Chris, this is so helpful. It goes to a question we discussed a few months ago about budgeting time for social media. Attention with intent gives us the best opportunity to be successful with our social media time. I also appreciate this as some of us creatives have more issues with attention than others, we are easily lured by the shiny objects lurking in the social media space. A little dose of discipline goes a long way. Thanks for sharing.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Ah, the shiny objects. It's so hard. The things we think we hear in them are, "If you don't jump on, you're missing the boat." And yet, lots of boats sink.
BmoreKarl
· 4 days ago
I'm thinking a chess timer might be helpful, log your total time in smaller increments throughout the day on two priorities (like twitter that don't require huge blocks of time and perhaps don't work best that way.)
I tried to do this with a google calendar, but find I still don't obey.
Sarah-Jane Dalby
· 4 days ago
Great article. I suffer from wondering eyes, so the last thing I do each day, is write my to-do list for the next day. I choose the top three things with the highest priority, I allocate a time to complete each, then give them a time-slot. I also allocate a time-slot to check email twice a day, and social networking for an hour twice a day. This 'perfect plan' doesn't always eventuate, but one some precious, productive days it does! I also find that the shorter, more immediate deadline I set for anything, the faster and better I produce it - weird phenomenon - I think the ideas have less time to get stuck and mixed up and ultimately dilute!? Thanks Chris! PS: I use a great website called EggTimer, you just add the time in minutes after the URL and you're away! http://e.ggtimer.com/
godsrockangel
· 4 days ago
Buzz just keeps clogging up my email account with nothing exciting. I haven't worked out how to turn it off and ignore it lol
Keiran
· 4 days ago
Some great ideas for making more time in the day. Regarding to-do lists, I find I have to make them the night before or I waste half the morning fretting over it.
Patty Newbold
· 4 days ago
@ProNagger makes all her clients do this, too, Keiran. In the morning, she phones them to help budget time for them and break the bigger items down to "I can do that" size. Good post, Chris. Getting back on budget now.
Molly Gold
· 4 days ago
I have heard this message 4 times in 7 days in different ways...but its clear that right now, its all about focus. For someone who specializes in Family Time Management, it is something you'd think would be easy to do for me. However, when it comes to these distractions, I'm no different than the rest and I appreciate the challenge to ask ourselves why we are spending time where we are and what do we hope to gain from that activity. You are awesome, as always!
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
We're here for you. : )
Lasthein
· 3 days ago
"4 times in 7 days" I believe equals syncronicity, the universe is trying to get your attention on an important matter :-)
TheMogulMom
· 4 days ago
Chris,
This is just what I've been doing lately - thinking about where I can add the most value and serve "my people" best. I've decided that for me, those places are my blog and Twitter. I followed your lead and ditched my LinkedIn page - I just didn't use it. At all. Then, over the weekend, I axed my Facebook fan page - I was updating it so infrequently that I felt bad leaving 200 fans in limbo.
So...from now on, I'll be spending my attention budget on my blog and Twitter. ;D
Heather
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
I haven't YET ditched my LinkedIn page, but that came to me again yesterday. Will probably happen.
TheMogulMom
· 4 days ago
Well then I blazed the trail for you. :D
Heather
The Redhead
· 4 days ago
Great post, Chris. I chat with clients about this very issue all the time. Connecting and collaborating shouldn't be a time suck - it should be approached with a strategy. If you don't have one, you're missing the boat on the I in your ROI.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
That's a great point. I think it's because we tend to think of the "I" as dollars and that's why I stress that attention is every bit as much a currency.
The Redhead
· 4 days ago
Totally! In a recent presentation, I mentioned that clients who say they don't feel like an effort is going anywhere oftentimes don't understand the "I" component of ROI. Strategy & attention contribute to time well-spent. It's another reason why people should pre-define what they consider to be a success before launching a strategy. Otherwise, you're left with data and no baseline.
Erika Napoletano Head Redhead RedheadWriting (da blog) Follow RedheadWriting on Twitter (da tweets) Be a fan of RedheadWriting on Facebook (in da face)
lipdesign
· 4 days ago
Thought provoking post, Chris. I just started to use an egg timer since I tend to go down rabbit holes once I open Twitter or FB or email (seriously ADD). I really like the idea of setting up an attention budget. That along with setting aside chunks of time to focus on getting it done. I'll let you know how I progress... my egg timer just went off so it's time for me to sign off.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
I think it just helps us get to the most important stuff. It's really easy to fill up our time with stuff that doesn't really give us a return.
igobydoc
· 4 days ago
Great post Chris.... never really thought of attention as a currency before.
Totally agree with you on Buzz. I just can't get into it, and at the moment see it as a complete time suck. Like you, my views may change down the road, but unless they make some major changes I am doubting it. (unless, from a business perspective, it makes time to invest time and attention there).
Great idea on the egg timer. I think I will deploy that this week!
Again, great post! Thanks!
Doc
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Thanks, Doc. I appreciate your stopping by. : )
Lynn
· 4 days ago
thanks for this. recently, i have been spending approximately 12 hours online, managing my twitter account but mostly managing the twitter account for the company i work for. Not to mention posting various blogs posts, writing, researching and the list goes on. While I don't have a Mac with an egg timer, I do have the sense to know that 12 hours is just too much.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
12 hours is far too much. Depends what you're hoping to get out of it. I'm imagining that the underlying fear is that you'll miss being responsive. We've set this one up for ourselves. We want to answer. I'm doing it now instead of doing work that needs doing, because I want to acknowledge your time. Make sense?
Lynn
· 4 days ago
k, so my egg timer dinged earlier and i spent several hours with my kids without working at all! (i know, not that impressive). thanks for taking the time to respond and I look forward to hopefully seeing you in August (on your books).
acowboyswife
· 4 days ago
Must you make us think in EVERY single post?? geez.
This is actually something I've struggled with the past year. I feel like there's never enough time to do it all but then I see people like you, who engage with others, reply back to comments, twitter, facebook..........I think to myself, "What a slacker I am. If he can do it, why can't I" Then I feel like a total loser because I should be able to manage my time better but don't. I should give back more to my friends, my readers, my own community because after all, I wouldn't be where I am without them. Of course saying it and doing it are two different things. I know in my head what I ought to do but my problem is that I want to do sooooo much that I get overwhelmed with it all and just give up and stare at my screen.
If I created an attention budget that I truly wanted I would put replying to comments first, reading other blogs second, and Facebook third. Now if the campaigns, skype, twitter, ranch chores, a 3yr old and cooking allows that to happen, I'd be tickled to death!
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Oh Lori- if you knew how exhausted I am after the Disney trip, how much work is piled up in front of me that I can't find the energy to get done right now, all the things in my inbox that I've let falter and slip, all the missed commitments on smaller favors that I've committed to, but then abandoned, you'd feel like you were in good company.
Now, send me a donut.
acowboyswife
· 4 days ago
Well you make it look effortless;) My question would be this to you.....you have all that work right? Why are you here replying to comments? What makes you choose to do this instead of that work?
Now send me some gummi bears.
superdumb
· 4 days ago
Good question- how do you prioritize your workload, assign value to different aspects of the whole shebang? I'm fairly spastic in the organization realm so it's a constant battle.
Kat French
· 4 days ago
I tend to agree with you about Buzz--it's too noisy and too duplicative for me. But the bigger concept here is managing your attention. I like your idea of a budget, and I think that's a good concrete metaphor for people. It's something they can spreadsheet. Which is good.
See, now I need to write a post of my own, because I can't fit all I want to say on this subject here in a comment... But this is good stuff, as usual, dude.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
I love it. That's what I love most, Kat, is when you can take it and run with it. : )
Marc Winitz
· 4 days ago
In this day and age you have to budget your time. There are simply too many distractions. In effect, you cannot afford to NOT budget your time. In regards to your suggestion of a spreadsheet, I do the same thing now but write out 4 quadrants with one notation for each category:
1. Work 2. Personal/Professional Development (Learning) 3. Fitness 4. Blog
Only one item goes into each category and that's what get's focused on for the day. I don't keep it electronically as it can get blown off to easily. I just print it out. And your right Chris, this method is real budgeting and it works. Great post.
Marc
Carolyn Rodi
· 4 days ago
Marc, I couldn’t agree with you more: you can’t afford NOT to budget your time. I’ve tried the other route, and eventually you end up running out of hours in the day (or you just don’t sleep). And no one functions well when they’re cranky. ;-)
Chris: I use the timer method, too. It’s a great way to keep from being sucked into the abyss. Although I do have to work on not pressing the snooze button. Great post, as usual!
Mason Carpenter
· 4 days ago
Nice post about attention Chris. I have a tool that I use with my students called a STAMP audit. An outline of STAMP that is the basis for a book chapter is found at: http://strategyprof.edublogs.org/2010/02/16/put...
While it is a business strategy tool, I also ask them to apply it to their personal lives. I teach about strategy and in my view your business (or personal) strategy should tell you what is important - important to the point that it highlights what you do and don't do and actually helps guide your daily decision making. With the STAMP audit I ask students to tell how well a company's strategy is being resourced in terms of Space (office, homepage, etc.), Time, Attention (like you described), Money, and Projects/People. These are key resources into making a strategy happen - sort of like zero-based resource-budgeting for a strategy - business, or in the example you provided, personally. Cheers, mc
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Wow, Mason. That's pretty darned cool. Thank you!
Mike Stenger
· 4 days ago
I absolutely love that question, "Where can I add the most value to what matters most to me and the people who care about me?" What a great reminder Chris. With social media, we all know how big of a distraction it can be. Sometimes it simply comes down to shutting down your Twitter client or logging out of Facebook to get a few key things finished.
Yes, you want to WORK on social media but if social media is working you, you're going to exhaust your efforts. As far as Google Buzz is concerned, I'm actually putting up a video here today in my honesty series talking about the so called "truth" of Buzz. Should get some rather interesting feedback :-)
Thanks for the insight as always Chris
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
It's hard for me. I hate saying no. I'm still really bad at it. But this is the only way I'll be able to do good work.
Mike Stenger
· 4 days ago
I know how you feel Chris, I'm the exact same way. It's hard to turn things off, it really is. And too, you've built your community by engaging and interacting with others so in some ways, it's actually beneficial. As long as you can get some key work in, are happy with the work, and your customers and clients are satisfied, I think that's all that really matters Chris.
ahockley
· 4 days ago
Right on. While it's fun to try out the shiny new toys as they're released, beyond that initial trial one needs too figure out which tools and outposts are going to give the most bang for the buck (where 'buck' is often the amount of time spent).
My gut says that the value in Buzz isn't going to be for those of us who are already well-connected, but that it'll bring the concept of aggregators to the masses. My dad is going to wonder about this Buzz thing in his email, and he'll explore it, where he never would've spent time on FriendFeed.
Mahendra
· 4 days ago
Great post - thank you! (oops, misplaced my comment, and can't delete it now. Apologies)
Chad
· 4 days ago
I don't know if I actually budget my attention. I have a priority list in my head. The number one thing is my wife, dog, and cat. When I have kids, it'll be my wife, kids, dog and cat. After that, I have no priorities. I just try to get everything done. I stay up late, wake up early - put myself last.
I used to do things the opposite way. I took care of me first and then everyone else. I used to think that if I was taken care of, I was better able to help others. Turns out I spent all my time taking care of me and there was no time for anyone else. So now I follow the Gary V. model. I give until I can't. Then I give some more. Even though it can be extremely difficult - I feel better! I love that I can make an impact on people and that's what keeps me going.
So I don't think that's a budget cause I really don't have a limit. I put my family first and then I put my head down and help.
SandraLeeSchubert
· 4 days ago
I can be easily distracted by bright and shiny objects that take my time away. Since I work from a home office, and friends/family are not nearby, things like Twitter/Facebook have become my virtual water-cooler. The danger for me is using them to avoid the tedious or difficult parts of a project. The avoidance factor is quite attractive when there are no longer eyeballs taking note of what I am doing with my time.
Budgeting time when you work on your own is challenging. In a traditional job I could hunker down and produce an enormous amount of work in a short period of time. My focus was outstanding. I now realize I must set "office hours" for myself and even schedule activities outside of the office that will force me to focus and change my environments. I wonder how everyone else handles working alone.
Samuel Fagan
· 4 days ago
I am living this right now and posed these very questions to a confidant. Client work, learning the blogging,posting,tweeting game and doing it ALL for the right reasons. My heart is definitely in it. I use Manymoon and the igoogle calendar apps which really work for me.
Thanks Chris for being timely as I am learning to expect that from you!
Helen A Ingram
· 4 days ago
Very nice dovetail from your blog/content ecosystem piece. It's so easy to get sucked into "meaningful" rabbit trails a la social media. Thanks for the reminder to stay focused on what's really important.
Joseph Rooks
· 4 days ago
Wow, how timely. On my clipboard, I'm working on an article titled "The American Poverty of Time and Attention."
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Oooh! Will you DM me a link when you've got that written?
Kristin Dziadul
· 4 days ago
Chris, great article! The social media landscape today is cluttered, confusing, and overwhelming for many businesses who do not have much knowledge of it. It is easy to get caught up in social media by exploring its possibilities and capabilities, but realistically a company must make sure they are not wasting company dollars on it. Finding the right social media outlet that fits where their target market is, and allocating time and money appropriately towards it is the key, yet it is challenging to do. This is some great advice on getting started with a social media strategy!
brettandrews
· 4 days ago
As a traditional industry sales professional (property/casulaty insurance), I'm working on integrating my social media work and blog to add some value to my current network of friends, family, and clients. I hope to be able to provide them with some helpful information.
But dang if researching how to do it and then making my early feeble attempts at doing it don't suck me down a rabbit hole of time that I sometimes struggle to justify. That said, I know I need to be consistent on the things that I KNOW will add value vs. the things that are just fun little time wasters.
Maybe I'll try the egg timer, or just talk to my supervisors about my efforts and hope for a blessing for an hour or so a day to develop some relationships and content.
Thanks for the ideas.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
That's a great starter plan, Brett. I mean, in the beginning, you HAVE to experiment, you HAVE to waste. You can't start all tidied and buttoned up. In fact, you've given me ideas for my next Kitchen Table Talks video. : )
FabriceCalando
· 4 days ago
Thanks Chris! This is so true. I've recently started a new job and realized that I needed a schedule to give myself more time to read, comment and connect with people in this new industry. Ever since I've structured my time, I've not only learnt a lot more about this new industry, but I've also built stronger ties with people in the community. An attention budget is key!
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
That's tricky, isn't it? Shifting around your work priorities. It's hard in my space, being a creative, because there aren't any set hours. It makes it even harder to find time to do things like read, because I forget that reading is important to what I'm doing.
FabriceCalando
· 4 days ago
I hear ya! I do web strat for Canada's largest pay and specialty television provider and like you said...no set hours. I've set up a "Must Read" folder in my Google Reader and I make sure to read those daily. That's a trick I picked up from @mitchjoel...
I hope to catch you in Montreal in April!
Dan Gorgone
· 4 days ago
I've already dumped Buzz. The never-ending comments after posts with lots of followers don't translate to any value at all. As you said, too noisy. I'm happy right on Twitter, thank you very much.
You are awesome. Thank you, Dror, for sharing this with folks.
thomsinger
· 4 days ago
the over abundance of noise is a huge issue. It is what keeps tons of people away from social media in the first place. Too many people cannot see the trees for the forest. To capture the real value in social media you must accept that noise is part of it. If you ignore the whole venue because of the noise you will miss out on the powerful nuggets of information that will have an impact on your life (of course, anyone who reads this already knows that, and those who need to hear this are not reading this blog or the comments because of all the noise they are actively avoiding)
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
You're singing my song, Thom. Man, I'm feeling this today, actually. I'm really glad to have your comments. They strengthen what I've been feeling.
Michael Ray Hopkin
· 4 days ago
Chris, great post. I'm using similar principles with my 12-year-old son who's struggling to concentrate. It's helped him a bunch with his school work. And it's helping me focus better too. Hadn't thought about an egg timer; I just use the old-fashion iPhone ;-)
-Michael
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
It's gotta be SO hard to be 12 these days. There are so many distractions. I can't even imagine what that's like. Thanks for sharing your perspective, Michael.
Daniel John
· 4 days ago
This is great Chris. There are times that it has become very challenging for me to focus my attention. We have this illusion that we are able to get things done all at the same time. But the truth is that it affects the quality of whatever we are doing.
So I say yes, our attention should be managed, budgeted, allocated, focused and treated as valuable as currency.
I think the key is to be able to determine the right amount of attention to the right kind of activities.
natfinn
· 4 days ago
Google Buzz and Google Wave are those "Smiths" in high school who always got mad because everyone assumed the were related.
Sounds like you need to start telling some friends, "no," or at least, "I have to back this up." It happens. We still like you :-)
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Well said, nat. I really like that analogy. They're not exactly related.
wendikelly
· 4 days ago
Since you began posting on Buzz, I have been able to follow your many projects and the things you post in one easy place. That is convenient for your fans. I am saving time. I can quickly scan down, decide if something someone posts is of interest or not.I don't feel compelled to read every little drop or comment on everything.It is a nice one stop shop for incoming info though. Like scanning headlines.
I'm willing to give it more time. I'm not sure yet how I feel.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
That's good feedback, Wendi. Thank you. I haven't seen it that way just yet, but then, maybe I need to sit there and breathe for a while.
brlewis
· 4 days ago
Those "conversations looping under every piece of information" are telling you where the attention is. I think that's a big part of the reason Robert Scoble loved FriendFeed. If your business runs on attention currency, that's exactly the kind of UI you want. I still enjoy FriendFeed. It's a party where interesting people are easy to find.
marybethbarnett
· 4 days ago
Excellent call-to-action! The background of my monitor's screen is now "My Attention Budget" items.
I'm a first-time poster, but longtime lurker of your blog ;)
Hooray! I knew we could smoke you out if I tried enough. : )
elizabeth!
· 4 days ago
Hi Chris - I've just finished reading Trust Agents and really enjoyed it.
This idea of an Attention Budget is key.
Being a freelance musician, I need to guard my attention carefully! It's important to me to connect - but I am also making a concerted effort to do the most important thing, the thing that will have the most positive effect on my music and career, first thing in the day.
Thanks for the reminder!
Kali and Mike Kunkle
· 4 days ago
Interesting Chris. I don't see many talking about this stuff from a time/value/currency perspective. From our retail online biz account, @DreamWorthy, the chatting we do and the relationships we build have a correlation to the traffic & conversions from Twitter (one of our top traffic sources, to this day), but we are still trying to figure out the balance and the secret sauce. Too many "marketing tweets" and people unfollowed (though not many, honestly). Too much chatting only, and we spend endless hours with no ROI. I will say that the time we have spent supporting others, their causes, their blogs, and their businesses (even when they are a competing business), and our "Pay It Forward" philosophy, has probably yielded the most relationship capital and best results for our business as well. Fortunately, that's not a tactic we employ, it's just who we are. But it certainly could translate into a strategic marketing approach.
Anyway, not sure this adds much value to the discussion (and says nothing about Wave or Buzz - only have a toe in the water there so far), but hopefully addresses the topic somewhat.
Mike- that's exactly the heart of the problem. It's like that old quote: 1/2 of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; I just don't know which half.
Suzanne Vara
· 4 days ago
Chris
Attention - everyone wants it and everyone wants each other's. While we are seeking attention from people we forget what they are giving up or pushing aside to give us their attention. Social media goes against the traditional ad agency principles of accounting for your time as we "have" to be here, there and everywhere or we disappoint and tend not to keep track of it. Technology plays a role here as there was a 2 yr gap between LI-FB-Twitter but now we have one after another what seems like every 30-60 days. The information overload and the feeling of needing to be a part of the next best thing has us running in circles and never really getting all that much accomplished. We've become a over stimulated social media community that none of the tools ever really gets our full attention. We go in, do what he have to while thinking where we are going next.
Timers are great as that brings us back down to a model of being accountable for your time. Keep a sheet near by and write down I was on twitter x minutes this time, here for x min and at the end of the day when you realize the time spent in places where you had no impact or did not provide value to people you care about you will make changes. Value can be reaching out to a friend that is buried in work and offering to lend a hand - things like that we tend to miss as someone else is pulling our arm needing our attention.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
You're totally and utterly right about the attention trade. Hmmm. Sounds like another post. Hey, when are you relaunching the blog?
You're right about timers. They're the simple things that make a difference.
Suzanne Vara
· 4 days ago
Chris
Thank you for asking. I have the site up and the blog is all migrated over. I do need to create a few more pages for the agency side of the site but that will be up by the end of the week. Working on a new series (written blogs and videos) that I will be launching this weekend that is a start for beginners that encompasses advertising and social media marketing but goes up to the intermediate level as I think intermediates are under served.
theToymaker
· 4 days ago
I have a little label on my computer riser that says "Focus" and it often gets covered with to-do lists.
I use Facebook to connect with my peeps and Twitter as an info feed. The most effective thing that I do, in terms of books sales, is my newsletters.
Thanks Chris, for a crystal clear blog post!
Marilyn
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Happy to help, Marilyn. That's what I'm here for: getting labels back to their shiny rightness.
Brandi N. Grays
· 4 days ago
Shouldn't the Hanes execs be reading this post. This is a great way for businesses trying to find wyts to maximize ROI in social media to approach it. I think that attention is currency and if you can get people to spend that kind of currency over and over they will end up spending the green, paper kind on whatever you are selling.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Who says they're not? : )
Al
· 4 days ago
If only the submitter got "charged" for that attention they are reqesting when they leave a Tweet orFB posting or spam email. The impact would be instantaneous...
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Super true. We've said that for years about email.
Reminds me of Chris Rock talking about gun violence. He said guns should be free and bullets should cost $500. So you'd really think about whether or not to kill someone.
cfagbata
· 4 days ago
Chris, you know something, I wonder what master google is up with this buzz thingy? Maybe twitter and facebook are becoming too big. In any case, it is best to focus on where you will add the most value. For me it facebook at the moment.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
I'm with you on focusing on where people are.
greeblemonkey
· 4 days ago
I have been complaining loudly about Google Buzz. It's noisy, it's interface is terrible (Google = awesome tech and ideas, terrible interface and integration) and the privacy whoops in the beginning really tripped me out.
Chris Brogan
· 4 days ago
Yep. I'm just not really there yet.
Robin McPherson
· 4 days ago
Great post Chris. I started mapping out my day about 3 months ago. On the days when I follow it, I get so much more done than on the days I ignore it. It may sound old school but when I print it out and have it staring me in the face, I can't ignore it.
Paul Arthur Smith
· 4 days ago
Chris that's a good idea to dig into, setting a budget. I've found my mind and activities tend to work like the lines of stock market over time. I have a general trend and focus of where my activities are, with brief dashes away to other activities interspersed, but ultimately returning to the prime activity. It in a way helps me keep sane, freeing up my mind when I'm perhaps less then productive focusing on one main activity for too long.
As for Google Buzz, I have a wait and see attitude at this point. I've not had the privacy issues people are frothing over, and at the same time, my gmail account is very much secondary for me, and retrieved within Apple's Mail program. So going to Google Buzz is out of my way, and therefore, not a place I'm finding myself going often.
purchase order financing blog
· 4 days ago
Chris -
Would you say that an "attention budget" is the same as the good old to-do list many of us use?
Cheers, Marco
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
No. Because a to-do list is spawned by what needs doing in a day, not what matters. HUGE gap. : )
Judy Helfand
· 4 days ago
Just about 11 hours ago I read your post, as prompted by your Tweet. I took your advice and tried to budget my attention. As a small business owner, I had to also deal with errands. I, too, am involved with a number of client projects; however, today I had to be distracted by a bug that is impacting a client's site when it is being viewed in IE6 (go figure). Test, Test, now need to contact 3rd party software vendor to report a bug in their code. (60 minutes+ lost from my well planned day). Blogger FTP upgrade or downgrade, actually soon to be demolished by Blogger is now taking center stage in my well planned quarter. Thankfully Rick Klau announced a reprieve until May 1. Is Twitter distracting and does it suck air from my day...yes, but more because of what it does not do in a timely manner. Take care of bugs. Certain links coming in to Twitter from PING.fm have been bad for six weeks. Still not fixed. Clients not happy. So when I stop by in "constructive distraction mode" I read your Tweets, go to some of your links and try to learn for our clients and myself. By the way, when I went to the grocery store today, no old fashion egg times to be found. Thanks for listening.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
It's tricky work, Judy. I don't know what we're all going to do as things move deeper and deeper.
Joseph Engel
· 4 days ago
Almost seems like google is getting a little ahead of itself. Wave and then Buzz, with not a lot of time for people to figure out how to put them together.
Ric Dragon
· 4 days ago
Noise! Chris, I don't see how you even make it through the comments on your blog. Do you have an assistant? I've got a feeling Buzz might be a component of a social system.... and as that, makes a lot of sense. But right now, our social media is still pretty fractured. If the Google social media SYSTEM takes off, its really going to make sense.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
I don't have an assistant to comment, because that would be weird. I do have an assistant to help manage my inbox and contacts.
Derek Jensen
· 4 days ago
Being one of the very few students at my college that uses Twitter and Facebook to the max many see anything I do as noise. I will admit when I first started Twitter and I think when anyone starts Twitter it is very easy to either be 'worthless' or making so much noise.
Since having a blog the most popular noise to create on Twitter and Facebook is by just posting links to your blog. But, why should people follow you if all you do is send out links. They instead could just subscribe to your blog via RSS or email.
You need to be inspirational and have personal conversations with people (especially on Twitter, because Facebook creates and environment where that is stressed). So, I see it as this... If you are creating to much noise you are going to create attention, but this attention is the kind that will not give you 'currency'.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
You know you're the exception, right?
Gilda Bonanno
· 4 days ago
Love the idea of the timer - I use one a lot when I do training programs to help keep the class and me on time. If I give a 15-minute break, the timer goes off and we begin in 15 minutes - it's not me chasing down participants - it's the non-personal timer at the front of the room that they can check themselves to manage their own time. By the second or third time we use it, they are conditioned to expect it and most classes become very good at managing their own time. (And yes, the timer applies to me, too - if I expect them to mind the time, I hold myself to the same standard and never teach beyond the stated end time).
I also use a timer for my productivity, especially when there is something difficult I have to do; I'll tell myself that I only have to work on it for 15 minutes and then I can do something else. Usually when the timer goes off, I'm enough into the material that I'll reset it for another 15 and keep working.
I probably don't use it a often as I should - thanks for the reminder that it can help me not lose my day to non-value add activities.
BTW, I use a regular battery-operated kitchen timer (OXO brand - no, I'm not an affiliate) and a few other backups in case that one dies. A good low-tech timer is hard to find.
Lasthein
· 3 days ago
Thanks!, I needed that advice right now - been frustrated for months about lack of time for "all the stuff" I really long to spend time on. Gonna prioritize and select a few chosen activities, then act on those and watch the blossoms grow :-)
jimedward
· 3 days ago
I'm a big fan of GTD to keep my brain from exploding from all of the NOISE. Daily review of my Purpose, Vision & Goals keeps me focused despite the ADD (thus reviewing daily) my Responsibilities, Projects and Action Steps are all processes towards a worthy cause after that.
Does that mean I never spend more of my Attention Budget than I should? Of course not... that's why I give myself an allowance. Call it a reward for mental labor.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
It's a great reward system, Jim. : )
David Beronja
· 3 days ago
Let me throw out an idea...what if Buzz is a precursor to Wave integration. Maybe this is just a way for Google to dip their toes into leveraging Gmail for other projects.
So far I'm seeing much more engagement in Buzz than I would have expected.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
Ah, but is engagement everything? And hi to you.
Deb Dib
· 3 days ago
Chris, as Thom Singer mentioned in his comment below, "noise" on social media is a huge deterrent to engagement. The fear of that great "sucking sound" of social media time overwhelm is what keeps many people from using it.
Having a strategy is the best defense...and understanding that social media, especially Twitter, is, as you've said, the "informational pulse" makes Twitter a strategic imperative for anyone who wants to/needs to have a finger on that pulse.
My colleagues @SusanWhitcomb, @Chandlee and I (@CEOCoach) have written a book on using Twitter for job search, and one of the things we emphasize is that, with a clear plan, you can cut through the noise, to the pulse. You can build a vibrant network, research companies/jobs, and be a branded and valuable entity on Twitter in just 15 minutes a day. Sure you can take more time, but we've found that "15 minutes a day" makes the idea of getting on Twitter and cutting through the noise a lot less intimidating for many people!
Thanks for always giving us something to think about, act upon, innovate around, and look forward to on your blog. It's one of my few "must reads" every day.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
Glad to be part of the story, Deb. : )
Tom Wanek
· 3 days ago
Exactly, Chris. You have to budget for any signal you send, not matter the currency. And if you can't afford it, then redirect your resources.
I love that you and I are on the same path.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
You're way further ahead and much smarter at it. I'm just doing what I can to keep up. : )
Tim Kissane
· 3 days ago
You have an uncanny knack, sir, for addressing my current issues of the moment. I've been spinning my wheels for several months, overwhelmed by the volume of ideas on my projects list. Last week, I made an abbreviated list of focus points for my daily attention. http://twitpic.com/13s29r I'm still not hitting everything, but I'm doing better.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
You're a smart guy, Tim. That's the thing. You have lots of energy and juice and vigor, and you see the next wave of stuff coming, but it gets tricky, the whole deciding what to do with it all part. But you're finding your ways.
Jeremy Fischer
· 3 days ago
Chris,
Really interesting reading this and your previous post regarding customizing back-to-back. First, because of the way I've separated my soc. media personas and because I'm in a job search, I get more usage out of Twitter right now. Much easier way to keep track of business contacts, who let me know when openings arise at their firm/agency. I check my Facebook about only once per week, as that are my friends/family. So that's all I need to check-in and get value.
But I can tie this post into the previous custom post. I do think that customizing is the way to go. It reveals personality that templates just can't do. However, I find myself using the templates these days for two reasons: 1) I'm not overly technical. So investing my time in learning HTML or CSS, etc. just isn't in the cards right now; and 2) because of my layoff, I don't have the $$ to pay someone who can do those things.
Just a some thoughts.
jannation
· 3 days ago
Brilliant concept, really. Thanks for putting how I was feeling into words. And I'm buying me an egg timer! :-)
jannation
· 3 days ago
Brilliant concept, really! Thanks for putting what I was feeling into words. I'm off to buy me an egg timer! :-)
danielsouza
· 3 days ago
Chris,
There's an incredible book about this matter: Attention Economy, by Davenport/Beck.
danielsouza
· 3 days ago
There's a great book about this subject: Attention Economy, by Davenport/Beck.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
It's a goodie, I agree. : )
mikehandy
· 3 days ago
You don't get it... its ok no one does. The beauty of Google buzz is the sharing of content via Google reader. Everyone is using the tool hoping for twitter meets Facebook but that's not the tool. Buzz is useless if you don't use Google reader as it stands.
For the record I have never seen more amazing content in my RSS feed because Im getting the best of what everyone else sees. The network will not kill Facebook or Twitter because it isn't meant to... yet. The network will put personality to SEO and change the game making content even more important to websites. I hope this makes sense... but its all about RSS and SEO!
That said I think people are craving more than what they are getting. I fully expect buzz to become a full fledged social network with conversational keys and noise filters.
Sorry this isnt about time management but buzz isnt actually creating noise for me... its taking some away!
on Twitter @mhandy1
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
I'm a Google Reader guy. I share it all the time. I just use it on Twitter instead, via @broganmedia.
Marla
· 3 days ago
Thank you, Chris. You must have been reading my mind. It's so easy for me to get sucked into Twitter--and before I know it, my afternoon is gone. I love the idea of a timer, so simple, yet so effective. I also like the spreadsheet idea.
Tommyismyname
· 3 days ago
Chris,
The thing I like the most about this post is that it really underscores that you can be as successful as you want to be, if you use your time right. Too often people are getting caught up in the constant banter back and fourth and then wonder why they're not as successful as they feel they are owed.
Really, all we are online are pictures and text, so what text you put out next to that picture is vitally important because you're building the value of the picture next to it. How you filter your information directly effects the information you put out, so it's important not to get lost in a bunch of useless information also.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
Damned straight, Tommy. You've got to factor all your time and that will determine what you get out of it.
SusanWhitcomb
· 3 days ago
I have the ultimate "egg timer" -- it's in the shape of a hardball baseball (white with red-stitching). It reminds me I need to play hardball with my time, since it's my most precious commodity.
I wonder how many of us actually calendar time to "be nice" to people (engaging on Twitter, blog posts, etc.) or do most of us just "squeeze it in." I'm admittedly in the latter camp.
I'm going to start experimenting with blocking actual space on my calendar for being friendly and nice. I already am nice to people (hoping most of my colleagues would agree), but this will shift the perspective and give me permission to do more of it. Hmmm... I wonder if that means I'm now getting paid to be nice. :)
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
It's a great question, Susan. I'm not sure. I think I do a bit of both. Sometimes time is an obligation. Other times, it's doing the right thing. I'd love more time to do the right thing.
jackp
· 3 days ago
2 thumbs up on the egg timer.
Thanks, Chris.
ricklamie
· 3 days ago
Nice work here Chris. I'm teaching a session tomorrow morning in a Duct Tape Marketing Social Media Pro workshop I'm leading in Austin. This will be a topic of our discussion. Shades of GTD here too... Getting Things Done.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
Hope it goes well, Rick. I love the Duct Tape Marketing products. : )
ducttape
· 17 hours ago
And they love you!
TaylorEllwood
· 3 days ago
I budget my attention equally between in person and social networking, as well as ongoing projects such as finishing up my book on social media.
8gb gaming card
· 2 days ago
I love spending time on Twitter and getting to know people. I do a few hours a day inside Twitter, but for every bit of time I spend just talking back and forth with people to prove I’m human and that I care, I’m also collecting information for work, for clients, for story ideas, and more. When I feel like I’m just chatting for chatting sake, I ask myself, “where can I add the most value to what matters most to me and the people who care about me?” The answer is rarely, “by chatting about plane delays.”If that doesn’t work, use a timer. I have a very simple egg timer software application for my Mac. I set it often. Want the real one? Go to a kitchen store (do they have those any more?) and buy a green pepper egg timer or a cat-shaped one. Whatever. Simple, and yet it works. Allot yourself time.
Jen Banks Abreu
· 2 days ago
Thanks for this great article! The idea of attention as currency actually has me thinking not just about my own attention-- which can benefit from some egg timering, for sure-- but also because I work with nonprofits, and many don't immediately understand that just because you put up a fan page on Facebook the money will not come rolling in the next day... or week.... or month. It is an investment in gaining the attention and interest of people who will enlarge your potential donor pool. SO-- thinking of it as asking for a donation of attention, rather than a donation of cash? Love it. That is intriguing and puts a new spin on saying that as a nonprofit you have to be donor-centric in your social media-- have watch-worthy, read-worthy stuff for busy potential donors to want to spend some precious attention on.
Thanks again, this was thought-provoking and great!
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
Glad it worked for you, Jen. Thank you. : )
Rach LaRoche
· 2 days ago
I think we also need to consider our off-line consumption habits when setting our attention budget. Let's not forget that as people and marketers we're competing for time there, too. If we spend 1 hour on Twitter, that's an hour that we're not reading a book, watching a show on TV or having lunch with friends. Prioritizing our attention should extend outside our online habits and into our 'away-from-computer' lives as well, if for nothing other than a little balance. Thanks for the great perspective on determining this based on what we deem to be most valuable to us and our communities.
Chris Brogan
· 1 day ago
Totally true, Rach. I hadn't put that into this post, but you're right.
Nick Johnson
· 2 days ago
I'm not hooked on Google Buzz yet.....
Like you, I might also change my mind. Its like something you wrote a while ago talking about LinkedIn and how many of these tools do we need to have and devote time to? I spend a lot of time on Twitter and less time on Facebook but I feel I don't have the time for LinkedIn and certainly don't have the time to put into Buzz.
All Comments
I tried to do this with a google calendar, but find I still don't obey.
PS: I use a great website called EggTimer, you just add the time in minutes after the URL and you're away! http://e.ggtimer.com/
This is just what I've been doing lately - thinking about where I can add the most value and serve "my people" best. I've decided that for me, those places are my blog and Twitter. I followed your lead and ditched my LinkedIn page - I just didn't use it. At all. Then, over the weekend, I axed my Facebook fan page - I was updating it so infrequently that I felt bad leaving 200 fans in limbo.
So...from now on, I'll be spending my attention budget on my blog and Twitter. ;D
Heather
Heather
Erika Napoletano
Head Redhead
RedheadWriting (da blog)
Follow RedheadWriting on Twitter (da tweets)
Be a fan of RedheadWriting on Facebook (in da face)
Totally agree with you on Buzz. I just can't get into it, and at the moment see it as a complete time suck. Like you, my views may change down the road, but unless they make some major changes I am doubting it. (unless, from a business perspective, it makes time to invest time and attention there).
Great idea on the egg timer. I think I will deploy that this week!
Again, great post! Thanks!
Doc
This is actually something I've struggled with the past year. I feel like there's never enough time to do it all but then I see people like you, who engage with others, reply back to comments, twitter, facebook..........I think to myself, "What a slacker I am. If he can do it, why can't I" Then I feel like a total loser because I should be able to manage my time better but don't. I should give back more to my friends, my readers, my own community because after all, I wouldn't be where I am without them. Of course saying it and doing it are two different things. I know in my head what I ought to do but my problem is that I want to do sooooo much that I get overwhelmed with it all and just give up and stare at my screen.
If I created an attention budget that I truly wanted I would put replying to comments first, reading other blogs second, and Facebook third. Now if the campaigns, skype, twitter, ranch chores, a 3yr old and cooking allows that to happen, I'd be tickled to death!
Now, send me a donut.
Now send me some gummi bears.
See, now I need to write a post of my own, because I can't fit all I want to say on this subject here in a comment... But this is good stuff, as usual, dude.
1. Work
2. Personal/Professional Development (Learning)
3. Fitness
4. Blog
Only one item goes into each category and that's what get's focused on for the day. I don't keep it electronically as it can get blown off to easily. I just print it out. And your right Chris, this method is real budgeting and it works. Great post.
Marc
Chris: I use the timer method, too. It’s a great way to keep from being sucked into the abyss. Although I do have to work on not pressing the snooze button. Great post, as usual!
While it is a business strategy tool, I also ask them to apply it to their personal lives. I teach about strategy and in my view your business (or personal) strategy should tell you what is important - important to the point that it highlights what you do and don't do and actually helps guide your daily decision making. With the STAMP audit I ask students to tell how well a company's strategy is being resourced in terms of Space (office, homepage, etc.), Time, Attention (like you described), Money, and Projects/People. These are key resources into making a strategy happen - sort of like zero-based resource-budgeting for a strategy - business, or in the example you provided, personally. Cheers, mc
Yes, you want to WORK on social media but if social media is working you, you're going to exhaust your efforts. As far as Google Buzz is concerned, I'm actually putting up a video here today in my honesty series talking about the so called "truth" of Buzz. Should get some rather interesting feedback :-)
Thanks for the insight as always Chris
My gut says that the value in Buzz isn't going to be for those of us who are already well-connected, but that it'll bring the concept of aggregators to the masses. My dad is going to wonder about this Buzz thing in his email, and he'll explore it, where he never would've spent time on FriendFeed.
I used to do things the opposite way. I took care of me first and then everyone else. I used to think that if I was taken care of, I was better able to help others. Turns out I spent all my time taking care of me and there was no time for anyone else. So now I follow the Gary V. model. I give until I can't. Then I give some more. Even though it can be extremely difficult - I feel better! I love that I can make an impact on people and that's what keeps me going.
So I don't think that's a budget cause I really don't have a limit. I put my family first and then I put my head down and help.
Budgeting time when you work on your own is challenging. In a traditional job I could hunker down and produce an enormous amount of work in a short period of time. My focus was outstanding. I now realize I must set "office hours" for myself and even schedule activities outside of the office that will force me to focus and change my environments. I wonder how everyone else handles working alone.
I use Manymoon and the igoogle calendar apps which really work for me.
Thanks Chris for being timely as I am learning to expect that from you!
But dang if researching how to do it and then making my early feeble attempts at doing it don't suck me down a rabbit hole of time that I sometimes struggle to justify. That said, I know I need to be consistent on the things that I KNOW will add value vs. the things that are just fun little time wasters.
Maybe I'll try the egg timer, or just talk to my supervisors about my efforts and hope for a blessing for an hour or so a day to develop some relationships and content.
Thanks for the ideas.
I hope to catch you in Montreal in April!
-Michael
So I say yes, our attention should be managed, budgeted, allocated, focused and treated as valuable as currency.
I think the key is to be able to determine the right amount of attention to the right kind of activities.
Sounds like you need to start telling some friends, "no," or at least, "I have to back this up." It happens. We still like you :-)
I'm willing to give it more time. I'm not sure yet how I feel.
I'm a first-time poster, but longtime lurker of your blog ;)
http://www.maryelizabethbarnett.com/2010/02/my-...
This idea of an Attention Budget is key.
Being a freelance musician, I need to guard my attention carefully! It's important to me to connect - but I am also making a concerted effort to do the most important thing, the thing that will have the most positive effect on my music and career, first thing in the day.
Thanks for the reminder!
Anyway, not sure this adds much value to the discussion (and says nothing about Wave or Buzz - only have a toe in the water there so far), but hopefully addresses the topic somewhat.
Stay the course... always a pleasure.
Mike Kunkle
http://www.DreamWorthyGifts.com
http://twitter.com/DreamWorthy
Attention - everyone wants it and everyone wants each other's. While we are seeking attention from people we forget what they are giving up or pushing aside to give us their attention. Social media goes against the traditional ad agency principles of accounting for your time as we "have" to be here, there and everywhere or we disappoint and tend not to keep track of it. Technology plays a role here as there was a 2 yr gap between LI-FB-Twitter but now we have one after another what seems like every 30-60 days. The information overload and the feeling of needing to be a part of the next best thing has us running in circles and never really getting all that much accomplished. We've become a over stimulated social media community that none of the tools ever really gets our full attention. We go in, do what he have to while thinking where we are going next.
Timers are great as that brings us back down to a model of being accountable for your time. Keep a sheet near by and write down I was on twitter x minutes this time, here for x min and at the end of the day when you realize the time spent in places where you had no impact or did not provide value to people you care about you will make changes. Value can be reaching out to a friend that is buried in work and offering to lend a hand - things like that we tend to miss as someone else is pulling our arm needing our attention.
You're right about timers. They're the simple things that make a difference.
Thank you for asking. I have the site up and the blog is all migrated over. I do need to create a few more pages for the agency side of the site but that will be up by the end of the week. Working on a new series (written blogs and videos) that I will be launching this weekend that is a start for beginners that encompasses advertising and social media marketing but goes up to the intermediate level as I think intermediates are under served.
I use Facebook to connect with my peeps and Twitter as an info feed. The most effective thing that I do, in terms of books sales, is my newsletters.
Thanks Chris, for a crystal clear blog post!
Marilyn
Reminds me of Chris Rock talking about gun violence. He said guns should be free and bullets should cost $500. So you'd really think about whether or not to kill someone.
As for Google Buzz, I have a wait and see attitude at this point. I've not had the privacy issues people are frothing over, and at the same time, my gmail account is very much secondary for me, and retrieved within Apple's Mail program. So going to Google Buzz is out of my way, and therefore, not a place I'm finding myself going often.
Would you say that an "attention budget" is the same as the good old to-do list many of us use?
Cheers,
Marco
Since having a blog the most popular noise to create on Twitter and Facebook is by just posting links to your blog. But, why should people follow you if all you do is send out links. They instead could just subscribe to your blog via RSS or email.
You need to be inspirational and have personal conversations with people (especially on Twitter, because Facebook creates and environment where that is stressed). So, I see it as this... If you are creating to much noise you are going to create attention, but this attention is the kind that will not give you 'currency'.
I also use a timer for my productivity, especially when there is something difficult I have to do; I'll tell myself that I only have to work on it for 15 minutes and then I can do something else. Usually when the timer goes off, I'm enough into the material that I'll reset it for another 15 and keep working.
I probably don't use it a often as I should - thanks for the reminder that it can help me not lose my day to non-value add activities.
BTW, I use a regular battery-operated kitchen timer (OXO brand - no, I'm not an affiliate) and a few other backups in case that one dies. A good low-tech timer is hard to find.
Does that mean I never spend more of my Attention Budget than I should? Of course not... that's why I give myself an allowance. Call it a reward for mental labor.
So far I'm seeing much more engagement in Buzz than I would have expected.
Having a strategy is the best defense...and understanding that social media, especially Twitter, is, as you've said, the "informational pulse" makes Twitter a strategic imperative for anyone who wants to/needs to have a finger on that pulse.
My colleagues @SusanWhitcomb, @Chandlee and I (@CEOCoach) have written a book on using Twitter for job search, and one of the things we emphasize is that, with a clear plan, you can cut through the noise, to the pulse. You can build a vibrant network, research companies/jobs, and be a branded and valuable entity on Twitter in just 15 minutes a day. Sure you can take more time, but we've found that "15 minutes a day" makes the idea of getting on Twitter and cutting through the noise a lot less intimidating for many people!
Thanks for always giving us something to think about, act upon, innovate around, and look forward to on your blog. It's one of my few "must reads" every day.
I love that you and I are on the same path.
Really interesting reading this and your previous post regarding customizing back-to-back. First, because of the way I've separated my soc. media personas and because I'm in a job search, I get more usage out of Twitter right now. Much easier way to keep track of business contacts, who let me know when openings arise at their firm/agency. I check my Facebook about only once per week, as that are my friends/family. So that's all I need to check-in and get value.
But I can tie this post into the previous custom post. I do think that customizing is the way to go. It reveals personality that templates just can't do. However, I find myself using the templates these days for two reasons: 1) I'm not overly technical. So investing my time in learning HTML or CSS, etc. just isn't in the cards right now; and 2) because of my layoff, I don't have the $$ to pay someone who can do those things.
Just a some thoughts.
There's an incredible book about this matter: Attention Economy, by Davenport/Beck.
For the record I have never seen more amazing content in my RSS feed because Im getting the best of what everyone else sees. The network will not kill Facebook or Twitter because it isn't meant to... yet. The network will put personality to SEO and change the game making content even more important to websites. I hope this makes sense... but its all about RSS and SEO!
That said I think people are craving more than what they are getting. I fully expect buzz to become a full fledged social network with conversational keys and noise filters.
Sorry this isnt about time management but buzz isnt actually creating noise for me... its taking some away!
on Twitter @mhandy1
The thing I like the most about this post is that it really underscores that you can be as successful as you want to be, if you use your time right. Too often people are getting caught up in the constant banter back and fourth and then wonder why they're not as successful as they feel they are owed.
Really, all we are online are pictures and text, so what text you put out next to that picture is vitally important because you're building the value of the picture next to it. How you filter your information directly effects the information you put out, so it's important not to get lost in a bunch of useless information also.
I wonder how many of us actually calendar time to "be nice" to people (engaging on Twitter, blog posts, etc.) or do most of us just "squeeze it in." I'm admittedly in the latter camp.
I'm going to start experimenting with blocking actual space on my calendar for being friendly and nice. I already am nice to people (hoping most of my colleagues would agree), but this will shift the perspective and give me permission to do more of it. Hmmm... I wonder if that means I'm now getting paid to be nice. :)
Thanks, Chris.
Thanks again, this was thought-provoking and great!
Like you, I might also change my mind. Its like something you wrote a while ago talking about LinkedIn and how many of these tools do we need to have and devote time to? I spend a lot of time on Twitter and less time on Facebook but I feel I don't have the time for LinkedIn and certainly don't have the time to put into Buzz.