Sorting through PILES OF BLOG headlines.
WATCH WHAT YOU SPEND YOUR TIME ON.
I've heard a lot of people talk about the trouble keeping up with emails here, and I think what they mean is BLOG NOTIFICATION EMAILS (so I'm using BLOG and EMAIL interchangeably here).
I can see why initially you would want to read a bit of everything here, to get a feeling for what people are blogging and reading, but to spend more than about 30 minutes a day sorting through this as purely a warm up / organization period for the day is really way too much, in my novice opinion.
MY BLOG SORTING STRATEGY:
1) Limit your time frame before you start sorting. (I read them in the bathtub, or literally set a timer. I give it 30 minutes MAX to get through all my emails - WA and otherwise - and before I start working. Otherwise it could literally take forever.)
2) I look at the headline and if after reading it I say anything to myself other than "I NEED THAT" I delete it. (CLICK! TRASH. And you will never miss it and you will never think of it again. None of those emails will materially contribute to your success.)
3) If I think I need it, I save it for a study / research time. I still only allow another hour for that daily MAX!
- If I read the blog, and IF I click LIKE, I then go up and click REMOVE ME FROM THE DISCUSSION so that I keep my NOTIFICATIONS clean and limited to things that actually involve me.
- If it's good study material I click the STAR, put a Tag on it to save in my favorites, and REMOVE FROM THE DISCUSSION, and move along to the next one.
- If the blog links to some other page, and it's a good one, that's where a TON OF TIME can be lost. I scan that too, save it as favorites, and if it's super important I just email a link to myself and a reminder to read it. If it's really important I will have to squeeze it into the schedule somewhere ... not just get sucked down the wind tunnel before I get my work done.
4) So I'm spending 90 minutes on WA stuff. THAT'S A LOT!
- What if you need to write a WA blog? I think it needs to be contained within the 90 minutes of organization, frankly, because there is SO MUCH else to do before we are successful.
- What if you need to write content for your website?
- What if you need to do training every day? I'm thinking Kyle's training is more important than what I blogged about my chicken today LOL although I will admit that is VERY important... TO ME!
I would love to hear what you all are doing in this regard. Thanks for reading. It's much appreciated!
-Alexx
By the way, here's the Shameless Chicken Update for the day.
Recent Comments
31
Hi Alexx,
That's a very useful post. I let myself be sucked into that hole and I am retraining myself to do exactly what you have suggested. It is a matter of self defense. Many thanks.
Btw that thing behind you looks like it's about to gobble you up! Run!
Informative post Alexx. It's a catch 22 situation because the more members you follow and the more followers you get the more the emails mount up. And I think that if you're not selective it could take you the whole day to deal with them all.
Thanks for the compliment, Kennick. I'm thinking we can turn off the emails, which I may do... it would actually be easier just to go under activity and limit it to WHO I FOLLOW and scan it for stuff I need.
-A
I like the way you sorted your list out. I may adopt that too. I feel that I should look at and reply to notifications, but sometimes that's all I get done. My site is being updated but I've had to slow down on lessons, usually I have 3-4 posts ready to go and schedule them to go live. You're limiting time to certain areas sounds ideal for me, thank you.
I'm so glad it can help you. I have to do it early in the day also otherwise my draggy brain can't get through it that fast once I'm a bit tired. LOL -Alexx
Alexx,
I fully agree with you and I know for a fact that there are days I can only get my email notification and no other work is done. I work a full-time job and I have a family, so I have been looking at the subject, glancing at the contents and if it is too long, I may delete it since it may not pertain to me.
I am not saying that it doesn't help the ranking, but some do not apply to the success at WA and that to me is an issue.
I am sure I am going to upset some people, but it is very hard to comment on all the bloggers here.
Thanks
Sheila
It really doesn't help to READ a blog. Leaving a comment, maybe, but it's infinitesimal compared to if you learn stuff and do a training later or even just write a blog once a week or so, right? It's just suck a time suck to read these things... even to open it to SEE what it is is time gone. Set a timer sometimes and add it up. I was shocked even though I knew time was starting to leak out here. -Alexx
The thing with responding to emails and writing blogs within WA, that is what raises your rank within WA. Unless you don't care about that you could spend all your time on your site and social media. I try to balance it all. At first I spent most of my time responding to every email and it can consume all of your time. So balance is key!
Ed
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The title of your blog really caught my attention. I limit myself on blog reading too. My criteria for blog reading is: is it immediately useful to me and my site and that is pretty much it. I have had to pass up many blogs since then. I don't have time or energy to get through them all. I feel kind of bad about it, because I think almost all blogs here are insightful, useful and supportive. There is something for everyone though and you don't have to read them all.