Something’s been brewing in my heart lately.
Of course it’s Blissdom related because I’ve given up hope of not having Blissdom on my mind for the next week or two. I’m just gonna go with it rather than waste my time fighting it.
I’ve already told you about my revelation regarding what I write and how much to share with you all – but this is something else entirely.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the opening keynote. First there’s Jon Acuff, whose book Quitters I’m trying to read as slowly as possible so as to let my brain marinate in the wisdom he’s sharing. That will be the topic of an upcoming post.
And you’re welcome for the mental image of my brain marinating, by the way.
We all know Jon was amazing. Much has already been said about how insightful and funny he was.
But there was another part of that opening session that I want to remember and keep at the forefront of my mind, always.
It was the gentleman who spoke in the video at the beginning. I can’t remember his name, being too busy fighting with the sketchy wifi to type.
But I do remember what he said. It probably applies to anyone who spends their time and energy trying to make a name for themselves.
To paraphrase, he said that using all of one’s gunpowder to fire a single cannonball at random is ineffective.
It’s much smarter to first fire bullets and see where they land in order to get the target squarely in your line of sight. Then you use the rest of your gunpowder to fire that cannonball, knowing now that you’ll strike.
Yes. He put it way better than I did.
But you get my point.
How many of us spend our time going in a million different directions? We try to get our names out there and lord knows there are enough ways to do it.
So we tweet, facebook, instagram, stumble and pin. We reply to comments, visit other blogs, post messages in forums, participate in linkups and memes.
All of this aside from crafting the best content possible.
And yet I for one feel like I’m only spinning my wheels.
I need to figure out where my time is best spent and use my gunpowder there. Make a map of where I want to be and how to get there, then follow it.
Maybe some of the frustration I’ve been feeling lately will be resolved once I do.
How about you? Do you spend your online time effectively? Or do you spread yourself too thin? What do you think works best for you in terms of self-promotion and interaction?
Get out of my head. Seriously. I have felt for so long that, while I love being online, I am just spinning my wheels. It’s frustrating at times because I know I want to go *somewhere* I’m just unsure of where and how to get there.
I think we should just pretty much give it up at this point and become comfortable with the fact that we’re the same person.
It IS frustrating and I don’t know where or how, either. I know I need a sharp picture in my mind if I’m going to actualize it…maybe I’m afraid to actually own my own dreams? I don’t know.
Oh, you explained the gunpowder thing so much better than he did. Maybe I was just a little tired from driving to Nashville that morning, but I completely missed his point. Now I get it and realize it was a good one. Thank you for that!
Oh I’m glad.
As I was typing I was thinking “this will be good once I process it a little more”.
This is so funny because I wrote nearly the same post a year ago…right after Blissdom!
Oh yes. I cut back on platforms I was using, removed a bunch of badges and other nonsense from my blog, started to cut back the # of days I was writing, etc.
I’m a firm believer you aren’t doing yourself any good if you are trying to keep up with 10 things at once. Focus on 2 or 3, and you’ll be much more effective.
I do remember you saying that you were cutting back on posting days, which was a good idea. And do you feel you’ve been more effective? And yes I realize I’m asking a ton of questions and I apologize but I do value your opinion and experience.
Oh yes! Plus, letting go of some of those expectations was freeing and made me feel better about the time I was spending online in general.
This is really good. Definitely something I need to figure out as well. That opening on Friday was unbelievable….I need to read Quitter (slowly) too.
Definitely – I tend to fly through books, and this is one I need to savor.
I’m so glad we got to meet up!
I like this. I am THE WORST at staying on a path. I have writing ADD. And it’s spreading.
So I need to refocus. Or maybe just focus once. That would be good, too.
Yeah, I’m with you – I just need to focus in the first place.
As an experiment today, I stayed off the internet all through the day (til now). I got SO MUCH work done. But I spent much of the time wondering what was happening with my friends.
I think it’s a habit that just needs to be broken, is all. Which sucks, because I like some of my habits.
I think I’m spread too thin. And I don’t think I’m consistent, which is tough when people are trying to connect. I’m working on it
I don’t have ANY answers, but I think I need to really THINK about it and plan instead of just hopping on and off a bunch of different social media sites and playing around.
Yes – thinking and planning instead of just randomly jumping from place to place. Sometimes I wonder how much actual useful work I get done when I’m messing around online. Maybe I don’t want to know…?
I use very little of the stuff out there to connect. Facebook (although I have neglected my page for my blog), Twitter and my blog. I use IG, but I see it as separate from my blog. I have never used all the other things out there. I am just too lazy to learn about them. I like Twitter because I think it helps build and foster community. Any new blogs I read these days were found because someone tweeted a link. If they read it and liked it, and I already follow them, then I am likely to want to read it too. Of course, too much tweeting and being on FB can take away from the blog. I think smartphones have drastically reduced comments–I read a lot of blog posts on my phone but don’t comment b/c the platform is too clunky. I think we should write first and then turn on all the ways to connect. Get the words out of yourself before you start interacting, you know?
I do find a lot of blogs through twitter – and lately I’ve noticed that on the other side of it, there are a lot of people I interact with daily, but I don’t read their blogs. It’s weird.
You’re so right: the blog should come first. It’s the reason we’re here in the first place. Losing sight of that can be very easy when conversation is always going somewhere else.
I hate commenting on my phone as well!
I feel like I’m doing a lot, and I’m still getting my head around what really works. I think I’ve got it right about 80%, and I don’t feel like I’m dragging on time like I used to.
It’s a process, I haven’t perfected it and I just know things will change when the baby comes, so my strategy is to just go with the flow. The most important thing to me is to keep writing – so if I can, I want to maintain a 3 posts/ week, keep up my Project 366, and do regular updates on Facebook and Twitter (by regular, I mean maybe once a day). The rest will just have to take a backseat.
At least, that’s the plan and we all know how plans work out
I hope you find your answers soon!
You have it right – the most important thing is to figure what works for you. And in your case, yes, it’s a good idea to stay flexible!
Yeah, plans tend to…fall by the wayside when something else pops up. Still, it’s a good place to start, right?
I’ve been struggling with this very same thing recently! I wish there was a magic solution. But alas, it’s just lots of hard work. Good luck!
Well, yes and no. Yes, a lot of work is involved. But over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need to work harder – I need to work smarter. It’s about productivity and how much actually gets accomplished by, say, commenting on 50 new blogs a week as opposed to commenting on a smaller number of quality blogs written by bloggers who want to interact and form a relationship. Same with tweeting – how many tweets fall on deaf ears (eyes)? What’s the best time to tweet? How to make facebook posts stand out in the crowd? Stuff like that. Not only that, but how much time is wasted on these platforms by getting distracted by friends rather than focusing on the task at hand? Stuff like that.
I think this is such an important thing for us blogger overachievers to wrap our heads around. There is no way that you can do all things.
I think that not only do you have to pick the social media that is most productive, but also gives you the most back. I have my blogging schedule pretty set (m,w,f)and I have pretty much given up on Twitter. It was just way too much work.
On plus side I picked you to visit from Shell’s linky because your name and pic had been thrown out alot from all the Blissdom Facebook posts and instagram pics!
Isn’t it tempting to think you can do it all, be everywhere at once? Does it ever seem to you that others do and can? I think about it all the time.
No twitter? That’s a shame. But it’s also a timesuck and easy to forget why you’re there in the first place. I mean, not that it’s all about business or gaining readers – but often I’ll go on there to schedule post tweets or check on a friend and before I know it, 30 minutes have passed and those tweets still haven’t been scheduled.
I’m glad you saw me and found me here! That gives me some hope that some of the bullets I’m firing are hitting a target!
So true. I don’t even know where I’m going. But I’m working on that. The other thing? I’m trying to focus on living life. Not just watching it.
Brilliantly said. You know, there was a time not long ago when I would *literally* spend all weekend with my netbook in my lap, visiting dozens upon dozens of blogs, basically doing nothing else. What a waste of time and life. I wish I could go back and smack myself around a little.
I really don’t know where I’m going, either – I keep telling myself I should know, but I don’t.
I love the way you explained the whole gunpowder/cannon thing-your retelling is so much better than my memory of it. Now I understand it. Love the question of social media use…I’m on fb and twitter. I am trying to use them more than I currently do, but use them wisely. I can so easily get sucked in for the wrong reasons. I’d like to leave the popularity contest back where it belongs, but somehow facebook and twitter bring me back to the 7th grade dance in the gym and no one asked me to dance. Balance? Yeah, I’m looking for it. I’ll keep you posted.
I’m glad I helped you understand it a little better!
Using them wisely – that’s the key. But honestly, just focus on having fun with your friends on those mediums – that’s what I do. No reason to waste time on negativity, right? Besides, you were so friendly and open at the conference – who wouldn’t want to be your friend and follow you???
I definitely don’t think I spend my time online (or offline, for that matter) effectively. Online, especially, I feel like I go all ADHD with 8 different windows open at once – three of them posts I’m reading, one my own blog, one my dashboard, one Twitter, one Facebook, etc. All this while I’m also trying to do a job… that pays me!
That said, I do feel like I’ve begun to hone what best works for me in the blogging world. I know now which social media platforms to use to promote myself, what type of phrasing works (and what doesn’t), which bloggy friends are genuine (and which ones aren’t), how best to arrange my own blog, what kind of content works best on which days, and so forth and so on. Though I often still feel like I’m spinning my wheels, I do have to say that I’ve come a long way from where I was this time a year ago.
So, maybe it just takes a few practice rounds to get the target in sight. It’s just a continuously evolving process.
This is so insightful and so well put.
I definitely need to keep only one or two windows/tabs open at a time – it’s way too easy to get lost and forget why I got online in the first place.
You’re right, and I didn’t think of it that way – it’s always evolving. Depending on where you are in the process of blogging your methods of networking and self-promotion will differ. Great point!
That part of it made me think about how we can’t possibly do it all. And how it’s much better to pick a few that we can be effective at rather than a ton that we do halfway.
That keynote was amazing. So many takeaways.
Definitely – so glad I took a lot of notes of that one!
First let me say it was awesome to meet you at BlissDom! I wish I’d had more time to talk to each of the wonderful people I met- I suppose that’s why we want to go back again and again.
The video interview you’re referring to was Jim Collins, author of ‘Good to Great’. His name was on my radar before BlissDom, and after BlissDom I was incredibly excited to discover he will be speaking at an upcoming conference I’m attending in May. I have a feeling seeing him speak is going to be great!
I relate to your thoughts on focusing your blogging efforts. I work full time, hold a position the the Board of Directors for a professional association, blog, and have a life and family.
I have precious little time and energy to waste, and I need to focus my efforts where it counts. Not where it counts to others but where it counts to me. I choose to live a life that’s engaged, purposeful and fulfilling. I often do this by asking myself, “is this filling my cup?” If I’m not energized and inspired by an activity or opportunity, I have a choice not to do it any longer, or at least as little as necessary.
In his BlissDom session Ignite the Sparks of Passion with the Fuel of Purpose Justin McCullough said, “if it’s not a hell yeah, then it’s a no”. What an awesome question to add to my repertoire!
Have a grateful day!
Chrysta
Filling my cup – I love that! I need to start asking myself the same question. Daily. Perhaps hourly.
I am SO GLAD we didn’t just look at each other like “hmm…do I know her?” and keep moving on.
I’ve been thinking about this so much lately. I keep going back to this weekly link-up competition every single week, hoping to get some validation from the rest of the group. Inevitably, I do get more comments on those posts. But I never get the votes. When I don’t win, I feel unappreciated. I’m looking for validation in the wrong demographic. It’s frustrating. But I keep going back, every single week. *le sigh*
Oh sweetie. Drop that like a bad habit. I’m not in the habit of giving unsolicited advice, but it’s easy enough to lose self-esteem on the internet as it is. Don’t make it any harder on yourself. Where are you linking up? What sort of posts?