Productive & Organized

Productive Social Networking-Making the Most of Your Twitter & Facebook Experience - Do You Use Lists?

Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are growing in popularity for not only those that want to get in touch with family and lost friends, but also for business professionals.

One of the challenges as you get going with these sites, however, is the massive amount of infomation that starts coming at you.  If you are like me, you follow/friend people for a number of reasons.  When everyone's information is jumbled together, it is hard to focus and build relationships (that is one of the main reasons for the sites afterall -- building relationships) or gather knowledge.

One great way to cut through the clutter and stay focused is to use the lists function.  Both Twitter and Facebook give you the option to "list" your connections.  Today I'll share more about why you may want to do that as well as share some thoughts from my friends on Twitter.

Clean up the Clutter on Your Facebook Newsfeed

From a Reader:  Steph, I love all of the connections that I can make on Facebook, but I am so sick of the goofy games.  I don't care about virtual pillow fights or mafia wars or what color underwear you are wearing!  Is there a way to cut the clutter and still stay in touch with my friends?  Thanks - Tamera 

Tamera, I'm with you!  I love the ease that I can connect with people from all over the world, but I am not a game player.  I use Facebook to build new relationships and reconnect with people.  Playing games keeps me from my priorities. 

There is good news!  If you are among the growing crowd of people that avoid Facebook because you just don't have timeor don't care to scroll through the myriad of games your friends are participating in, today I'll share how to get rid of the clutter.  Read on to learn how to clean up your Facebook stream -- getting rid of the games, while still seeing the funny/engaging things your friends talk about.

The Great Organizing Giveaway is Here!

The new year is a great time to think of ways that you can improve your life -- Getting Organized always lands in the top 10 lists of New Year Resolutions.  There are many outstanding resources available help you, but I often hear that it is hard to find them.  Our solution was to get the resources available in one spot!

The Great Organizing Giveaway is Here!

How Do You De-Stress? My Tweeps & FB Friends Give Us Answers - Twitter Tuesday

Here we are at another Tuesday and my Tweeps have not let me down!  Today's post started with a statistic I shared on my social networking sites:

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention state unequivocally that 80% of our medical expenditures are stress related. http://bit.ly/3Mn9iC

Scary huh?!  In fact, my life used to reflect that statistic!  I have spent the last few years learning about stress and finding techniques that help me to live a happy healthy life.  I've learned that there are a number of different types of stress and depending on the type you are struggling with, you may have different ways to alleviate the irritant.

Anyway, the statistic led to other conversation and one of my readers said that she had no idea how she should de-stress.  So, I posed the question to my friends and here is what they do.  Don't see yours on the listing?  Scroll to the bottom of the page and add it!  There are a lot of people out there wanting to know!

Let Go!

--- "To reduce stress in your life, reduce your attachment to things." --- Judith Forsyth

Warm Water

--- "Sit in my hot tub with a glass of wine- total de-stressing!" --- Tom Larsen

--- I like this one too!  I had a doctor tell me to to soak my feet in warm water and then give myself a foot rub before bed and I would sleep soundly.  He was right!  Sometimes I enjoy a full jacuzzi bath or I will even go and get a pedicure.

Vision a Beautiful Place

--- "Picture being in Martinique and body surfing waves." --- @americannanny 

--- Research shows that if you can create a vision of a place that is clear in your mind, it is almost as good as being there!  Use vision boards to help you with this too.

Quiet/Reflective Activities

--- "I relieve stress with the NY Times crossword puzzle.  Sometimes it takes me all week to finish.  I savor the time working on it." --- @blannie1 

--- "10 min of mind-numbing Solitaire." --- @mdconcierge 

--- "CRAFTS! Either crochet or Scrap-booking. Some times just time with friends - we call going out for ice cream "cheese" so the kids won't want to come, too." --- Gretchen M. Fatouros 

--- "Knit" --- Shawna Knapp Collins 

--- "Massages!! They are wonderful! Especially if you incorporate aromatherapy into it and do a FULL body massage. I am amazed at the number of women that go for a massage and tell the therapist they don't want their hair and makeup messed up. There is a lot of relaxation to be had by having the face and head massaged!" --- Rhonda Shouse

--- I like massages too.  Get someone that really knows what they are doing and you can relieve physical stress for weeks.  Reflexology is worth a try too. 

--- I have a client that spends hours in her garden enjoying nature and watching things grow.

--- Another quiet activity is journaling.  When you take the time to write your thoughts out, you start to gain a deeper understanding of your own thoughts.  Also, the process of writing is actually healing!

--- I read - I have a few different categories for my reading.  One category is "enjoyment" and I do a little reading most nights.

 

Audio/Visual

---  "Watching TV is my escape.  The stress relief occurs when everyone goes 2 bed & the only noise is the TV.  I can relax & be calm." --- @rstevenw 

--- "A good Turner Classic Movie from the late 30's or 40's." --- Cheryl Vargas 

--- Music of many kinds can drip the stress away from my mind quickly!  If I'm tense from sitting at my desk all day, I might put on some dance music and dance in my office!  It loosens up the muscles and I always laugh when I dance which is a proven de-stresser.  If I am mentally drained, I have more low-key music that I listen to - Mozart, new age jazz or Jason Groban, etc.

--- While some people can de-stress by watching T.V., others can really de-stress by eliminating certain shows from their viewing practices.  Evaluate the types of shows you are watching.  How many of them are negative and how many of them are positive?  If you find that your ratio is more negative than positive, change it for 2 weeks and see how you feel.

 

Spiritual

--- "I meditate." --- Amye Price Gumbinner 

--- Meditation and prayer are great techniques for getting rid of stress.  Having a connection to something greater than you and connecting.

--- Practicing gratitude - start your day by listing--in your mind or in writing--ten things that you are grateful for.  It is really easy to focus on the things that are not going well in your life.  Force yourself to think of the things that are going well and you'll be amazed at how much better you feel.

 

Eat!

--- "Have a cookie!!" --- @ilovekookies 

--- "Eleviv.....Natural supplement that gives me a peace of mind like I have never felt before." --- Carla Anderson

--- "A good cry or chocolate seems to do the trick." --- Kathy McFeeters

--- I drink tea - Organic Peppermint tea to be exact.  Love the warm, comfort feeling and taste.

 

Family Time

--- "I go for a walk each afternoon with my children.  Works every time." --- @rbarberi 

--- I laugh - a LOT!  One of my favorite things to do is spend time with my son and that often leads to laughter.  We de-stress each other.

 

Physical Activities

--- "Punching bag!" --- @pamelaharper72 

--- "WORKOUT!! :-)" --- @fatlosstips4u & @llyounger

--- "Trap shooting - yes, I have a shotgun now." --- Shawna Knapp Collins 

--- Tai Chi is my newest favorite workout.  I've found it is relaxing and healing at the same time.  My son and I also enjoy the Wii Fit balance games for a combination of laughter and workout!

 

Cleaning (Really?  Yes, Really!)

--- "Cleaning (dishes, dusting, vacuuming, etc.) + organizing + exercise... in that order =)" --- @dallisonlee 

--- "I scrub-a-dub w/rubber gloves, brush, bucket + fave potion.  Burns calories+sparkling surfaces.  Smells good 2 --- @metrozing 

 

Enjoying Our Animals  

--- "Walking my dogs - it's a great way to meet the neighbors; I believe we should be more like those relaxed people in colorado and bring our dogs to work." --- Shawna Knapp Collins

--- I'm with Shawna on this one for sure.  My puppy, Danny, and I go for walks and play catch.  The workout and laughter do a lot for stress relief. 

Want More Ideas? 

Check out Entrepreneurs You Must Learn To Relax - Here are 74 ideas to get you started on the TPE site.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS!!

What do you do to de-stress?  It is so important to have something that works for you! I know my readers would love your ideas.  Please leave your comment below. (Reading this in email?  click here to share your comment)

Like what you've read?  Then you must share it!  People need de-stressing now!  Choose one of the buttons at the bottom of this post and share away!

To your success!

PS -- If you've enjoyed this post and want to see more, why not subscribe to our daily emails (Feedblitz) or through the RSS Feed (click here)?  Or, follow us on Twitter!  Or connect on Facebook!

 

Want to see their actual comments? Check out the pics below. click on the thumbnail to switch between the comments I got on Facebook and Twitter.

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How to Waste Time and Lose Money Networking

We have all heard the phrase, it is not what you know, but who you know (and in today's social networking environment it is even about who they know!)  On Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a fantastic business women's conference.  (Look to the right and you'll see the awesome Cindy Fleming on the left, Martha Mayhood Mertz on the right and I'm in the center.)  Connections with the right people put you on the path to success. Being able to leverage your people networks saves you time, energy, and money.

As I walked through the exhibit hall on Wednesday, I did a lot of observing.  I saw a lot of talking and interaction, but I wondered if actual networking was occurring.  Networking is an extremely important component for most businesses, yet there are many people that don't do it right.  They miss the most important step that must be done right --- the follow up. 

Twitter Tuesday - My Tweeps Share Their Favorite Online Productivity Tools

Every once-in-a-while, I fire a question out to my Twitter friends.  This time, I asked:

What is your favorite online productivity tool? 

Check out the great replies that I got from my "Tweeps."  If you like what they have to say, make sure to follow them for more great ideas!

How much time does Web 2.0 take and Preview of New LinkedIN Prod. Tool

Today's post is really short, but I wanted to share a great post that talks about how to look at your social networking.  The author gives some fantastic resources and perspective on how long various social networking activities take.  Check it out!  http://virl.com/dbdb3/

Also, LinkedIN just came out with a new way to manage your contacts on LinkedIN.  Check out this short video to learn more.

To your success!

Twitter Tuesday - Favorite Time Management Tips from my Tweeps

Every once-in-a-while, I fire a question out to my Twitter friends.  This time, I asked:

What is your favorite time management tip? 

Check out the great replies that I got from my "Tweeps."  If you like what they have to say, make sure to follow them for more great ideas!

Automated Delegation - Good or Bad? Answer: Both! It depends on how you implement.

Yesterday, my brother commented to one of my time tips and it really made me laugh.  

He brought up a good point -- Facebook and other social networking sites can be real time-killers if you are not careful.  Then, I realized that I have not really shared my experience or the tools that I use to stay productive online.  That will begin to change today by sharing one of my "secret weapons."

Huh! A Twitter tool that does not take forever to run. Check out my Twitter Mosaic

As I was reading Denise Wakeman's post on Facebook, I learned about a tool that helps you with quick and effective on-line marketing.  It is called a Twitter Mosaic.  I thought I would give it a try to see if it was a time waster or a quick Twitter tool.  My mosaic is below (Denise is the 5th from the left in the glasses)

I'm happy to say that this Twitter tool is not one that takes 30 minutes to process.  I typed in my user name and in 2.3 minutes my mosaic was created.  I have a few more than 3100 followers, so that is a pretty good result time.

So, why would you want to bother doing this?

NEW! Networking on My Blog - Productive & Organized

Yesterday, I told you about the great kiva birthday promo  Denise Wakeman is doing.  As I was looking at her blog comments (see to the right) I realized I could enhance my blog with some functionality too. 

I love to have conversations online or offline, but I realize that the easier it is to have a conversation the more likely you will actually do it!  It is just like any other system, the more steps it takes to do something, the less likely you are to do it!

So, now, when you scroll to the bottom of any post of mine, you will see it is super easy to comment.  Not only that, if you want, you can comment on other people's comments.

Try it out!  Scroll to the bottom of this post and tell me what you think of the new functionality.

To your success!

Steph

Delegate Bookmarking to an Automated System

Sometimes when I talk about delegation, I am referring to taking a task and giving it to someone else to do.  Today, I'm talking about taking a very mundane task and delegating it to automation! 

I found a cool new tool recently while surfing TipsGuide.com. It is called OnlyWire.  OnlyWire lets you bookmark articles/posts that you find and like to multiple bookmarking accounts all at once. 

Spending Time on Social Networking - Make it Count!

Have you set up a Web 2.0 strategy for your business?  Do you use social networking sites to build your prospect listing?  Do you know if the sites you have chosen are a fit with your target market?

Before you take a lot of time managing various social networking sites, make sure that the people using that network are in your target market!  Today I'll tell you about a great tool that will help you figure that out.

Delegate Today! Social Networking

There are a number of things that you can do to increase your profits and have hours in your day that you enjoy and prosper! Even if you do not have employees, there are things you can do to delegate activities. Don't let activities you cannot stand or are not money makers chew up your time!
Today, I'll talk about social networking.

Twitter - a time waster or not?

Do you tweet?  I do now.  I am just learning because one of my favorite advisers Joan Stewart suggests that Tweeting is a good way to grow your business.

You can subscribe to my rss: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/14114393.rss
You can follow my tweets here: http://twitter.com/StephCalahan

If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is a site that you can use to tell the world (or at least the world of twitter users) what you are up to.  Read Joan's article above to learn more.

So here is my question: