Stop spinning and start focusing
Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Beebo, Yelp, Foursquare and on and on and on. These social services all have one thing in common. You are pouring YOUR content into them. By the mere nature of your engagement you make these services all the more powerful loading them with personal data to literally map the flow of humanity! Stop and Think.
Stop spinning and start focusing. Years and years ago I worked as a sous chef in a very fast paced high end kitchen. We had a particularly busy night one evening and my station was getting absolutely slammed. In fact I could see in my periphery that the other chefs on the line were literally twiddling their thumbs waiting for an order to appear in their station. (This was my reward for making awesome food) About an hour into the chaos the head chef (A really big French dude) came out and ripped the other guys a new one for standing there watching me get buried. After that he reamed me out for having a station that looked like a bomb went off. He whispered this in my ear, “If your station is this cluttered I cant imagine what is going on in your mind”
From that day forth I have always strived to stay under control, focused and on point with my actions and emotions. Now as a social media and digital marketing professional I find myself often repeating that French chef in my ear. If you have read this blog for any amount of time you know that I am a huge advocate for social media tools but I implore you to stay focused and on point. It is really easy to get washed away in the river of chatter on twitter, even easier to check your email every time the little ‘You’ve got Mail‘ button bell goes off. Be a do’er not a follower and you’ll find yourself ahead of the game in no time. Every day there is new advice from an expert telling you to be focused on linked in, Facebook, or some new-fangled website that will make you rich and powerful. Shut them out and listen to your gut!Approach your goals one lilly pad at a time until you have crossed the pond enjoying the challenge of every step. Over time you will find that you have built yourself something substantial rather than have built it for someone else!
Keith Burtis is a social media and digital marketing professional. If you or your company are looking to REV THE ENGINE on your digital efforts contact Keith today! Specialties include: Blog design/Integration, Custom Facebook Pages, Social, Digital and Interactive Content strategies.
Comments
Like any other advice, you need to weigh it in your gut. For me… tweetdeck runs all day but I am using it to monitor conversations and terms. It works as a part of my daily routine. If you find it throwing you off into oblivion and you can’t accomplish what you set out to then maybe turning it off for a while is a good thing. The answers are inside you.
keithburtis´s last blog ..Stop spinning and start focusing 
Keith -
I know to choose a few tools, and use them. It’s awful easy to get sidetracked with the new toy and want to be in the forefront. But then …. monkey mind gets in the way. I’m organizing a lot better – and getting a lot more done, with less. I’ve found that getting up and stepping away from the computer for 10 minutes every couple of hours makes a HUGE difference.
And btw, congrats on the exciting things going on in your life!
karimacatherine Hey Keith,
Long time since that great conversation about Twitter rockstars. 
At the mere sight of the title of your post I knew what you were getting at. My humble opinion is that it is like having a new toy, people get excited with SM and then, things will settle dow, and people will learn to manage their initiatives. Cannot go on like that, I agree with you!
Karima-catherine
Best advice a manager ever gave me-> ignore your email.
When I worked for him he told me if it was important, call or be called or go in person.
Email is rarely life or death or even time sensitive. I still have an uneasy habit of randomly checking my email when I think I might have some to see. 
The biggest thing isn’t about direct distraction. It’s about diffusion of energy. If you’re ‘bringing your business online’ then that’s where the primary energy should be focused.
I see lots of companies, big and small, let their digital presence become idle chatter, talk about sports, or other absolutely unrelated topics to their brand.
Maybe this works for some small businesses but when I’m on the Pepsi fan page, I want to hear about what Pepsi is doing, doing for me, or offering me. I’m not interested in whether they are Go Saints or not.
Also, because of the ‘relaxed’ atmosphere of the net, especially Facebook, what companies let happen to their image is sad. I’ve visited more than one company page where they allow folks to post just about anything, including pictures. It’s disturbing to find naked images on an otherwise wholesome business page.
Lesson: if you don’t take it seriously, the next guy will.
Todd Jordan´s last blog ..Seth Godin Linchpin Bonus
Keith, this is me multiple times a day. Especially when that catchy title and link come across Tweetdeck. I am currently reading Linchpin and Seth Godin nailed me and my productivity problem. Focus. There are some many GOOD things to do, GOOD things to read, GOOD tools. But we will only be good, and never GREAT if we don’t focus. Love the post.
Thanks for this… I’ll turn tweetdeck off now and get my focus back!
dandelionweb´s last blog ..How To Tweet – Twitter tips for beginners