Learning to Live with Social Media
Over the past three weeks I’ve been experiencing a lot of ups and downs in regards to my ability to keep up with my university course work (and it is not just because of #LIBR559M of course). However, I realize this is probably a good opportunity to experiment with different methods for coping with the work load a Librarian specializing in Social Media might have to experience. I’m fully aware that the academic work that I’m having to do day in and day out is very different from the everyday social media work being done by librarians, so it’s difficult to put myself specifically into their shoes, but the time management methods that I’m trying to use to get on track are probably useful solutions for anyone with these issues, so here goes.
Right now my day is pretty disorganized. Things tend to eventually get done, however there are times when I can become fixated on a project and devote WAY too much time on that instead of moving on to another more pressing task. One way to counter this is to use a timer. I use the timer on my phone but any clock with an alarm will do. I have a look at the tasks involved in any given project and set the timer to appropriate intervals. So for course work, I might set the timer for one hour. If you have three or four projects you can devote an hour to each with perhaps a 20 minute break between if those tasks require substantial brain cells. Knowing that I’ve set this deadline does help somewhat to keeping my focus on a task.
Another problem I have is the feeling that I’m in danger of falling behind on reading discussion posts, let alone all of the 30 to 40 or so blog postings done by classmates each week. I really don’t know how @giustini is able to digest everything either, given that teaching LIBR559M is only one of the roles he has at the university. So, to counter this I set myself a specific number of discussion postings, tweets and blog post replies for the week and work those into my daily schedule. In a library situation, I think it would be highly unlikely for all of the social media duties to fall to just one person. As I understand it, people take turns throughout the day on monitoring the library’s twitter feed the same way librarians take turns at the reference desk. So I shouldn’t try to turn my twitter experience into an all daylight hours vigil.
The final aspect of my overload experience is “blogger’s block”. As I mentioned in my previous post I have an issue with writing posts that I end up just deleting. I’ve probably done this at least three times over the past week or so. When you are writing essays it’s fine to do two or three drafts before coming up with the real deal. With blogging it’s just a huge waste of time. What I believe will help is getting better organized “at the back end“. I am using Evernote to help me with this. I leave Evernote open on my laptop and record any thoughts I have on the module readings or particular blog posts. These notes serve as starting points for my own posts and it is a good way to record references.
Anyway, those some solutions to trying to keep up in a world full of tweets, blogs and discussion forums. I’d be very happy to see any other good time management suggestions in the comments!
July 26th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Hi,
This is wholly satisfactory blogging. Don’t be too self-critical. I find that a good trigger for blogging is to be aware of when something seems to have a ring of truth to it.
I think one of the reasons I am able to get a lot done is because I have mastered my information management practices. This includes social media; from the sounds of it, you are also on your way to refining yours.
July 27th, 2011 at 9:13 am
I appreciate your honesty, Marty! I like how you tie in personal information overload with what that might look like in a library setting. With all of this online collaboration and social media tools, we may create media monsters that are difficult for any library to keep up with. I think most libraries and individuals end up picking and choosing which tools work best for them and which are most worthwhile for the time they have.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I’ve been making daily and weekly lists to keep up with both of the courses I’m taking this semester. (I know you’re in the same boat!) I go to the pool near my house for aquafit most mornings, and while I’m there I’m consider the tasks that need to be completed that day and the ones that are better left until tomorrow.
I try to spend roughly equal amounts of time on both classes, but it’s hard because this course requires horizontal efforts, almost; I find that I need to have multiple tabs open at once for 559M, whereas with 562, I’m just keeping track of content within Vista as well as academic articles. My involvement with 562 feels more focused and… linear, in a way?
Things I do not recommend:
– overcommitting yourself to social plans because it’s finally gorgeous out
– adopting a three-month old kitten who needs to be gently disciplined for trying to chew on wires every five minutes
– staying up so late working on assignments that you accidentally sleep in the next day and have to play catch-up again
– signing up to attend a family reunion on the same weekend a major paper is due
It’ll all get done in the end, and it sounds like you’re being proactive in your efforts to create a schedule for yourself. 🙂