January 3, 2010 63 Comments

Some Days It Looks Like I’m Not Working

But I am. When I’m carrying on a few conversations in Twitter, I’m also working through business deliverables. When I’m posting links to things, that’s also work. When I’m commenting on blog posts, yep, that’s work, too.

No, I don’t have time to chat, even though my tweets seem conversational. No, I’m not able to take a quick phone call.

I’m multithreading. I know it looks like I’m just tweeting to tweet, or adding comments or facebooking or any of the other things we do in social media, but I’m also doing my job.

Tweeting is part of my job.

I’ll always connect when I’ve a moment. You’re just as important as ever.

Please just understand that work looks a lot different from my desk than yours some days.

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julito77

Nice way to sum this up. When the vast majority of people stop seeing social media as a “time-waster” and more as a true way to connect and grow a brand, then this issue of social media as frivolous fun will just go away. Nice post, as always. Happy 2010.
janmarino

You're so right….the old way of thinking is that Twitter, etc is a time suck….it's not if it's part of your business plan and a marketing tool…I'm still working at figuring it all out, so thanks for showing the way….much appreciated!
http://subject2.com Nick Johnson

Chris, your interaction in social media seems as though it's not your job but rather, just you enjoying connecting and interacting. If you're 'working' then you're doing a great job at it because it doesn't seem like its work coming from you.
http://www.twistimage.com/blog mitchjoel

Great post Chris and very timely. I think the challenge with this is (and trust me, I deal with this on a daily basis) is that when people who don't do what we do look around and see our constant and consistent flow of content (Twitter, Blogs, flickr, Facebook, etc…), they do ask: when does this person have any time to get my work done?

It's a semi-fair question, and I have hopes that Blog posts like this will help them better understand what work “is” and how many of us “get things done.”
natfinn

No need to explain.

Those who need it explained to them ain't quite figured it out yet – and that's okay too.

Your desk probably looks different than this lazyboy, which looks different from the couch over there, which looks different at the coffee tables…
http://www.sitesketch101.com Nicholas Z. Cardot

We completely understand. Stay busy and live the dream my friend. You're very conversational as it is and we all appreciate that.
http://www.twitter.com/danieldecker Daniel Decker

Glad you said this in the way that you did. I don't know how many times I've had someone say “I wish I had time to sit around and Tweet all day or read/comment on blogs,” implying that doing so is not work. For me it is work but work I enjoy. Staying connected is important and I can choose to do it whenever I wish.
http://blog.adsdevshop.com Robert Dempsey

I'm lucky enough to have made social media a big part of my job as well. Life is grand.
http://www.onlineinvestingai.com/blog/ George

Yes, that's a great way of thinking about it. Tweeting is work!
http://www.bizworks360.com Mary Ann Halford

Chris, thanks for a post that gives some more insights on your work stream and how it weaves into your social media presence. As a professional impressed by your level of productivity on all fronts, I am curious as to what social media tools you use most to help you maximize your productivity. In the meantime, thanks for sharing this blog post.
http://blog.optimalupgrades.ca Elie

Precisely – if someone is playing baseball, it might look like relaxation, unless they're being paid millions to do it, in which case, it's work.
http://www.BeyondThePedway.com Tim Jahn

Work is actions that are compensated. If someone pays you to poke polar bears, then that's work.
http://twitter.com/LauraScholz Laura Scholz

Great post, Chris. And it definitely speaks to what Mitch pointed out–seen as individuals tweets or posts or uploads, the activity on these platforms can seem pointless or frivolous, when collectively, they are part of a greater business strategy and essential for anyone in our line of work.
http://efrainmendicuti.wordpress.com/ EfrainMendicuti

Absolutely right Chris! Thank you for sharing this! Like Mitch says, hopefully posts like this will help people who are in a different line of business understand how our day to day is at work. Now a days, collaboration with every and anybody is a crucial part of anybodys's job.
http://www.erikorganic.com/bedroom/cedar-chest.shtml cedar chests

If you really love what you are doing it does not matter if you're making money or not. But in this present situation, money is a must. LOL
remarkablogger

Tweeting is marketing. You're a social media guy. Duh, right? :-)
http://website-in-a-weekend.net/ Dave Doolin

No doubt.

Commenting on blogs used to be an easy way to waste time.

Now commenting is an intellectually and emotionally demanding task required for building a network of distributed relationships.
http://anastasiaashman.wordpress.com/ Thandelike

Yep, using social media is 'non-traditional' work slowly becoming better understood — but due to all the silly Ashton Kutcher headlines and Farmville fiascos, still far undervalued.

I've done non-traditional work on my own for decades and am often asked by people what I do with myself all day, why don't I come out and play if I'm not busy. They also think I am always available on the phone. Someone who benefitted greatly from a 2hr brain-picking phone call with me (I wouldn't fall for that again) then followed up with an email asking to meet for coffee (for more brain-picking) “if I don't have a day-job”.

In 2010 I aim to be more respectful of other's work — and time, and energy — whether I can see and understand how it's being expended or not.
http://stickyslides.blogspot.com Jan Schultink

Love that IKEA frog. My kids have one as well.
http://www.kherize5.com Suzanne Vara

People forget that leaving comments on blogs is work as you are reading and learning new ways to help your clients, you are interacting with your peers as if you would at lunch (albeit in type instead of voice), and ultimately social media is more than a tweet here and there.

The more popular people become the more people want and expect of them. Expect is a big part of this. There is no real balance with social media as we are expected to be around all the time. Sleep is a luxury and many times optional. This seems to be prompted from something and the notion that anyone would have to justify when they work in social media is ridiculous, People always have so much to say and criticize but what about family, personal friends – they are the ones who receive the short end of the stick as social media folks are always working.

Social media is a lot of work and a lot of prep goes into it. as it is 1:17am I am sure many of us can all relate to the non-stop working and begging for more hours to fit it all in.
http://BuckingtheRealEstateTrend.com SusieBlackmon

Happy New Year Chris.
http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan Walsh

Chris,

Don’t shoot me but, remember when a friend suggested to you to be more ‘kingly’…

She was onto something there!

I take a different view than most of the others, possibly because I’m a little longer in the tooth, so to speak and (maybe) have different expectations. Dodgy word, I know.

I’ve seen you mature over the past 18 months. The tone, style and position you take has changed considerably. What you did in 2006, 07, 08, 09 was great but that’s over.

For example, Sir Richard Branson filtered out the whacky element of his personality as he went towards big business. He had too otherwise he’d always be that weirdy beardy guy. But Branson is great. He’s still true to himself, but just more grown up.

I guess what I’m saying is that you don’t have to play to the crowds.

Hope that doesn't sound harsh. Not meant to.
jnswanson

Sometimes when I am getting coofee from our coffeemaker at work I am open to chat. Sometimes I smile and ask a question related to the project at hand. When I walk from one part of the building to another, sometimes I have someone walk alongside so I can explain an idea. Sometimes we're just walking the same direction and talk about weekend plans.

If you skimmed off the words at those points and examined them, they would look a lot like a twitter stream. At least yours.
http://www.synapticlight.com/ SynapticLight

awesome :)
building relationships builds credibility, especially online. Tweet on.
now I just need to convince my friends that tweeting is not random time wasting; but in fact building relationships, presence, trust (yes even the RT)
(and commenting on blogs)
everything is intentional :)
christinagammon

I know what you mean. I turn on the computer, stop at Facebook, and instantly have 10 chats up. I need to remember to switch it to offline.
My boyfriend doesn't understand my work. To him, being on Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc isn't work. I just look at him and say, “I know! Don't I have the best job!”
http://thoughtbythought.net Tre

I am in love with this term: multi – threading…
ahhhhh….

yes….
that sez it so well.

thanks for that image.
and no questions from this kid…
you keep wearin that there frog hat….and doin what you do best. sure as heck is teaching me much. ;)
DKWilsonviola

Preaching to the choir there mate ;)
I've been arguing this since I started freelancing with my then newborn son (he's now ten). Just because I'm watching FTP upload files doesn't mean I'm not working (troubleshooting an especially wierd problem with permissions on servers), or just because I don't call 'writing' work (it's my vocation actually, it's not my fault I love it ;)) doesn't mean I'm not committed, dedicated, or can't chat all day.
I think part of it is up until maybe my son's generation, we were raised to believe that work wasn't anything you could easily do from home – or if you did, you were highly specialised, like a seamstress. With the advent of social and personal interchangablity (which I talk about on my linguistics blog quite a bit :)), we're all stuck in a no man's land where we don't know if people are serious about working, or if we're goofing off – if we're genuinely engaging with people, or procrastinating. Social media is the new writers of our workforce generation – you'll get taken 'seriously' in that sense, i.e, 'I'm working' in about….errr…still waiting ;)
mariatamis99

Hi Chris..
Hey Chris you are doing really an incredible work to promote your business as well as you are managing your job which is really very tough work..

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sharonhayes

I can so relate to this. I often have clients, friends and associates that see I am tweeting and make the assumption that means I am available to talk – not understanding that much of what I do on Twitter is actually work. Social media is simply part of what I do. It contributes to new business, supports relationships with existing clients and is about building trust. Although much of the time I spend on social media is fit in around larger work tasks, I do actually schedule much of it. So an IM or phone call that comes in while working on it can throw my work schedule off.
http://www.johnpaulaguiar.com John Paul

lol great post, makes me feel good about all the “work” I do each day. I tried to explain my “work” to family last week and they looked at me like I had 2 heads..lol
scrawfordbit

Chris…I know how it goes mate…I am the exact same way.
http://lianalehua.com fittorrent

Your activites appear to fall perfectly under the umbrella of your 3 Words. You're focused on your projects at hand. How you get things done is different than those who have embraced social media as a way to work. Those individuals won't understand how you could possibly be working. I certainly get it and appreciate how you lead by example and walk your talk. I particularly appreciate how you are working via Twitter, blog comments, and Facebook instead of spending valuable time with chats and phone calls to offer your valuable expertise and insight to others. Chats and phone calls can be time wasters by allowing for tangential conversation.

I especially love text and Twitter, because these mediums force people to keep their communications precise. This helps me keep my workflow efficient. When it's time, we can grab a bite and chat about life during non-working times.
http://oldmedianewtricks.com Daniel_Honigman

Obvious that someone's been giving you some crap, Chris. Ignore it.
patgermelman

Thank you for writing this blog post. No, thank you a thousand times for writing this blog post. If I thanked you every day the rest of my life, I couldn't thank you enough. O.K. I am being just a tad melodramatic. But I DO appreciate the validation. Recently had an email from an old colleague that actually owns his own marketing company. Said HE doesn't have time for social media. No tweets for him. Nope. He's way too busy for trivialities. It smarted when he sent it for a second until I realized he is the big doofus, not me. He's in marketing for cripes sake. Thank you, again, times a bazillion.
http://www.rocknrealty.net Nanette Labastida

I figure any connection i make, in person, on twitter or any social media, or anyway i make my presence known in a relevant manner, is working. and i like it that way!
http://apartmentmarketing101.blogspot.com/ CharityHisle

This was GREAT! Thanks Chris, for saying what we're all thinking.
http://www.bertmeert.com/ Bert Meert

That's the beauty of it :-) Where there is a difference in perspective, that's where you find opportunities.
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Yep. It works perfectly well as a hat, too.
http://twitter.com/addoway Addoway.com

I totally agree – you can no longer tweet just to tweet – it takes time to say what you want to and before that time to spend researching and notetaking.

There is no doubt there is work going on here and yes I know you can't take calls. I have already tried :) Your wife said you were unavailable.

Have a great 2010
http://twitter.com/JohnAtkinson JohnAtkinson

I'm thinking I may be one of the 6 dozen people who inspired this post :).

Really appreciate that you give so much of yourself to your community.
http://beaconhillnw.com Jim Gray

Now that i'm working, i truly understand this.most peeps think in just sit on fb all day, when in fact, i'm getting paid to manage profiles and accounts.
http://www.GabeTaviano.com Gabe Taviano

True. Dat.
teresacleveland

Just the other day, after glancing over at my laptop, my 12 year old said “I thought you said you were working Mom. You're just playing around on Facebook.” My husband and I both started laughing & he explained that Facebook & Twitter are part of my job. Even though he doesn't use social media as a power engineer, he gets it…and now so does my daughter. Gotta love it!
matthewneedham

You just need to ensure that the time spent on twitter or facebook is proportionate to the return (in site visitors / actions) that you put into it. For example if most of your converting traffic comes from Facebook, then you're time is best spent on Facebook surely?
bkjrecruiter

Chris- Your doing a great service to your community…. I will thank you for that every time I write a comment…

You have an expert level undersrtanding of the “service”

Keep pressing…
http://www.retirepreneur.com Donna Kastner/Retirepreneur

Imagine if companies scaled back meetings by 10% and redirected that energy to social media connections with clients, partners & colleagues? In the words of my grandpa, they'd be “smarter than two colleges” ;)
Chris

Thanks Chris – a timely post for me. Today is the first day I've decided to do all my tech headline scanning, blog reading, social media exploration at work… because it IS work – it's what I do. The feeling like I'm stealing cookies will take some time to get over, but your post is a step in the right direction.
;)
TaylorEllwood

I'm curious as to why you even need to justify this? Commenting on blogs is definitely a valid part of work at this point, so is interacting in social media sites, if that's what you do…which it is.
Kris Spurley

Spectacular use of the word “multithreading.” Think I'm going to site this at my next department meeting.
computertips

“Tweeting is part of my job.” – I like that statement…
I have just joined Twitter…hmm…got just 19 followers…in 2 days..
Thanks,
http://twitter.com/GreenBreez

Some Days It Looks Like I’m Not Working

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