If You Have an Extra Half Hour

I've really been missing connecting with family and friends that are not online as much as I am - that extra half hour would definitely give me more then enough time to post an e-mail or pick up the phone to chat. Excellent list and reminder, thank you

Chris, I took you up on your "add new comment," but did it on my ActiveRain blog, titled "Business Plan 2010 and An Extra Half Hour." You've got a link from that blog to your original post.

Item 1:Schedule your volunteer time. Call the offices of your favorite charity, get their event schedule for the year, and pick your dates.

Item 2: 30 minutes of cardio minimum of 2-3 times weekly. Read "Brain Rules" to know why this is a good thing.

Item 3: Check your daily newspaper for announcements of local people receiving promotions, awards, or other achievements. Write a note to the person in care of the organization with which they're affiliated.

Item 4: Pick one--closet, drawers, bookshelf, other hidy-hole places, and weed them out. Put items in a box, identify a charity to donate to, and set a 30 minute opportunity to get the items to the right place.

Item 5: Call up a friend, explain the principle of the Extra 30 Minutes, and invite your friend to join you in taking advantage of those extra 30 minutes.

@toniraebrotons yes very nice input, and all it comes down to is dedication, and i will dedicate myself to my mantra, my personal goals, and life goals, thx @chris and everyone for their helpful comments.

Take any two tasks that normally take up a lot of your time during the day. See how you can reduce time in these using some smart overlaps. That way you'll have an extra half an hour every day :)

Thanks for another great post with tips on improving our day to day social media and relationship building process...

"If I only was organized/ structured enough to just do this simple 30 min task, then I will free up more time to do all the other great suggestions here.. ;)"

Cheers.. Are

There are two things that I can immediately think of that I've let hit the back-burner: 1.) my newsletter, 2.) commenting and/or reading new sites. The newsletter was something that I stayed on top of rather well. I used to get some good replies but then I let myself slip and stopped sending it out as frequently (this needs to change). As for the second, commenting on other blogs (at least 5-10 a week) was something that I did regularly as well. It felt good.

The good thing about my process is that I've outlined a list of "daily rituals" (if you will) that I perform. I think everyone should find a process that works for them and then commit every day to working it.

Call your children or text to let them know you are thinking about them.
Thank you for a good list, I'll print and keep.

Take five minutes to choose five contacts that you havent seen, spoken to or emailed for ages. Ask them how they are, what they are up to, and offer to meet up. You never know here it might lead to and how fortuitous your timing might be.

Choose five contacts you havent seen, spoken to or emailed for ages. Send an email asking how they are, what they're upto and can you met up. You never know what it might lead to or how fortuitous your timing might be.

Choose five contacts you havent seen, spoken to or emailed for ages. Send an email asking how they are, what they're upto and can you met up. You never know what it might lead to or how fortuitous your timing might be.

Hi Chris,
If I haven't already done it that day, I would make sure that I took a few deep breaths to remind me I'm here and alive then the next person I see, I ask them how they are and then listen to the answer. I look in the face and eyes, I smile warmly. I hope to make them feel like they are the special and important person they are.

I like all the ideas particularly the ones about thanking someone and appreciating someone. I like to remember to tell and show the people I love the most how much. takes only a minute but these 2 things can change someone's entire day. Deborah

Do your job! Do it better. Be more precise, more thorough, more correct. You're at work, you should be adding value to your company.

Go to the sea? dive.. buy my wife a present...

ha , work :)
i suggest get to know your friends friend on facebook and connect to the one you find interesting and that you can learn from.

Love the list.
Practicing number 2 now (but I'm afraid to read and comment on 5 blogs can take more than half an hour!)
Other suggestions:
-stop, take a deep breath, relax and think
-forget the ICT and take a paper and pencil
-read a book
-have a cup of coffee (preferably with someone else to talk to)
-give your extra time to someone else
-update your Flickr albums /Youtube channel
-refocus your priorities for next week (month, year)
-dream about a crazy idea (creative inspiration comes when less expected!)

Conxa
@innova2

Chris, thanks for this great list of to do's when you have that down half-hour. I have a few to add to your list based on my experience as a commuter from Westchester County to Manhattan as well as a busy professional shuttling around Manhattan regularly:

1. Audible.com: I listen to a number of great business books on my iPhone. For example, I recently listened to Mitch Joel's "Six Pixels of Separation" via audible. It is a tremendous service and it is a great way to do all the "reading" you can't get to. Currently, I am listening to "Trust Agents" courtesy of Audible.

2. Podcasts: I love to listen to Leo Laporte's "This Week in Tech" and "Net at Nite" on my iPhone. My new current fave is "This Week in Start Ups" from Jason Calacanis. It is always inspirtng and informative and great to listen to on the subway or walking to the office in NYC.

3. Kindle: I am a woman so it is easy to place my kindle in my bag. I am currently reading Gary Vaynerchuk's book "Crush It" on the Kindle.

4. Retweet comments from friends and colleagues on Twitter

5. Wireless USB: I don't go anywhere without it - it gives me computer access everywhere I go. This AM while waiting for a colleague for breakfast at the Antique Cafe, I started this comment. Now I am at the Hospital for Special Surgery waiting for the nurse on my pre-hip replacement operation check up. And believe me, as soon as the anesthesia wears off next Thursday, I will be tweeting, blogging, commenting and more as well as following all of Chris's recommendations in this blog post! In fact, I know it will help me use the time in the hospital productively!

6. Mentor Moments: I have had the privilege to mentor many young people, particularly students and recent alumni from my undergraduate school. I often use this time to check in with them, schedule time with them or follow up on questions.

7. Thank You Time: Use email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or the greater consciousness to say thanks to the people in your life professionally and personally.

We all can make more of our days and technology is our great ally!

Thanks again Chris for great insights

Those are all terrific ideas, Chris. We all have unproductive time, but there are good ways to put it to use. I love writing Linkedin recommendations for other people. I also alway look for good bloggers. (Mine is www.fearlesscompetitor.com, by the way.) Finding interesting people on Twitter is also fun and productive.

Bottom line. There's lots of good stuff you can do every day.

Jeff Ogden, President
Find New Customers
"Lead Generation Made Simple"
http://www.findnewcustomers.net

My instinctive response was to hit the gym or engage in another "sharpen the saw" activity. The paradox is that by taking strategic moments to rejuvenate oneself, one can be more effective when engaged in whatever business is at hand. As a classic Type A, naturally energetic person, I tend to forget that and find that my engine is out of fuel.

Thanks for the forum!

Read some of those bookmarked sites or starred blog posts you've been meaning to get to.

I'd add - update your LinkedIn profile status often and make sure it's 100% complete. Oh and tell loved ones you love them (inc pets)

Love the suggestions and I would add, write a love letter to your son or daughter if you have one.

Listen to half a Boagworld podcast (or if absolutely necessary skim through the banter and get through the whole hour show in half an hour)

Call your mother. (That's what my Mom would tell me to do with an extra half hour.) :)

Turn everything off, computer, laptop, cellphone, blackberry, everything. Call your significant other. Ask her how her/his day is going and listen to them like you did when you first met.

If you can't reach them. Grab a piece of paper. Write them a letter. Tell them how they make your life worth living. Find a stamp and mail it.

ROI will be through the roof

Grab a team member and spend some actively listening to him/her. You can more than from social media after all.

Interesting. I already do #2 regularly. I love commenting on up-and-coming blogs because I find it to be one of the best ways to find new readers. Being a part of the community as it is built creates friends and colleagues, while commenting on many pro blogs can cause a person to get lost in the sea of commentors.

Start writing that book you claim to never have time to start.

If I had an extra hour, I would use it for cardio training as I always come back refreshed, inspired, and with some of my best creative ideas. I already do daily cardio training. Sometimes I escape into my own thoughts, sometimes I just embrace the great arts of Mother Nature, sometimes I make those personal phone calls I've been deferring. "Hello Mum" ...

Use the time to Re-focus on what you are going to do that day.

Great way of looking at it Chris. Since getting the iphone a few weeks ago, I now love waiting in queues or traveling, as I can just get stuff done! The biggest one for me is reading. I wish I had more time to read blogs and I love using those few extra minutes to consume more information.

Yeah I'd agree with this and maybe add something like "start writing your own killer blog post" or "do that one thing you have been dreading" and it will seem like a massive bonus. Doing the stuff on your list will come back and help you in the long run for sure.

Close your eyes and free your mind of all the details you usually deal with. Breath deeply and remind yourself of what is most important to you in this life. Then get back to work.

mmmm,

look at the task list you have waiting and select some from there.

use the opportunity to go outside and get some fresh air, on your own, with a colleague, whatever.

ring someone close to you and tell them you love them.

ask a colleague if there is something you can do to help them.

This is why I enjoy this blog. This is something simple that many people might think - duh - but they find themselves wasting time at their desk for a free period when they could be maximizing that time. This is going up on my cube wall as a reminder.

Reach out and say hello to some folks in my pipeline. Spread some of the love.

Clean up my bookmarks & desktop. If you arre like me, it can get very messy. :)

I love "Read and comment on five blog posts(especially if they’re up-and-coming bloggers vs the pros). " - Whenever I have free time I go through my Google Reader, before I can Share or Star a post I make myself leave a comment on it.

Take your Moleskin notebook out of bag. Start from the first page and skim over the notes you have been taking over the past weeks. Does anything jump out at you that you forgot to action on. Rewrite your old ideas into new ones and brainstorm ways you can put them into action

Try the (free) Peace of Mind Attunement at: http://www.lindawhitedove.com/Attunement_Sample...

Share it with a friend.

I like to find a blog that I've never seen before... preferably I this would be a blog that is fairly local to me. Then I have to find something to leave a comment on. Sometimes this takes more than 30 min.

Looks like we're in agreement that we all need a 24.5 hour day - make it so! ;)

Great advice - a 30 minute block is a gift! One addition, if I may, we are in a digital world, I still always carry a book or a industry reading file. If I have to wait 10 minutes for a meeting to start, I can read an article or two in that time.

Add a Google Alert that searches for a topic of interest and send results to your RSS reader.

I would sleep. Bump that daily total to 4.5 hours.

Take your Moleskine notebook out of bag. Take the top off your fountain pen and write whatever comes into your head. Write without thought, without intention. Simply write... You'll be a better person to meet after that.

Draw. A half-hour is enough time to bang out something worthwhile, or make a start on a larger project by sketching/thumbnailing. I believe that drawing, or any time you use your hands to make something, is intimately connected to thinking, so I'll often find myself coming up with new ideas even as I'm working on something different.

It's also good to get away from the computer for a bit.

If I have a free half hour, some things I try to do - clean off my desk (for a digital world the paper sure stacks up fast!), comment on blog posts, read some blogs completely outside of my normal reading to look for ideas or just interesting content, send an email to see how someone is doing, browse flickr for photos I can comment on/link to/otherwise interact with and so many other things. Napping and cleaning the kitchen are good suggestions too!

Check out google analytics and see where your web visitors are coming from-- have you been reaching your target audience?

Organize yourself a bit. Clean out your Inbox, all unread emails or whatnot and clean your desk! getting more organized will make you feel better :-)

Call (not email) two people from your LinkedIn contacts list that you haven't spoken to in more than six months. It's surprisingly easy to keep your network alive with a couple of calls a week!

Add, search Google and Bing NEWS on subjects of interest found that day on search.twitter.com and Alltop.com . Good leads to write on Blog topics to cover.

CR Cataunya Ransom
Life Title: Undecided For Now
http://mosnarcommunications.blogspot.com
http://www.CRandKyle.Info

Meditate, or take a power nap.

Take that moment to call or text your significant other. In the course of the day, isn't it amazing how we can spend so much time on projects, deadlines, posts, replies, comments, yet, we don't give as much time as we should to those people we love the most? Maybe it's only me...:)

Excellent point Egbert. It's so easy to get caught up in all of the tasks of the day that we don't often think to take the time to remind others how important they are to us!

Completely agree. We get so focused on career that we often overlook the network that got us there. Yes, call your grandmother. I can almost guarantee that something she says will help you in work and life.

Great reminder Egbert - this is often lost.

Learn something new and relevant to your mission... my favorite learning-on-the-go site is www.lynda.com

Get out of the house/office take a walk snap a picture with your phone. Have a coffee. Anything but work.

Go back to review quarterly or annual plans to ensure everything is on track for client programs

call someone. amazing how a 5 minute phone call to encourage someone can go a long way.

Wait. Did you just say that people have an extra half hour in their day? Can those who have 30 minutes to spare toss those 1800 seconds my way? I need them. Joking, but serious.

If I had the extra 30 minutes, I'd jump on Twitter and ask the simple question: How can I help you today?

DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow

10) Close your door, get a plain white piece of paper and brain dump everything that is taking up mental energy. I then start knocking them off in order of how little time they will take to do. 10 minutes later your head is clear. you have a few easy things completed and feeling of accomplishment and a sense of momentum.

nthing meditate. For those without experience with it, try pushing your chair back from your desk, putting your hands in your lap, closing your eyes and just breathing. As thoughts pop into your mind, let them, and keep in mind that by noticing thoughts you are not defined by them, because you are the entity noticing them.

Also, whatever it means to you to practice gratitude, do that. It will help you in life and business.

I don't necessarily think that it has to always be about being super productive and networking and commenting on things 100% of the time. I'd add this:

"Do a simple breathing exercise, or go outside for a walk. Take time to be at peace with yourself and clear your mind."

Chris, this is great advice. I partake in a few that you suggested already but I like the idea of turning it into something constructive more than "play."

So ironic that you posted this today Chris, as I have an unexpected free half hour today during lunch. I cannot "sit still" EVER!

I keep a notebook with me at all times which I jot down ideas for all things blog and social media related including people I want to interact with and guest post for, things I want to expand on/improve on my blog and my general life to-do list. I find that this notebook helps me fill dull moments and stay productive throughout the days. After a while you can really see the momentum and progress this notebook creates!

Meditate. Fit a quiet spot, sit, and observe where your thoughts pull you.

As you mentioned Chris it's amazing how one can waste time. Instead of devoting the 30 minutes toward a goal achieving activity most just throw it away.

Use every minute of your day wisely.

Great stuff Chris. Bookmarked and printed.

1. write a thank you note.
2. follow 10 more people in twitter
3. file
4. call your mother
5. get up and take a walk

Thanks Chris! Good suggestions (some I already try to do). I just wrote them out on some scratch paper and posted them on my bulletin bored above my monitors with the title - "Bored?"

Honestly, it is probably stuff I'll do when I am procrastinating - but at least I'm still be productive!

Yup... it's hard not to slip from productivity to procratinatory (that is completely a word I just decided to make up).

Set up Google Reader to finally compile all those RSS feeds you've been wanting to follow! Makes #2 on this list that much easier!

Thanks for asking :)

I would add - Meditate. How does this help your business relationships?

1) In the time of stress you will calm down
2) You will think more clearly
3) You will become more pleasant to be around
4) Your energy levels will rise

I believe of those to be value adding items because you will attract more clarity and positive people into your life :)

Best,
Tomas

Follow No.2, I come here and post a comment, good idea for marketing.

Excellent post Chris, even more so as I just realized I have 1 free hour due to a meeting cancellation!

One idea is to take 10 min to walk around the office and connect with someone you wouldn't usually connect on a day to day basis. Pick someone from a different team ideally, someone from the customer service, development, accounting or operations team. Ask questions to get them to share their personal views on subjects like: challenges their team faces, perspective on how the organization is doing and of course ideas on how to improve. This is more of a listening exercise. (you could also take some time to educate them on social business strategies and some of the cool things you'd doing in marketing)

I find opening up like this helps build more meaningful connections at work that help make the organization more efficient. We in the social marketing teams usually spend most time focusing on the outside, but should also take some time to help improve the internal network connections that make up the organization, if you know what I mean!

You'd be surprised to hear what some people have to say and the contributions they can make to help you or vice-versa.

Thoughts?

I like the ideas of up and coming bloggers. I guess one thing I would do is schedule time to speak with up and coming bloggers. They have been a big part of what's driving my content ideas and production lately.

Skype a friend and have a good gossip!

Take 1 minute to breathe, 5 minutes to catch up on Chris Brogan's blogs/free newsletters, and call your mother with the remaining time.

Great list Chris! I would add to that what toni said as well as clean up your desk space and desktop on your computer. Little things like that can make a big difference.

How about a nap, I am getting enough done already :-)

Call a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while.

Send two clients notes of appreciation the old fashion way, through snail mail.

-Move your lead-capture/call-to-action button/link to the bottom left hand side of your content. You know you've been meaning to.

-Clear your head. Look at any random page of your website. Would someone landing here do what you want them to?

-Set up a few Google alerts. (I finally bothered to do this a few days ago with my ridiculous long list of keywords, after thinking about it for months. It's already helping!)

-Read one of those e-books you've downloaded and have been meaning to get back to.

-For you work at home types: Clean the kitchen. It will improve your productivity, I promise.

Watch a TED (http://www.ted.com/) presentation on a topic you're interested in.

Re-visit a completed project and see if they are any additional improvements/key learnings you can take away. Going back with a clear mind you can see something you might have missed before.

I like to keep a reading file at my desk. If I have some free time I go into the reading file and catch up on articles or blog posts that I wanted to read.

Catch up on traditional news-CNN, NY Times, etc.

Great post and great list Chris. I'd add to the list to read a chunk of Trust Agents! ;) It's among four Social Media books on my shelf at work I'm trying to get to!!!

Pray. Talk to G-d in your own words. Give charity.

Volunteer. Just adding to the list of great ideas.

Update old blog posts with keywords (especially in those posts from the time before Thesis and All in one SEO)

This kind of articles make want to go and do the things suggested, cause it reminds me that they are important. Connect and help!

thanks for the great blog post

Some quick things to do with just a few of those 30 minutes to organize yourself:

1. Organize your purse and/or make a copy of everything in your wallet (e.g., credit cards)...this will help you know who to call if you lose it...
2. Check your calendar/deadlines for the rest of the week
3. Put away/file 5 things in 5 minutes (or 10 things in 10 minutes)

Take a walk and clear your brain

I like to sort out the ideas I have and decide which platform are best suited for distribution (blog, video, webinar, etc.) It helps me formulate the direction I want to take that particular idea.

I always have the latest book I'm reading with me, it's often the only time I find myself reading material that isn't online.

Taken note of points 1, 2, 3 and 4! Stumble is simply fantastic. My find for the day has to be http://www.toxel.com/...loving their work ! :)


Also check your site health, see where your audience is coming from (country, time-zone), how long they're spending on the which page.

Also spend 5 minutes a week to keep you Twitter lists and Facebook groups totally up-to-date devoid of any spam.

Random acts of kindness - send an e-card to someone who needs some encouragement. Retweet or recommend an under-appreciated Tweeter. Rate, download, or buy some great work from an independent artist or author.

I was going to say a random act of kindness :)

When I used to catch the bus home from work I would generally sleep (it's about a 45min bus ride and I usually always need to catch up on some sleep) but sometimes I would sacrifice my sleep and try and help people out on twitter through my iPhone.

It felt really good to be able to connect and help others and make a small difference. A small sacrifice but worth it. :)

Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com

Take five or ten of those thirty minutes and perform some sort of meditation. Clean the clutter from your brain and feel refreshed.