September 28, 2010 35 Comments

What Are You Doing

To Do

We all work a lot of hours. Are we actually doing anything? Is what you’re doing worth it? Are you doing something that’s going to grow the world? Are you adding to the solutions that are out there?

Or is it noise?

How much social do you need? How much networking do you need? How are you balancing between the time you’re spending participating and the time you’re spending making?

That’s what’s on my mind.

What are you doing?

(Strangely different when someone other than Twitter asks you, isn’t it?)

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  • http://twitter.com/jesskry Jessica Krywosa

    I’d expand that to ‘is what you’re doing bettering your life or just noise?’. Work is work, life is life and hopefully we can do both in a happy way. :)

  • http://twitter.com/z_rose Zoe Rose

    I’ve got a concrete deliverable for my employer that I’m working on, but in my other brain, I’m sorting out a business plan for my own business (which, cross fingers, will help some teachers in years to come). Every time I read a ‘don’t!’ or ‘do!’ via twitter, I add that to the corresponding don’t/do file in my other brain. So far I’ve used my ‘don’t’ and ‘do’ lists extensively – for my employer. So my employer is benefiting, and cross-fingers/added bonus, my future business might too. That’s what I’m doing.

  • http://www.rerockstar.com Matt Stigliano – @rerockstar

    Chris – Ah, the double edged sword or work/busy work, playtime/grindstone, creating/shuffling papers, eating/playing with your food.

    I think (too much in general) about this occasionally and here’s the root of the problem in my mind.

    If we ask ourselves, we often lie to ourselves.
    If we ask others, we hem and haw and even take offense.

    Neither provides a solution. My personal solution? Setting a solid time block everyday for the five things I know will create more business and better the business I have. I’ve just begun this exercise so I can’t claim it works, but I believe it will, so I will make it work.

    Sometimes someone has to lay the hammer down – that’s what it took for me. I had to submit to someone else’s rule. I don’t like being told what to do, but at this point, it’s working for me.

  • Anonymous

    Work less, and do more Fun things in your life is what counts. Dedicating certain amount of days in a week for your work and the rest should be for your family, your hubbies, and actually living and not existing. One should live in order to be able to work, but not work in order to be able to live. Balance is the key.

  • http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan Biddulph

    Hi Chris,

    I’m always trying to tweak this. I’ve gone bonkers with value over the past few months – 400 plus vids on youtube, etc – but now am networking like mad to the get word out. It’s a delicate balance but since I live by the clock taking effective action usually isn’t a problem for me.

    Ryan

  • http://twitter.com/winwinapps winwin apps

    I had a meeting last night with 12 other solo business owners. This was one of our questions for sure. What exactly had we done that day. Tired of asking myself the whole social media return on investment questions I whipped up a super short spreadsheet to analyze my results from twitter, fb and linked in. Made it public if you all care to plug in your numbers. Like the blue post its too.

  • http://twitter.com/slobotski Jeff Slobotski

    Yet another great post (and more importantly a reminder)…

    Thanks Chris for continuing to inspire!

  • http://twitter.com/BTRIPP Brendan Tripp

    Chris …

    I spend what most people would consider WAY too much time on Twitter, as I try to read every post by every account I follow every day. Why? Well, as you know, I’m in a long-term job search, and I find most of the job openings I apply to via Twitter, I find out about most of the networking events I go to via Twitter, I make most “new contacts” via Twitter, and I get most of the material for my “The Job Stalker” blog (over on the Tribune’s ChicagoNow site) via Twitter.

    Obviously, if this were actually WORKING (towards achieving my ultimate goal of getting employed), I wouldn’t still be doing it 16 months since my last employer went out of business (I am, naturally enough, willing to cede a certain amount of that frustration to the economy, although that is sounding more and more like “an excuse”). However, in terms of “mileposts”, I’ve attended a dozen (or more) networking events in the month of September and gotten out something like 70 resumes … but, without a job (or even any interviews) in the offing, I do have to ask myself “is it noise?”.

    Most days I feel like an athlete consigned (for no apparent reason) “to the bench”, and I end up, with increasing angst, having to watch OTHERS “get into the game”, with NOTHING I can do to change my status of “sidelined”.

    This is where the deepest frustration comes in: I am removed from “making” because of the desperation of needing to provide for my family … and yet nothing I do seems to get me closer to those goals. At least with the Social Media “activity”, I have measurable uses of my time which have the POTENTIAL of producing results. What I’m sure to regret over the long term is having “lost” at least a year and a half of my life to activities that are have not only been pointless (so far), but “not what I do well”.

    Needless to say, I’m looking forward to your webinar on Thursday!

    - B.T.

  • http://twitter.com/BTRIPP Brendan Tripp

    Chris …

    I spend what most people would consider WAY too much time on Twitter, as I try to read every post by every account I follow every day. Why? Well, as you know, I’m in a long-term job search, and I find most of the job openings I apply to via Twitter, I find out about most of the networking events I go to via Twitter, I make most “new contacts” via Twitter, and I get most of the material for my “The Job Stalker” blog (over on the Tribune’s ChicagoNow site) via Twitter.

    Obviously, if this were actually WORKING (towards achieving my ultimate goal of getting employed), I wouldn’t still be doing it 16 months since my last employer went out of business (I am, naturally enough, willing to cede a certain amount of that frustration to the economy, although that is sounding more and more like “an excuse”). However, in terms of “mileposts”, I’ve attended a dozen (or more) networking events in the month of September and gotten out something like 70 resumes … but, without a job (or even any interviews) in the offing, I do have to ask myself “is it noise?”.

    Most days I feel like an athlete consigned (for no apparent reason) “to the bench”, and I end up, with increasing angst, having to watch OTHERS “get into the game”, with NOTHING I can do to change my status of “sidelined”.

    This is where the deepest frustration comes in: I am removed from “making” because of the desperation of needing to provide for my family … and yet nothing I do seems to get me closer to those goals. At least with the Social Media “activity”, I have measurable uses of my time which have the POTENTIAL of producing results. What I’m sure to regret over the long term is having “lost” at least a year and a half of my life to activities that are have not only been pointless (so far), but “not what I do well”.

    Needless to say, I’m looking forward to your webinar on Thursday!

    - B.T.

  • http://twitter.com/BTRIPP Brendan Tripp

    Chris …

    I spend what most people would consider WAY too much time on Twitter, as I try to read every post by every account I follow every day. Why? Well, as you know, I’m in a long-term job search, and I find most of the job openings I apply to via Twitter, I find out about most of the networking events I go to via Twitter, I make most “new contacts” via Twitter, and I get most of the material for my “The Job Stalker” blog (over on the Tribune’s ChicagoNow site) via Twitter.

    Obviously, if this were actually WORKING (towards achieving my ultimate goal of getting employed), I wouldn’t still be doing it 16 months since my last employer went out of business (I am, naturally enough, willing to cede a certain amount of that frustration to the economy, although that is sounding more and more like “an excuse”). However, in terms of “mileposts”, I’ve attended a dozen (or more) networking events in the month of September and gotten out something like 70 resumes … but, without a job (or even any interviews) in the offing, I do have to ask myself “is it noise?”.

    Most days I feel like an athlete consigned (for no apparent reason) “to the bench”, and I end up, with increasing angst, having to watch OTHERS “get into the game”, with NOTHING I can do to change my status of “sidelined”.

    This is where the deepest frustration comes in: I am removed from “making” because of the desperation of needing to provide for my family … and yet nothing I do seems to get me closer to those goals. At least with the Social Media “activity”, I have measurable uses of my time which have the POTENTIAL of producing results. What I’m sure to regret over the long term is having “lost” at least a year and a half of my life to activities that are have not only been pointless (so far), but “not what I do well”.

    Needless to say, I’m looking forward to your webinar on Thursday!

    - B.T.

  • http://www.kherize5.com Suzanne Vara

    Chris

    This coincides quite well with the Social Media Metrics post as what matters. If chitty chat gets you sales then by all means chitty chat. I do not want to go so far as saying it is measurable however in a way it is. If doing X gets you to accomplish your goals then run with it but if it causing a bit of a hurdle, then reevaluate.

    I think really for many it is still a learning experience. And that is great so long as you are evaluating what is working and what is not to get to your goals. I see so many people saying I just want people to read my blog. Ok, do nothing else but read it so that you have good traffic stats? No, you want people to read the blog and take action. Be honest here – you want them to come and read, comment, share and hey while you are there check out the other pages I created just in case you may know someone that may be interested. That is a far cry from just wanting people to read. The what are you doing starts here. Now create a plan to make put into play the action.

  • http://www.kherize5.com Suzanne Vara

    Chris

    This coincides quite well with the Social Media Metrics post as what matters. If chitty chat gets you sales then by all means chitty chat. I do not want to go so far as saying it is measurable however in a way it is. If doing X gets you to accomplish your goals then run with it but if it causing a bit of a hurdle, then reevaluate.

    I think really for many it is still a learning experience. And that is great so long as you are evaluating what is working and what is not to get to your goals. I see so many people saying I just want people to read my blog. Ok, do nothing else but read it so that you have good traffic stats? No, you want people to read the blog and take action. Be honest here – you want them to come and read, comment, share and hey while you are there check out the other pages I created just in case you may know someone that may be interested. That is a far cry from just wanting people to read. The what are you doing starts here. Now create a plan to make put into play the action.

  • Anonymous

    It is hard to balance the “doing” we all have in life and adding all this social media makes it even more challenging. However the reward is when you see an impact from what you are doing and the balance comes from those small wins.

    Just a little math can help you see if your contribution is paying off in social media. Keep a tally of the mentions, messages and real conversions. This should give you a quick indication of your success and if it is not the reward you expect then you need to adapt and change.

    Yesterday I was listening to David Sze on TC Disrupt. I mentioned on twitter that I liked what he had to say and he responded with a thank you. For me that is a win and I feel like I contributed to my social media network.

    Yesterday I was reading a book by the author of this blog and I got to the point about commenting and actively commenting. It is funny that you have this post today and from my point of view many of the answers are in what you had to say about commenting: “Leave 10 comments today and then 10 tomorrow, even if some are just thank-you notes. They’ll quickly become a staple of your daily online activities and reading what others have to say will help you develop you own ideas as well as leave an impression on those who follow you.”

    I think your advice is exactly why we keep doing more in social media and the balance is found from the rewards and ideas we receive from our involvement.

  • Anonymous

    It is hard to balance the “doing” we all have in life and adding all this social media makes it even more challenging. However the reward is when you see an impact from what you are doing and the balance comes from those small wins.

    Just a little math can help you see if your contribution is paying off in social media. Keep a tally of the mentions, messages and real conversions. This should give you a quick indication of your success and if it is not the reward you expect then you need to adapt and change.

    Yesterday I was listening to David Sze on TC Disrupt. I mentioned on twitter that I liked what he had to say and he responded with a thank you. For me that is a win and I feel like I contributed to my social media network.

    Yesterday I was reading a book by the author of this blog and I got to the point about commenting and actively commenting. It is funny that you have this post today and from my point of view many of the answers are in what you had to say about commenting: “Leave 10 comments today and then 10 tomorrow, even if some are just thank-you notes. They’ll quickly become a staple of your daily online activities and reading what others have to say will help you develop you own ideas as well as leave an impression on those who follow you.”

    I think your advice is exactly why we keep doing more in social media and the balance is found from the rewards and ideas we receive from our involvement.

  • http://www.jeffblair.squarespace.com JeffBlair

    I guess sine I am commenting on this post is proof of what I am doing right now. Today I spent a lot of hours on a project for my friends over at Ace of Sales. I do this for free because I love the product and it has helped me build my own business.
    For me this is not noise because I feel that I am helping others and their feedback confirms that they also see the benefit.

  • http://www.theemotionmachine.com Steven Handel

    I’m trying to get my message out to the world. And my message is that self-improvement and world-improvement are one and the same process. Once we align our goals with a higher sense of purpose, nothing can stand in the way but our own self-imposed inhibitions.

  • http://thoughtwrestling.com/blog Mark Dykeman

    +2 million for the “Procras…” sticky. That just says it all, doesn’t it?

  • http://www.massinfluence.org Jered

    I find that I alternate frequently between days when I’m more social, and days when I spend a lot more time working on creating.

    It’s a balancing act, for sure.

  • http://ajleon.me ajleon

    When I used to work at PricewaterhouseCoopers, everyone would sit there for 18 hours a day, face time, if you are in front of your screen, you are “working”. I never do that anymore, if I’m sitting in front of my light box, I make sure that its time well spent.

    I’m working on a premium content for a series of webinars (third sector) I have in the UK next month. And I learned how to do that from Third Tribe, so thank you sir. :)

  • http://successbeginstoday.org/wordpress John Richardson

    It’s funny to read the comments here about what people are doing. Almost all of them involve sitting in front of a screen and typing something in. Doesn’t anyone actually make or do anything anymore without a computer? Is life all about pixels, toner, and electronic tweets?

    Go back twenty years and ask yourself what you were doing. I’m sure you would come up with a much different answer…

  • http://successbeginstoday.org/wordpress John Richardson

    It’s funny to read the comments here about what people are doing. Almost all of them involve sitting in front of a screen and typing something in. Doesn’t anyone actually make or do anything anymore without a computer? Is life all about pixels, toner, and electronic tweets?

    Go back twenty years and ask yourself what you were doing. I’m sure you would come up with a much different answer…

    • Anonymous

      I was in front of a computer 20 years ago. I owned a computer service business, where I did other companies payrolls, software training, typesetting for authors, computer repair & upgrading.

  • http://twitter.com/SheilaAtwood SheilaAtwood

    This reminds me of this quote.

    ”Never confuse motion with action.” Ben Franklin

  • http://reallifemadman.wordpress.com Marjorie Clayman

    Trying to answer this question today. Well, I mean, thinking about it today.

    A bit different though. Not “what am I doing” but “will it all work?”

    I guess I’m chillaxin with your self-doubt sticky :)

    Still want your colorful sticky pads. I’m in a rut of yellow at work. So very banal. And that’s banal in sticky-note world. Phew.

  • Kim Frank

    Never confuse busyness with accomplishment! I remind myself of this daily – sometimes hourly.

  • http://www.danieldecker.net Daniel Decker

    Read this post a day after it was posted. Sorry. Was busy doing. :)

    BTW… nice corner shot of The Orange Revolution book. You doing a review on it?

  • Anonymous

    Right now procrastinating, but I did get one blog post out today. However, while I’m procrastinating I am listening to Hardball for some fodder for the blog.

  • Anonymous

    Right now procrastinating, but I did get one blog post out today. However, while I’m procrastinating I am listening to Hardball for some fodder for the blog.

  • http://cooltwittertips.net/ Matt

    I agree with Sheila Atwood below, about the Ben quote. I would tell my kids to learn to see the difference between ‘activity’ and ‘accomplishment’. One gets you somewhere while the other just wears you down.

    Thanks

    Matt

  • http://www.bigjobsboard.com Steve Jobs

    I really made realized things when I read this article! We should first think before working if it is really worth it. Balancing everything is really the best thing to make our life great and perfect.

  • http://www.alexdumitru.com Alex Dumitru

    I don’t do very much networking, because I usually find it useless. Sometimes it can prove useful, though I prefer to focus on other stuff instead.

  • http://www.blackfridayplanet.com/ William Hushburn

    I sometimes spend my free time on the internet just reading blogs and watching videos.

  • kat

    hey you guys have a wonderful program i just needed to say that i wish that i could have the chance to meet the one who make this possible i have been looking at the others peoples comments and gosh that have some good thing to say thanks for all you help i will call you when the time is right and i will try to write mostly every day i hope you guys do great an whatever it is that you are doing i will also be coming by your office tomorrow be expecting me thank you for every thing goodbye now lol

  • aline

    preciso de um resumo dessa materia urgentissimooooo!

  • Kathleenbehling

    really?  I read the first few comments.  What are we doing?  Living life to fullfil our retirement?  fullfil our childrens dreams?  what?    I am 47 yrs old, dont have debt, work many hrs trying to make my company and employees happier, have a grandchild that i adore spending time with, struggle to figure out what my children are thinking(all in their 20′s), worry about what’s for supper, and last but not least share a home with the one i love most.

    I guess i have nothing to complain about:)

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