The Big 5 Huge Sucking Sounds For Your Time
Yesterday was an interesting day for me. Interesting in that I was in my office almost the entire day and got very little work done. Interesting because it pissed me off, yet I was in such a mental fog that the best thing for me to do was just to get up and leave.
We’ve all had days like this. You start the day, full of piss and vinegar and ready to tackle your business, only to get mired down by your own disorganization. At the end of the day, you wonder what happened.
Well, I’ve thought about it. And I’ve identified the big 5. These 5 things are the huge sucking sounds for our time. Unfortunately, too, bloggers are particularly prone to these big 5.
Yesterday was an interesting day for me. Interesting in that I was in my office almost the entire day and got very little work done. Interesting because it pissed me off, yet I was in such a mental fog that the best thing for me to do was just to get up and leave.
We’ve all had days like this. You start the day, full of piss and vinegar and ready to tackle your business, only to get mired down by your own disorganization. At the end of the day, you wonder what happened.
Well, I’ve thought about it. And I’ve identified the big 5. These 5 things are the huge sucking sounds for our time. Unfortunately, too, bloggers are particularly prone to these big 5.
#1 – Email
Email is a huge time suck. Most of us, too, keep the email open all day. We see that little “(1)” show up and we’re thinking, “Ooohh! Who emailed me?!”. We head over to check our email.
Whatever line of thought we were in before that email came in is shattered. Gone. Waste of time.
I’m also going to let you in on a bald-face reality – one that I know full well a lot of people will debate with me. That reality is…. email doesn’t make us any money. It is an auxiliary activity. One that needs to happen, but isn’t really moving things forward all that much (for the most part).
I’ve had the same email address for awhile. Honestly, I’m giving some thought to changing it. If I do, I’ll set up an autoresponder to point people to the proper places depending on what they need.
I also highly recommend you remove email addresses from your sites and switch to a support desk instead. Not only is it much better organized, but then you can have somebody else deal with it (as I do).
There is no need to be wide open and easily accessible via email. The reality is that clinging to that idea will keep your business from growing and also keep you a slave to it.
#2 – Social Networking
A few days ago, I watched Jim Kukral get in on this debate on Twitter. In short, he decided that being “engaged” on social media wasn’t a good use of time. Of course, Scott Stratten (Un-Marketing) took issue with that and a little debate ensued.
I know full well that, as bloggers, we feel compelled to be highly engaged in social media. Social media is the new shiny object. It isn’t going anywhere. It is here to stay. Fact remains, though, that I think some people give social media way too much credit. Most of the people who’ve made good use of social media had a full marketing approach behind the scenes which did most of the work. If you wanted to go and develop a full business based on social media alone (no list, etc), you’d have one hell of a time doing it.
Here’s another bald-faced reality for you…
In terms of the things we do as bloggers, messing around with Twitter and Facebook (and similar services) has probably the lowest ROI of any other activity we do. Spending time on building your list, building JV partnerships, guest posting and participating in comments – these things build your brand much more than Twitter.
As for the idea of “engagement”, that means a lot of things. Obviously, to build a sense of “know, like and trust” with your audience, you need to be engaged. However, I would maintain that you can do that MUCH, MUCH more effectively using your blog and your email list than you can on Twitter.
Social networking happens to be a huge time suck, too. We feel compelled to interact. We see links which look interesting, so we click on them and end up reading a post. That can lead to other things. At the end of several hours, all you’ve done is have conversations, read several blog posts, but you’ve accomplished NOTHING.
I’m not going to stop using social media. It has a clear role. Plus, I really do like interacting with folks on Twitter. But, it needs to be kept in its place.
So, Tweetdeck is going to have to be turned off when I’m working. I’ll turn it on in batches, then turn it back off.
#3 Web Surfing
As bloggers, we like to read other blogs. However, it doesn’t pay your bills, does it?
As I’ve said in the past, you can’t eat and talk at the same time. In a similar vein, we can’t consume media and, at the same time, produce it.
The Internet is full of interesting things. Blogs, news, videos, more blogs, more news, more videos. Oh yeah, check our stats. Then, more blogs. Check Twitter…. which leads to more blogs.
Time? Gone.
#4 Customer Support
Customer support is tedious and a time suck.
Yes, you read that correctly. However, before you jump down my throat and act like I don’t care about my customers, think about it.
When you get a customer support request, each one takes up time. You’ve got to look up an account, reset a password, figure out why they can’t log in, process a refund, change card numbers – all these things are busy-work that is keeping you away from business development.
If the development of YOUR business depends on YOUR time, why are YOU doing your customer support?
The answer is to set up systems and procedures that will result in your customers being treated like absolute GOLD, then putting somebody on the job who’s entire mission is to take care of your customers. In fact, by having somebody else do it who is more dedicated to it, often your customers will be better supported this way than if you were to do it yourself.
As I said above, I recommend people use a support desk and not email. Then, have a virtual assistant handle customer support. If you submit a ticket to either of my sites, Lisa will be working with you and she’ll take good care of you. I’m busy making good, solid products.
#5 Trying To Learn Things To Solve Bottlenecks
So many bloggers fall into this trap.
You want a nice looking blog, but you don’t know how to program anything or make graphics. You think you can’t afford to have somebody else do it, so you end up spending hours upon hours trying to figure out how to do it yourself. In other words, you’re “dicking around” with something you shouldn’t be.
Why WASTE your time like that?
I speak to you on this one as recovering addict to it. I’m currently in the process of finding the right team of people who will do stuff for me. If my strengths are content creation and marketing, why should I bother making my own landing pages, logos, setting up blogs, installing plug-ins? Yes, I know how to do those things, but it isn’t a good use of my time.
Most bloggers DON’T know how to do those things, yet they STILL try to do it themselves. At the end of the day (or month), you end up either completely dismayed and confused, or you manage to put together a crappy design that somebody else could have produced for you in a few hours and it would look 10 times as good.
Also, the idea that you can’t afford help is a myth. Check Odesk.
The Plain Truth
The plain truth is that most of the activities most bloggers engage in with their average day isn’t going to help them achieve a six-figure income (or anything remotely close).
Most successful online entrepreneurs have other people working for them. At the same time, they’ve introduced certain levels of discipline and systems to keep these 5 “time sucks” at bay.
Each of these 5 things are things you cannot avoid, but they need to be managed in such a way that they don’t take over your schedule.
What do you think? Have you noticed these big 5 suckers of time at play in your day? Do you do anything to handle it and keep it in check?
The only thing I've changed to a designer who is now working on my blog and someone who helps me than probably most of you maintain your server.In I rent a lot to it am new and still need to get my head around what is really important and what activities can benefit from. Go and get your name spread, you need to be active on Twitter and stuff. You appear to comment on other blogs. These two activities most people I am struggling at the moment are.
Good point David. Gmail does this well…just enable canned responses (in Labs) and create a filter. Very cool technique!
Thanks for the post…these ALL have been huge time suckers for me. What I have done lately that really has worked for me is that I allocate a certain amount of time to do something, and once the time is up I move on. If I'm finished great…if not, it get pushed to the next day.
Disciplining yourself to manage these things is the real challenge. Maybe if your income drops significantly and you start to loose your financial freedom could be the kick in arse needed to re-direct focus on high leverage activities.
David, I really can appreciate this article. I too have fallen victim to these time suckers and it really does tick me off. Some of my best ideas come to me when I try my hardest not to think about work at all. Like today for example, I did my best to not get on my computer at all for the majority of the day, I haven't even checked my e-mail. But I was driving around my neighborhood on this sunny day and the best idea came to me about a new product. Sometimes we need to take a break and then our business can truly come to life.
I can honestly say that I am very guilty of those things. I thought that I had some semblance of a schedule going for me but sometimes..you're right, hours just seem to disappear. Something that I try to do is every hour or so take a few minutes to read through and comment through a few items in my reader and then get back to my own to-do list..But even then time seems to slip away. Thanks for the slap in the face..now maybe I might think twice before I play with some feature set in Squarespace and just focus on producing for Financially Digital.
social media is the biggest time suck for me. That's why I use a computer specially for work and another one for personal use.
the work computer doesn't have any bookmark or link to any social media, while the “personal use” computer has these things. so far, this has worked well for me.
You are singing my song :-). Email is a HUGE time suck for me. I'm usually at my desk at 7am and I try not to even open email until 10am because my best hours are the early morning hours. Another huge time suck, for me, is voice mail. Voice mail is nothing more than someone parachuting into my day with something for me to do, so I only answer it a couple times a day. LOL, although sometimes I don't even listen, I just call the person back and find out what they want. I'm going to probably have to call them anyway, right?
Thanks for the great tips!
Agreed- this was great David 🙂 I found myself in this a few times and had to kind of slap my own hand … better use of my time next (time?)!!
virginbloggernotes, What you said doesn't sound pathetic! Whatever works is what you should do! I'm glad you know what works for you.
Aaron, David's Ustream's casts are always worth joining in on, aren't they? I joined in on two and they were invaluable!
I do this also, Jane — open multiple Windows and work on so many things at once (or perhaps waste time) – so much so that sometimes my computer freezes! Sometimes I may have two Social Media Sites open at once, three blogs, and who knows what else! I need to be more conscientous also.
Excellent post, David. Email and web surfing are my biggest time suckers. I am still looking for solutions to better time management. I don't have a Virtual Assistant nor have I hired anyone else to help me in my blogging, bc of lack of funds It will eventually be very important to do so, however. Meanwhile, to manage time suckers, I … See … See MoreMoresee I need… See More to manage my time better — becoming aware of how much time I spend on each activity and scheduling it on a certain time on a certain day. I also believe that in matters of social media and social networking, it is important to choose only certain places to be engaged and not spread oneself out too thin — concentrating for time saving and extra effectiveness.
krissy knox 🙂
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I woke up … drink two glass of water.
Arrange my today's task in Microsoft Outlook and take print.
Get fresh and do 45 minutes exercise.
Read my today's task and arrange them with priority and note down time frame.
Check email, PMs, Twitter in another computer.
Now seat in front of computer and start completing today's task and also update in outlook.
Right David, especially when you're trying to brand you real name Twitter and stuff cannot be outsourced. But you really should try to focus on things that make you money.. Well, that's what I think for myself..
Hanging around in forums doesn't make me money.. And while the others are chatting, I'm working on launching my first product.. That's why I'm here and you can't expect other things from me…
BUT: Since I'm new to the “game” I need to be more active on Twitter than you David… You have your followers and readers, I don't (well yet). So Twitter is the tool, that might make some leads that might make me money later… Or am I wrong?
I just turn my auto check off and check the email twice a day. Morning and afternoon.
Anyone who is an urgent business customer will either have my phone number already to call or I will get back to them right away if it is urgent and it results in supporting my customers or getting a new client. Email has it's place. But you need to control IT and not let it control you.
G'day David,
Whoops! Sorry to send three replies. But your system kept telling me that i had to repost. My apologies for my aussie ignorance.
Regards
Leon
G'Day David,
Interesting stuff. I've been preaching this mantra for years; “If your systems are poor, your people will fail.” It applies to all business
But it all falls into a cocked hat unless you have
a crystal clear business focus
a crystal clear target market
crystal clear business priorities arising from the above,
And, of course, make sure you have fun.
Regards
Leon
.
G'Day David.
Interesting stuff. For twenty years I've been preaching: “If your systems are poor, your people will fail.” This applies to all business.
But it all falls into a cocked hat if you don't have
a crystal clear business focus
a crystal clear target market
crystal clear priorities arising from the above.
We all live with mountains of emails and what they create. It's amazing how those three criteria help with time management.
And, of course, make sure you have fun.
Regards
Leon
G'Day David,
Interesting stuff. I've been preaching this message for two decades:”If your systems are poor your people will fail.” This applies to all business.
But it all falls into a cocked hat if you don't have three things sorted out
a crystal clear target market
a crystal clear business focus
crystal clear priorities arising from the above
Like most of us, I too get hordes of emails. If they don't satisfy those three criteria, I don't read them.
And make sure you have fun.
Regards
Leon
#6 Tabbed browsers.
I completely agree with #2, despite those who argue otherwise. SM peaked and is overblown. Twitter claims 105 million users, but independent research shows that only 17 million are actually active. The other 90 million “users” are abandoned accounts (3 tweets and quit). Facebook might see an increasing exodus. Some may not believe that, but MySpace went from the top to almost irrelevant in less than a year. People are burned out, and realizing just how much of a waste of time SM really is. And don't even start on things like Foursquare and location-based services. I don't want people knowing where I am, and I don't want to know where other people are at any given moment. I've even started unfollowing people on Twitter who have their location auto-posted.
I think I heard John Reese even say he hires somebody to quickly go through marketing products and generate a report of the big bullet points. 🙂
Other thing you could do is get a portable readers to view reports and things when you're not in your office. For example, a netbook, Ipad, Kindle, something like that. Read in bed. 🙂
Exactly. Even with a J-O-B, if there are solid procedures and discipline in place for the blogging time, you can still get a lot done.
Yeah, email is perhaps the most challenging one to deal with. There are times when you need to deal with things quickly via email, so there isn't a hard-and-fast rule here.
But, yeah, you could consider having an assistant handle it and only get notified of those ones needing immediate attention. Another thing you could do is set up an email account only for immediate things and have those people who require it use it.
In any situation, there is probably an “out of the box” way of reorganizing it to make it more streamlined and less time consuming.
I'm beginning to outsource some research for content. For example, I'm going to do my first webinar for the PCMech.com crowd soon, and I'm outsourcing the research and the slides to somebody else. Then, I can just make adjustments. Another thing that can often easily be outsourced are list posts. Like “Top 50 XXXXXX”. Have somebody else go find the 50 things and throw them into a draft. Then, you can go in and make it your own before publishing.
Pin ball mode. Very well said. That's what I was doing yesterday and it sucked.
On the email, you might want to consider an auto-response on that, then just check email twice per day. There is no reason you have to email them just to say you'll email them again later.
The fact that you hired a designer puts you ahead of my post in my audience, so well done on that one. But, yeah, as a blogger, some things can't really be outsourced. I can't outsource my posts, for instance. However, I can outsource research for posts (and some do). I'll never outsource Twitter. Twitter isn't even worth outsourcing. If you don't have time for it, just don't do it. As I said, the ROI is really pretty low in the scheme of things.
Sure. I'm just developing a list of people at this point. But, go ahead and shoot me an email via the contact form. Thanks.
I seem to be good at that lately, but trust me, this post was as much a kick in my own butt as for anybody else's. Especially after yesterday. 🙂
Yeah. I'm not at a point where I'm willing to disconnect from these things, especially given what I do for a living. But, the reality is that I could completely disconnect from either Facebook or Twitter and any effect on my business would be minimal.
Yeah, I keep my ringer off so my phone doesn't bother me. And I disconnected my office phone and now only use Google Voice so that it goes right to voice mail and gets delivered online.
Bestjobs.ph is a popular one. Plus, you've got the Phillipines version of Craigslist.
Yeah, meetings suck. Good thing about what I do is I very rarely have any meetings. 🙂
David,
Thanks for the reminder! I have big sign on the wall behind my desk that says “Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?” – which I borrowed directly from the 4hr Work Week. I can't tell you how many times a week I catch myself. Ok I am commenting on a blog right now….sigh.
gosh, David you could not be more right. I think you need to add meetings on there as well. I hate meetings and I think if I have to have more than one with a client then I have not done my job well enough to show them I know what the heck I am talking about.
Dave
Help! I want to outsource some blog posts, I watched the 'outsource force' videos from john reese, who said not to use things such as Odesk and various outsourcing services/companies, but instead suggested a few websites in the Philippines where you could hire a dedicated full time worker, or team….my question is did anyone see the videos and write the website down as they have been taken down now!!!!
Dave – I couldn't have said it better myself. Each and every step you referenced above is totally valid………and I would add a #6 – phone calls from friends and family during the day (especially when they know you work from home!) – geez Louise! I'm working!!!!!!! We definitely need to set boundaries…….when we want to make money and succeed. Thanks for sharing,
Pat
David… you are so 'right on' with this post. I actually took a two month 'Sabbatical' from Facebook, due to pressing issues I needed to get done. I returned to FB only recently, and found that although a few people really missed me, nothing much had changed. I got right back into the flow, and now, almost regret it. The time suck is back sucking at me again…and I am fighting the FB addiction…. I will nip this in the bud, and get control over my time again, but, you are so correct that the Social Media does have its place and time in our business….
We need to be in control of it, not the other way around.
Thanks again, as I have thanked you so many times before for the frank and honest info.
Best Regards
Valerie Mosso
While these can all be time suckers, as you called it…your point about discipline and having systems to deal with all of them is more important than Odesk or outsourcing. At this time, I am so small of a player I don't need to outsource anything (thank goodness! I love doing it all, for now) but knowing when to let the Tweetdeck chill in my task bar for later is what gets me through my creating and work to move on ward and upward.
I know (hope) that I will eventually need to outsource some of the more time consuming things, but until then it is more fun and more economical for me to do it myself. Now it's time to put Tweetdeck in its place and get going on my plans for this weekend 🙂 Excellent post, as always. Thanks for getting the resources and info out for those who are at the point of needing
Dude, good stuff. Number 5 kicks my butt all over the place. Thanks for the slap in the face I needed this morning. Much obliged.
…jp
My biggest problem is wasting to much time on facebook, before you know it half the day is shot and you haven't got anything done.
Hi David, I know what you mean, distractions like emails are really annoying. I wrote a post last year about distractions and what makes lose your focus, notifications, like text messages, tweetdeck and everything that interrupts you, can make you lose your focus and not being productive at all. By the way, still need somebody in your team that knows tech, blogging, wordpress?
Have a great weekend
It's like you're looking over my shoulder lol! I constantly run into this problem and the solutions you present are straightforward and logical. Thanks for the Odesk reccommendation as well…
Guilty as charged! The only thing I've changed is to hire a designer who's now working on my blog and someone who helps me maintaining my server.
In comparison to probably most of you, I'm quite new to this and still need to get my head around on what really is important and what activities I can benefit from. Spreading your name and become known, needs you to be active on Twitter and stuff. You too have to show up on other blogs to comment. These two activities are the ones I'm struggling the most at the moment.
Just wake up earlier hehe. Just kidding.
I know these things will come into play. When I first began blogging I kept reading about how you should read other people's blogs and comment… this should help you get your name and blog known and out there.
If that's not managed, that will suck up ALL of your time.
For me I try to do the more mentally challenged things first when I wake up because that's when my mind is fresh and the creative juices can start rolling, wait too long into the day and efficiency and creativity start slacking and I can't get as much done.
For customers I always email them back relatively quickly and let them know when I can get to their issue.
It's a tough juggle, especially when you throw family into it – I have a wife and two younglings.
I usually tell people to experiment a little with time management and find what works for you. Learn from others, but do what works for you.
These things are so true. I do try to focus very hard on productivity. But occasionally you slip into 'pin ball' mode, flitting all over the place.
Focus on the business has got to be paramount.
I'm with virginbloggernotes (see her comment). I'll get waylaid every day if I don't start the day with the most important things – high payoff actions that really make a difference in my biz. Once those are done the rest of the day is more efficient and relaxed. Even if I do “waste” a little time it doesn't hurt so bad.
Great topic. One of my worst time-wasters is traffic analysis…who is sending me traffic? hot keyword searches on my site..how many new subscribers have I received, etc…I'm getting better at limiting my time for this, but it's a work in progress.
Web surfing – Ah, guilty. Since I do a lot of research for my content, surfing is necessary…however, it's easy to lose focus on the task at hand.
Social networking – not a problem. I mainly use Twitter to auto-broadcast feeds, that's about it.
Content creation – I am in the process of starting down the e-book road. So time saved will go towards creating new products.
Thanks again for your great site!
Hi Dave,
I totally agree with your last four points, but there's something to say for checking mail all the time. Let me just share a scenario that happened this morning.
Let's say I stick to a once a day email schedule, 7-9 AM. Today, I got a potential consulting offer at 9:30.
I'd check this email on Monday morning, call back the potential client and discuss the work. They ask me to send an email so that they can mail me the NDA. I would send it on Monday.
Tuesday morning I find an email asking me for a postal address to put it into the NDA. Dude, it was at the same place where you contacted me from, but here you go.
Wednesday morning I get the NDA. Print it, sign it, return.
Thursday morning I find the login info for a quote request. Check it, write quote, send it back.
Friday morning, hopefully getting an email that the work is approved.
Instead, I interrupted writing a post several times to check email, so the above outlined tasks were done in a matter of hours. Turns out that while they are trying to collect three quotes from competitors today, it is even more important to get started on Monday with a quick turn-around time. Right now my competitors are probubly thinking whether they should call back today, or as it is Friday, maybe on Monday morning.
Because I keep checking my mail, I landed a deal that allows me to support the business for a month and pay myself.
But let's just look at your third point: web surfing. What am I doing reading your post around Friday noon? Simple. I'm done for the day, checking blogs, will play with the kids for the rest of the day, and will pop a bottle of wine open tonight. Why not, there's another day to finish my post.
Now, this is not a typical deal, and it is really once in a great while fortune, but now it's on my lap.
I still do agree with you that email takes a long time.
The way I deal with it is that I have 13 different email accounts (I have several sites).
They each get forwarded to a different folder, so instead of dealing with emails, I deal with different areas. Customers who contact me from the site have a separate address to use, people who already work with me have a different address, mailing lists have another one, etc.
Though there's no need to check most of my accounts on a regular basis, even the handful I'm checking gets frustrating. And while today I got a great deal, yesterday I got lot's of spam.
So, I'm really not sure what's the best way to deal with it. I was thinking about outsourcing my email so that I can get notified about things which are worth dropping everything else.
All examples are right on the money, and I'm just looking now at how many things I've got open: Outlook, Firefox with 5 tabs (not too bad), OneNote, Word, Dragon, Tweetdeck, and Skype. I started off really well this morning, but have petered out this afternoon and not achieved much at all.
I'm off to close a few things down and get something finished.
My biggest time suck? My *JOB*.
However, on the two days and few nights a week in which I work on my blog/business, I do find that social networking often becomes a HUGE disctraction. In fact, the other night I was all geared up to get some really important stuff done – tweaking opt-in forms, split testing, list broadcast messages, and get started on new products – but instead, I joined in on your UStream cast 😉
I agree on the email point. For me, my Blackberry offers me 24/7 connectivity so when I know I need to be 100% focused I will shut it down, Firefox is my “work” browser and Chrome is my “play” browser. That way, I don't see the (1) on the gmail tab when I get a new message and I don't hear the new email notification on my Blackberry.
My next step is to get others to work for me while I'm “at work” at my day-to-day job.
I think the biggest thing to take away from this post is to nail down your procedures. Develop your own SOP (standard operating procedures) for the various processes involved and stick to it.
I totally agree with the above points. Out of all of them I think Social Media is the biggest of the time suckers. I've caught myself going through Twitter for hours and in the end no better off than when I started.
I also find reading a bunch of how-to eBooks on the same topic is a big time sucker. Again, I've caught myself reading and reading and never ACTING. I finally put the eBooks up and wrote my first eBook, which is coming out very soon thanks to sites like this.
David, you're absolutely right. I was feeling bad about losing touch with Twitter this past month or so, but about a week ago I realized I have about 2000 followers and never made a dime from Twitter. I've really been rethinking where I spend my time, and have so far come up with this (you're a little ahead of me so I'm not quite sure yet):
Email: I only check it 2 or 3 times a day. I turned off automatic mail checking so I won't ever see that enticing (1).
Social Media: I took a complete break from it as an experiment. So far I am still breathing and still in business. I will get back to it at a more realistic level, one in a proper ratio to its ROI.
Web Surfing: I try to do this only at night when my brain is too tired for actual work. I can easily lose a lot of time on the Stumble button, so I just don't anymore.
Customer Support: My Achilles heal. There are days that end and I realize all I did was add articles to people's sites and fix weird looking images. That's a complete waste of my time, and I need to find the assistant to do that stuff. I've known this a long time and still haven't managed to get to it.
Bottlenecks: same thing, I need the assistant.
I'll add one more, in the same vein as the previous two:
Production Work: I'm a content creator. I'm the visionary, the designer, the BIG idea guy. I end up wasting a lot of time with the production work that goes into setting these ideas in motion. Much of it is on level with a junior designer, which I should be passing off to someone on that level. I don't enjoy it, and it sort of sucks the fun out of my job as well as the time.
I should have had an assistant write this for me.
“#5 Trying To Learn Things To Solve Bottlenecks” I am one of them who fall into this trap. 😀 lol..! When i first started blogging, i try to play daily …1-2hours.. with ..my theme, but now those days are gone and i have a great designer who can easily do this.. with look 20 times as good ;). !
Great post..I struggle with all of this when trying to priority work duties, etc…. I've made great connections and raised awareness via our attempt at social media but I've always been bothered by how much time is spent. This will be great food for thought. Thanks!
That's not pathetic at all. That's just plain smart. 🙂 I use an on-screen timer from time to time myself for that very reason.
Yeah, the whole “keeping up on trends” thing usually ends up not executing any of what you read. So, you have to ask, “why?”. Why keep up on something you're not even doing? 🙂
I don't read other blogs all that much – not nearly as much as some bloggers do. When I sit down to tackle Google Reader, that's all I do for that time. But, trying to keep up with it on a routine basis is like sucking on crack all day.
So true. My problem is I feel I need to consume a lot of content to stay on top of the latest trends, and learn more. Knowledge is power, right? While that's true the reality is most of what I read turns out to be a time… (wait for it)… SUCK.
I try not to get sucked in too often, but my schedule is crazy and all over the place. It's hard for me to put anything regular into place. IE I'll spend an hour on email in the morning then move onto whatever.
Hi David,
Hey bud just love reading your blog, It's true your blog is your ultimate marketing tools, I use my blog for everything and NOT paying a dime on PPC if I have a new product launch or running a promotion I just simply talk about it on my blog and it works all the time, Great post bud thanks.
Blessings,
Albert Hallado
I have to play all kinds of games with myself to be productive. What works best is to get the essential stuff done first before opening email, etc. Sometimes I need to use a timer to keep me from being distracted too. Sounds pathetic, but there it is.