{"id":5353,"date":"2013-05-14T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adviceinteractivegroup.com\/?p=5353"},"modified":"2013-05-14T07:00:15","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T07:00:15","slug":"staying-sane-in-a-socially-driven-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/al.rocksdmdev.com\/?p=5353","title":{"rendered":"Staying Sane in a Socially-Driven World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.<\/em><\/strong>
\n “Oh, you can\u2019t help that,” said the Cat: “we\u2019re all mad here. I\u2019m mad. You\u2019re mad.”<\/em><\/strong>
\n “How do you know I\u2019m mad?” said Alice.<\/em><\/strong>
\n “You must be,” said the Cat, “<\/em><\/strong>or you wouldn\u2019t have come here.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u2015 Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland<\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In today\u2019s globalized world, we are constantly surrounded by and connected to the Internet. Social media has become a huge part of the time we spend online\u2014in fact, we literally consume it. Think of all the people who were glued to their phones and computers during the Boston Marathon investigation\u2014Twitter and Reddit were both instrumental in breaking news and updates to a population waiting on the edge of their seats.<\/p>\n

The Pew Research Center<\/a> notes that as of December 2012, 67% of all adult Internet users use some kind of social media site. 67% of those people use Facebook; 16% use Twitter; 15% use Pinterest, 13% use Instagram… the numbers are astounding. And they keep growing every day.<\/p>\n

\"Keep<\/p>\n

But you have to wonder, does all this social connectivity come at a price? Several research studies have shown that all this Internet use might be disconnecting us from our brains, decreasing our attention spans<\/a> to mere minimums. Think about it\u2014how often do you switch between tabs on your computer? When was the last time you read a whole news article without skimming? Social media has, essentially, turned our world experience into channel surfing\u2014as you flip from one site to the next, you only see a flash of what\u2019s there, never diving into the bigger picture.<\/p>\n

Trying to sort out all the noise from social media is enough to make a person go mad. But this is what we, as social media managers, are called to do. Punch through the noise, connect with an audience that\u2019s just as distracted as we are, and convince them to listen to what you have to say. It\u2019s a neverending race to be first place. And it can drive a person insane.<\/p>\n

So if social media is slowly driving us all insane, what can we do to stay sane in our jobs?<\/p>\n

Make a To-Do List<\/h1>\n

Because social media is such a scattered industry, it\u2019s likely that your workload will be scattered over all sorts of tasks and projects. That\u2019s why I\u2019m a strong proponent for to-do lists.<\/p>\n

When I get lost or distracted during my workflow (which happens at least once a day) and wonder, \u201cWhat was I supposed to be doing?\u201d my to-do list always grounds me. It tells me exactly what I should be doing, organized by project, day of the week, or even the time of day. It really is my day-to-day lifesaver and definitely keeps me sane.<\/p>\n

Some of my favorite to-do list sites and apps include:<\/p>\n