But when I’m not careful, Twitter can also take me away from important work that I need to get done. With that in mind, I posed the following question to my Twitter followers:

How do you stay engaged on Twitter without allowing it to become a huge distraction/time suck?

Here are their responses — in chronological and not reverse chronological order:

• pyyhkala @Bryper I don’t know. There are pages and pages of posts now even if gone for say 10 hours or less. Maybe @chrisbrogan knows.
• mrsb @bryper: by using twitbin, not going back to see everything I missed and just popping on the regular page to ck 4 @ and DMs
• randelaw @bryper: it’s like IM - you need to use it strategically. Also, only follow links if you have the time - that’s the real time waster for me
• connieblogger @Bryper I read twitter to/from work on my blackberry. Otherwise, periodically as a break from other work. I close it down otherwise, do …
• prblog @Bryper - only do it web-based and check it a couple of times a day (like you’re supposed to with email). that’s my secret.
• jangles @bryper, the only way, Brian, is not to be here all the time. Only check in from time to time, unless you’re in a deep conversation.
• DougH @bryper I use desktop app (Twitteroo), but turn it off if I need to shut down. I often find the discussion connects me to my work, though
• jangles @bryper, and web only (as Kevin noted). Also no SMS from phone. Keep control!
• DougH @bryper - also, as a diversion/break/procrastination aid, Twitter, is far more productive than solitaire
• danieljohnsonjr @Bryper I subscribe to the RSS feed for my friends timeline and then check in periodically.
• kamichat @bryper Twitter is like a stream, you dip in and out as you can and subscribe to your @
• LenEdgerly @Bryper - Taking a day off Twitter (and email) a week helps me stay focused on other work, but now, instead of working on podcast, I’m here!
• SteveCasbeer @bryper Great question! Twitter has some good nuggets, but the cost to catch those seems high in terms of distraction/time suck.
• SteveCasbeer @bryper I’m curious to see what tips to minimize “twitter-drain” people have.

Technorati Tags: Twitter

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The burning question: is our drive (obsession?) to stay connected “damaging our interpersonal skills, skewing our work/life balance, and limiting our creative thinking”?

I’m not trying to strike a technology-will-turn-us-all-into-distracted-and-unfocused-scatterbrains tone here, or in the Monster post. In fact, if I had that doomsday attitude, I wouldn’t have started this blog.

But author Steve Prentice’s arguments and recommendations that for “cooling down” make sense. My email inboxes don’t need to stay open all day. Taking a break for lunch is a good thing. Not fiddling with my phone while at the dinner table tonight will be helpful for my work/life balance.

After all, the tools of technology and new media are meant to help us do our jobs better and more efficiently. It’s only when we allow these tools to control us that we run into trouble.

So if cooling down actually makes us more efficient, more productive, less stressed, and clearer-thinking workers, I’m all for it.

How about you?

Technorati Tags: Productivity, Steve Prentice, Cooling Down, Creative Thinking

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But if you’re a smart Connected Worker, you’re making sure that you remember the birthdays of the people in your personal and professional networks, too. Calling or e-mailing friends or colleagues on their birthdays is the perfect way to catch up, or reconnect, with people that matter in your life. You’re also being thoughtful.

… but remembering is the hard part
When I was younger, I prided myself on being able to recite the birthdays — and ages, too — of all my friends and family. I was like that with phone numbers as well. I could retrieve this information seemingly at will.

But as I’ve gotten older and put more and more “stuff” into my head, birthdays — along with plenty of other things — have become harder and harder to remember.

I need a reminder system.

Facebook displays birthdays
Now there are plenty of sites out there that could do that for me — just see the Google search results for “birthday reminders” to get an idea — but why not choose a social networking tool that I’m already using to make my life easier?

I’m talking about Facebook.

If you’re a Facebook user, take a look at the right sidebar of your “home” page. You’ll see a list of your friends’ birthdays (yes, that’s my wife’s name at the top of my list for today; happy birthday, Stella!).

Facebook also has a fun application called Birthday Stats, which keeps you informed of upcoming half-birthdays!

So work a Facebook birthday check into your daily routine, and then go and spread that birthday cheer.

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Or do you?

There are three main reasons to use instant messaging:

1. Asking, receiving, and answering quick questions and answers that you don’t want to call about or resolve through a string of one-liner e-mails
2. Engaging in creative brainstorming from geographically disparate locations
3. Chit-chatting and/or indulging yourself with some much-needed “goof-off” time

All three can have a place in your creative and productive work flows.

And then there’s another approach that works well, too — turning off your IM altogether.

I have colleagues who swear by IM, and others who don’t want a thing to do with it. After all, there’s nothing worse than powering your way through an important project requiring your undivided attention, only to be interrupted by a colleague’s “So, how’s your day going?” kind of message. He/she is looking to chit-chat; you’re looking to get sh*t done without interruptions.

In such a scenario, resist all temptations to send back a snarky reply and extricate yourself from the conversation as quickly as possible. Then, do what you should have done before you launched into the project in the first place: sign out of your IM client(s).

It’s important to ask yourself how well you handle interruptions and to limit your IM use to the times when simple pings aren’t going to break your concentration.

And so as to keep your colleagues and contacts in your good graces, be sure to ask for their IM preferences, too.

As for me, Gmail chat (bperson) and Skype (Bryper) — are great ways to reach me — most of the time. If I’m busy, I’ll be sure to tell you nicely, or I just won’t be logged on.

Technorati Tags: IM

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Well, what if you were holding one of the new business cards from my friend Christopher S. Penn, a super Connected Worker?

I bet you’d remember some of his stories, then.

And what if you next flipped over that business card and had a link to Chris’s Virtual Business Card, which included links to websites for his day job and several other projects he’s involved in and passionate about, as well as all of the ways to contact him?

Well, you’d be impressed, of course, and you’d be certain to follow up with him, get to know him, and become part of his online social network. And in turn, he’d become part of yours.

Hat tip: JibberJobber.

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My wife’s take: she shouldn’t. She argued that it was the acquaintance who had twice canceled plans at the last minute and had promised to call soon to reschedule. And if that was too difficult to do, well, then, maybe the meetup wasn’t worth pursuing in the first place.

My take: my wife should make the call anyway.

There are probably dozens of people in my personal, professional, and personal/professional networks that I’m overdue on following up and reconnecting with. I’ve been busy. They’ve been busy. I haven’t called or e-mailed. They haven’t called or e-mailed. But here’s the bottom line: I haven’t been in touch with people that are important to me. Does it really matter whose “turn” it is to initiate our next conversation?

All of us usually have the best of intentions when we say we’ll follow up, but the longer the wait, the harder reaching out again sometimes becomes. But as Connected Workers, you and I know that we need to take that initiative.

So here’s a challenge for you this week: take a look at your Outlook address book, your cellphone contacts, or your LinkedIn connections, and identify three people that you haven’t spoken with in at least three to six months. Make a pledge today to reach out to all of them in the next seven days and say you’ve been thinking about them. If you also happen to live in the same physical part of the world — a seemingly decreasing reality in this online social media age — propose catching up over a meal or drink, or at a family event. You could do that in the form of an e-mail, text message, or Jott, or you could really surprise them with a phone call. You — and they — will be glad you did.

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Jott is a service that enables you to quickly send a voice message to anyone in your network with an e-mail address. I mostly use it when I’m away from the computer — out running errands or commuting to or from work — and don’t have the time or am not in a position to make a phone call.

Here’s an example of a message I recorded tonight for my friend and colleague Chip Griffin, whose company, CustomScoop, sponsors my twice-monthly New Comm Road podcast.

Chip then receives this message in his e-mail inbox:

He simply clicks on the “Listen to Audio” link and then listens to audio file through a small Flash player that pops up.

Easy for him and easy for me. And by using your voice, you’re also delivering a message in a potentially more powerful way than via text e-mail. Just a simple action that can help you stand out as a Connected Worker.

Technorati Tags: Jott

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I’m a guy who spends most of my day job producing Career Advice content for Monster.com and a good chunk of my “free time” blogging, podcasting, speaking, consulting, and thinking about social media. But what I wanted was a place to bring those two worlds together, where I could write and talk about how to use the social web for becoming a better, smarter, more productive, and more networked worker and person.

This site will serve as that place, and so, the Connected Worker is born.

If you’re a Connected Worker like I am, then you probably see things a little like this:

• You use technology not for just technology’s sake — although, yes, it can be downright scary cool at times — but because it helps you do your job.
• You live and embrace a blended life, where your work life and personal life form a complementary mashup.
• You’re part of the online social web not because you don’t want face-to-face relationships, but because you do value genuine and meaningful connections and friendships. You know that the latest and greatest social media tools and social networking sites help make these new relationships a reality.
• You recognize that by blogging, podcasting, or otherwise being savvy in the online space, you will build your personal brand and raise your professional profile.

The content of this site will reflect these beliefs. Thank you for joining me as I explore them. I’m looking forward to your input all along the way.

Technorati Tags: Connected Worker, personal branding, social networking, Bryan Person

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