On Living Modern Life Well
Image credit: Elli Rader
Editor’s note: This is Kate O’Reilly’s first column for metromag.com. The column, on Living Modern Life Well, will appear every other Tuesday and is designed to help readers navigate the digital age, from Facebook to LinkedIn and all points in between. O’Reilly, aka Clever Kate, has a strong communications pedigree, and hopes to use that knowledge to answer reader questions. To ask a question, send an e-mail to kate.oreilly@tigeroak.com, or track her down on Twitter @cleverkate.
Love it or hate it, Facebook is here to stay. Learning how to use it well can completely change your experience. It can be a fantastic way of reaching people both in your neighborhood or in another country, singly or in groups. On my own Facebook page last week, I asked for questions to inform this column. I left the scope wide open to get at the top layer of what people wanted to know about Facebook.
I was overwhelmed in the best possible way with questions, some of which I'll cover below and more that I will tackle on my bi-weekly Twitter chat, which you can participate in on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and find by following the hashtag #askck . If you're not on Twitter, I'll post highlights from the chat on my website and Facebook page. Away we go!
Patrick Stephenson (@patiomensch): How do I prevent myself from compulsively checking Facebook 2,000 times a day?
This is a great question, and part of a bigger topic altogether: How much is too much when it comes to social networks? The average person spends close to four hours a day on social networks. If that seems like a lot, it’s because it is. People who spend that much time with social networks will -- or more likely already have -- suffer losses in actual, meaningful relationships.
To help keep myself in check, I limit myself to no more than 90 minutes a day on social networks. If getting to that point seems like a challenge, consider some of these simple ways to muffle the noise, boost your productivity and re-engage with the real world.
+ Set aside social "intermissions" during which you plan to check social media. As with food, it’s the snacking that adds up to unwanted results. Personally, I spend about 20 minutes using social media in the morning and afternoon. In the evenings, when I'm not working or with friends or family, I'll hop on once more to see if there's anything interesting happening. During these intermissions, I update my status (at least when I have something interesting to say or share), respond to interesting posts, ask questions of my friends and followers, answer any @ replies and comments that are new, and scan and answer direct or private messages.
+ Eradicating the clutter and slowing the stream of content is a good way to hone in on what is of most valuable, and save time. I use lists, groups, and circles – available on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, respectively – to keep up with close friends and family. On other networks, such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Path, where there isn't a list or group option, I engage solely with the people whose posts I love the most.
+ The Freedom app locks the Internet on your computer for a specific amount of time, up to eight hours. It was developed by someone who knows how hard it is to stay off and used by many as an anti-procrastination tool. macfreedom.com
+ Use full-screen mode to limit viewing content behind what you are currently working on.
+ Break Time is a beautifully designed tool that tells you when to take a break from your work. You can also use it as a tool to keep you on task. When you have a break, check the networks. It runs in your dock and/or menu bar (or even in the background). breaktimeapp.com
+ Set up an alias or alternate logon that has no access to social networks and access only the tools you use to get work accomplished.
+ The phone is trickier to moderate, but you can set the need to enter the passcode more frequently, deterring you from getting on, or better yet, change it from the simple numeric code to a harder alpha numeric code to make it more cumbersome. Still can’t resist? Keep the phone somewhere out of sight so the push notifications don't tempt you (or, hey, why not just turn the thing off altogether?).
Comments
Great advice
That was some great/pertinent advice! I've found that your tip of putting the phone out of sight is the most effective way of keeping me from chasing the time-hogging "1 unread Gmail message" notifications.
yes!
Fantastic and smart, just like you! Congrats on a job well done. I look forward to reading and learning much more from you!
LOVE this! When most of your
LOVE this! When most of your livelihood centers around social networks, it can be even harder to unplug when the rationalization centers around the fear that you could be missing something vital. But I love the idea of apps that lock you out of the internet for a specific amount of time - I will definitely be using one for writing sessions, where the temptation to just "take a little break" during a writing block (and then realize two hours later that I'm still on Facebook) is huge.
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