It’s 4.30pm on Saturday and I just finally finished my sermon. There are probably a variety of reasons for this – one of which simply had to do with writer’s block this week. But sometimes I wonder if there is a direct correlation between my lack of productivity and my amount of engagement with social networking and social media.
I love Twitter and Facebook. I get them, see their benefits and importance in my own life. I love the connections and networking that happens through these sites, the way we can stay in touch with so many people and keep updated with people we care about or are interested in. I think there are tremendous benefits for ministry and the ability to create another avenue for people to connect and get to know one another.
And they’re just plain fun. Yesterday, Landon, Chad, Fritz, Shawn, and I (and many others) participated in the #replacewithpants fun on Twitter. Basically, just take a phrase or sentence and replace one of the words with pants. Of course, we were having some fun with scripture:
- “Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your pants.” Chad – View Tweet
- “Be still and know that I am pants.” Landon – View Tweet
- “Ask not what your pants can do for you, but what you can do for your pants.” Shawn – View Tweet
- “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul and pants.” Fritz – View Tweet
- “Let the first one among you without pants throw the first stone.” Adam – View Tweet
Needless to say – Twitter and Facebook are fun.
But fun things can often be distracting. So I’m wondering how everyone is able to get work done while staying connected on Twitter/Facebook/etc. I feel like it’s an important part of both my ministry and my sense of community with other folks and colleagues. So I don’t want to shut it off, but perhaps I need to do that at times throughout the day to really focus on getting some work done.
Share your Thoughts
What have you found? How do you get done all the things that need to get done and still find time to stay connected through Twitter or other online social networking sites? Have you been able to achieve a good balance? Is there even such a thing? Or do we just need to “unplug” daily for times of maximum productivity?
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Reverendmother has a recent blog post over at reverendmother.org about the 10/2/5 method of getting things done and still being able to engage in fun over the internet. Haven’t tried it yet, but sounds like a good plan.
I’d be curious what you think of Shane Hipp’s view on internet “community” and if you agree or disagree or both. There is a clip of him speaking about it on the Out of Ur blog.
@Dan – Hey man – thanks for the comment. I hadn’t seen that video of Shane’s. But thanks for pointing me to that. I think you just gave me some good fodder for my next blog post.
I love Shane’s stuff and his book Flickering Pixels, and I can see where he’s coming from with his definition of community, but…no, I don’t think I agree with him on the whole “virtual community” not being community. Or perhaps I’m misreading (mis-hearing) him, but I don’t think so.
Anyway – I’ll write more in a follow-up post to this one. Thanks for the prompt.
It all depends on what “productive” means to you. If it means networking and creating new friendships then productive means being on Twitter/blogs/Facebook all day. If productive means giving time to your marriage, kids, job, then you have to balance your time more carefully.
I imagine that for most of us, the issue has less to do with methodology than with intent: why we spend the time doing what we do online. My sense is that social networking is an important building block of an emerging koinonia but isn’t capable of accomplishing virtually what we most likely seek by surfing, pointing and clicking: deeper connection with the Divine and with others. When I find myself needing to pad my friends list, or anxiously hoping for responsiveness to a post or a link, I know the weight has shifted closer to a form of idolatry that will keep me from really engaging others and starting down the path of true friendship.
On the other hand, when I can have online conversations that are mutually enlightening, offer prayer for a need expressed, or deepen my real-life network by connecting with the humans represented by these avatars, then I think the technology is being leveraged in a healthy way.
I try to stick to this routine when possible …
1. I do the morning office and Daily bible reading (You version) – both on my blackberry.
2. I then answer all my emails, check my google reader and check facebook for messages, friend requests, etc. If I have an early morning appointment, then this will be done via my Blackberry while I’m running around though I prefer to use my laptop.
3. I set up a t0-do list of the taks that need to be done for a given day – I have learned to mix up the more interesting tasks with the ones that bore me to tears to mix it up a bit.. I’m still working this one out but I then put my google reader and Facebook on separate tabs and my email inbox in the background. I check them periodically throughout the day but I then “try” to focus on the tasks hand.
4. I have noticed that I am more inclined to take too many breaks when I have a writing project that’s on deadline but it just isn’t grabbing me (e.g., I am doing a few articles for Presbyterian magazines on activities relating to Calvin 500 and the fact checking, etc. got really boring). I then tell myself that I will work on this for 1/2 hour, take a quick break, back to the article, etc. and I find that the article has a way of getting done.
I still kept my MySpace account as I have about 19,000 contacts but I only check it about 1x a week or so.
I chose not to get twitter as I fear it would be too distracting to outweigh the benefits. I also chose not to join fan pages, book groups and a few other projects that I know would interest me but I know myself well enough to know I’d end up wasting way too much time.