TV for 3 hours a night?

Post-conversation I retreat to my thoughts, stewing over the question - regretting I didn’t have a prepared answer. So I (and you) never have to go through that process again, I’ve committed some thoughts to writing. Would love to hear your builds.

• I have an 18 month old son. I’ve become a time management ninja. While the kid takes up a lot of time and energy, my new found discipline has given me more hours in the day.

• I get up by 5:30am on weekdays, 6:30am on weekends. While I don’t wake up and immediately start Tweeting, I do use that time to deal with administrative issues at home (bills, etc.) which gives me more free time in the evening.

• I don’t watch a lot of TV. When I do, it’s almost always on DVR thus saving me around an hour a week on commercials. When I watch sports (the only TV I don’t DVR) I am usually multi-tasking.

• I enjoy it. Just like you enjoy birdwatching or reading WWII novels.

• David Allen’s Getting Things Done is my organizational operating system. A key takeaway from the book is that we have to look for pockets of otherwise dead time to be productive (for example, making phone calls while walking from one appointment to the next). My major dead time is my 20 minute commute to work on public transportation. I use that time - and my cell phone - to Tweet, upload photos to my FaceBook page and text message friends. While others are staring out the train window, I am getting things done. Regular mobile usage is a huge asset, and a behavior I would bet is common across active social media participants.

• Besides on airplanes, I never read the newspaper. HOWEVER, I am better informed than I’ve ever been, with much less of a daily time commitment. I must tell people this five times a week - if you’re not using an RSS reader to get your news feeds, you are not consuming information in the most efficient and effective way available. Sign up for a Google Reader account (my personal favorite, but lots of options out there) and spend 30 minutes figuring out how it works. It will change the way you think about news consumption.

• For me, participating in social media is a professional survival tool. It keeps me current, connected and informed.

The net-net is that I make the time. Just as a marathon runner makes the time to train; a celebrity junkie makes the time to read Us Weekly; an amateur photographer makes the time to take photos. It’s no different.
There I go again sounding defensive – I must break that habit!

Note: This post is republished with edits from the original on Flagged For Follow Up.