If you had to answer without putting too much thought into it, would you say that the majority of your time online is spent creating content - or consuming content?
For awhile now I've been on a one-way street. I've been so busy creating and managing my content that I haven't had much opportunity to read or study anything new.
I'd be willing to bet you're having the opposite problem - you've been so busy consuming and studying content that you haven't had much time left over to work on creating your own contribution to the web. Am I right?
Both of those scenarios present their own set of problems.
Obviously you are going to have a difficult time getting your online business up and running if you are too busy downloading, reading and studying. There are only so many hours in a day.
Likewise, it's very easy to become stagnant if you aren't consuming niche news and information on current trends. One of the keys to being a market leader in your niche is to be in a position to report on that news, and share opinions and actionable tips with your readership.
The key is to find balance between creating and consuming.
I realized that very recently, and have been making strides toward improvements. This is one of the primary reasons that I have been attending more internet marketing events and studying new info products.
On the flip side, if all you do is attend events and study guides & blogs... you aren't publishing or creating. Which is not going to get you anywhere fast.
Prior to the rise of Social Media, people either got online to publish information or to consume information. Now most users are both creating and consuming information every time they log on. So in addition to following news and trends, you also want to keep an ear on the conversations related to your niche(s). Not only should you read those discussions, you should get involved in them.
The first thing I recommend is that you keep a Time Log for the next 72 hours. Make note of how much time you spend working, and exactly how you are spending that time. Simply keep a notepad on your desk or beside your laptop, and keep an ongoing log of times & tasks.
You can take it a step further and document your entire day for the next 3 days. Including family obligations, tv time, sleep, social events, etc. It's incredibly enlightening, and you will see areas where you can make dramatic improvements right away. (This is one of the reasons I use paper & pen vs software that tracks online activities only)
Next, set up systems and schedules for both consuming and creating. There are a lot of options including software, outsourcing, mobile apps, and different strategies. What works best for one person won't be the ideal solution for the next, so you want to choose a system that works best for you.
I put NewsRob Pro on my Droid so that I can access my Google Feed Reader on the go. This cuts out my consumption time in front of the computer, and allows me to keep up with topics and Google Alerts while I'm mobile. I find it's much more efficient to keep an eye on them when I have a spare minute here and there, than to get completely drawn in for an hour or more while I'm sitting at my desk.
That won't work for everyone, but it works great for me.
Also set aside a specific amount of time every day to create. Make it a routine until it becomes a habit. Set a timer for 30, 60 or 90 minutes during this time and turn everything else off so that you can focus on publishing for your niche.
Whether you're working on a new product, blogging, mailing your list - whatever you're doing, make time to do that consistently.
Start with the Time Log. It's a simple exercise that can make a huge difference. Are you consuming too much information and not creating enough (or any) yourself? Are you out of the loop because you aren't keeping an eye on the content & conversations others are publishing? Make it a point to find some balance with all of the information, and make sure it's flowing smoothly on both sides...
Best,
p.s. If you choose to take the Time Log challenge, I would love to hear what stands out to you most from analyzing the way you spend your time working online. Did you see an immediate area where you can make serious improvements?
About Lynn Terry
Indeed, and batching the type of activity in units of days helps immensely as well. For example, I take no calls and schedule no appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as these days are split into 4 hour chunks and ONE project assigned to each chunk. Thursdays and Fridays are always buffer days and Monday gets allocated between buffer or project as needs dictate.
The reason to do this is well articulated at http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
Anything you do to show how much, or how little, time you spend on non-producing activities turns out to be a real eye opener.
One thing I've started doing (and this is just me) is I completely cut off consumption of content for several days, sometimes up to a week, and just concentrate on developing content. Then I go and skim the headlines or read a few key articles about what went on during the time I was looking the other way.
By doing this I've found that I can catch up with very little effort, or far less effort than it would have taken to follow all the channels in real time during that week, which frees up a LOT of time for creating your own content.
I like to think of it all as a soap opera you watch on TV - You only need to watch occasionally to get the ghist of what's going on 🙂
But that's just me and it may not work for everyone.
This has been one of my greatest struggles. I know I get caught up consuming and not creating but it is so easy to do. I am reducing the number of feeds in my feed reader and trying to stick to a plan. It is a struggle though.
Great article Lynn. Logging your time and activities is a real good idea for everyone, but especially the newbie. It can be like an addiction wherein you don't realize what you are doing until someone, or something shows you.
Great advice, Lynn. It's easy to get caught up just consuming content, since we've all found ways to make it really easy to get a "stream" of content that pretty much constantly updated.
Like you said, I've recently begun blocking out that time. It's taken some sacrifice with earlier mornings, but the amount of work that you can accomplish in that dedicated time is, frankly, unbelieveable.
I dare anyone to just take 30 minutes of completely uninterrupted time and WORK on ONE project.
You'll be shocked at just how far you'll get!
Mike Paul
Great advice. I agree that we have to keep track of what we are doing and try to log everything as much as we can. I noticed that when I review my log, I begin to realize where my strengths and weaknesses are and where I need the most improvement. Thank you for pointing that out.
I am like you Lynn, I check my Google Reader on my iPhone. There are lots of times during the day I can take a peek without having to sit at my computer.
Having a 10 month old means I get work done whenever I can, but some days it is not until late at night. I can consume content when I am rocking her to sleep, or she is playing on the floor.
I feel like I have more time to consume content than create it, something I know will change as she gets older and can play by herself.
I have often been in a bubble when I create content, but lately have wanted to change that and have also added a bunch of feeds to my phone to read when away from the computer.
Finding balance is important in most parts of life, don't you think?
As to consuming content versus creating content, I love it when I feel that I am balancing the two. I wish I could say that happens every day, but it doesn't :-0
I will say that the more I concentrate on it, I find it coming more naturally to divide up my time between the two tasks. I know that both are necessary to my IM success. As we all know, it isn't always easy, but it can be done.
Awareness and time management are key. Thanks for a great post Lynn!
Totally guilty of consuming more than I'm creating. I have been changing that and have been cleaning out my Google Reader which really takes up most of my time. It used to be forums and I cleaned out those like crazy. Definitely need to set up a system for myself.
Ironically, my first thought was that I create more content then after reading further I realized - you know I'm still consuming more than I'm putting out there. Thanks for the reminder that everything in balance is bliss! 🙂
I just love consuming. The Internet blogging community just sets forth such a scrumptious buffet of somewhat useful information. I'm addicted and not afraid to admit it.
I think this will always be an internal struggle because of the amount of "stuff" that people write about internet marketing, web design, blogging and social media etc. You could grow old having never stopped reading and never created a single piece of content or vice-versa.
The challenge for me has always been "what's most important" at the time. I run my own business and I have to manage a shed load of tasks for different reasons, event planning, proposal writing, content generation. I am terrible when it comes to the disciplined time management approach but I found a methodology that works for me.
I call it the ABCD method. Each day I categorise my job list into A=Absolutely has to be done today, B=This is the urgent stuff that isn't important, like answering the phone or opening the post, C=This is the stuff that you know you want to do at some point but it's not urgent i.e. the medium term stuff and lastly D=This stuff isn't urgent or important and so we shouldn't be exhausting time on it.
It may surprise you to know that research shows we spend around 30%+ of our time on jobs in the B box, 20%+ doing stuff which really should be D box and around 30% of our time on stuff in the C box. Ok, so mathemeticians work it out. We actually spend a poorly managed 20% of out time doing what is really important and urgent. Frightening huh. Now those figures are obviously averages across a large population but do you really know how well you manage your time?
So, I started to use the ABCD system to categorise my jobs each day and then I focused on working through the As and I prioritised these 1,2,3 etc. This has helped me to focus on getting the important and urgent stuff done first. I plan my content reading and content creating using the same system and it's helped me no end. I may not get to read all I want to, when I want to, but I do what needs to be done. As a result I feel much more productive.
I definitely find myself going through phases of both consuming and creating. It seems like when I get on a roll with one I end up doing that phase of things for days on end and the other completely slips my mind.
I do try to stick with a blogging schedule and pre-schedule as far in advance as I can for when those phases of consuming take over my brain and I forget to write anything! I definitely need to work on a schedule for article writing and guest blogging as well, and really start getting out there more!
Compared to last year, I have cut down consumption quite a bit but find myself socializing on social media more often. For a couple of weeks I challenged myself to write a blog post before I read anyone else's blog or get on twitter/facebook, and it actually worked. I need to get back to doing that, so thanks for the reminder. They say do more of what works and stop doing what doesn't right? 🙂
Hey Lynn, Keeping a log is good idea, sort of like keeping a log of what you eat when you're dieting, it can be an eye opener. What works best for me is just keeping a rigid schedule and also taking scheduled breaks, hardest part for me 😉
Logging, mapping, or scheduling is very helpful. I focus the bulk of my time on creating content, but must force myself to schedule time in the week for activities like sharing that content, keeping up with blogs and other sites in my niche, and so on. Before I was able to systematize these activities, they went largely ignored.
I've found a great little personal time management tool called Manic Time, and it's a free download. It shows exactly where I'm spending my time online; news and feeds for me. Now I just need to find some more software to assist me in spending the time where I need to.
@Bo
I installed Manic Time for my PC. Hopefully, it can really help me cause I find it very hard to manage my time. I usually do manual scheduling of tasks, but I end up not accomplishing everything. That's absolutely my problem since then.
I know, for a fact, that I will do best in my ceation of content first thing in the morning. (Well, once I get rid of the kids, that is. And I really, really did well when I took Kathleen Gage's advice after NAMS2 and did not read email or anything first thing in the morning. I did allow myself Twitter, though, because, sometimes I need something to keep me busy while the kids are getting ready. (Or I'll fall back asleep!) LOL
I can honestly say that I am truly scared to do the Time Log Challenge. For real. I think I will start with going back to following Kathleen's "make money first" method.
I do find, though, that when I'm doing good 'creating' content, I feel so out of the loop and somewhat guilty, because, I'm not in touch with people's blog posts and forums. It is a tricky balancing act, for sure!
Creating content really takes a whole amount of effort. If you want to do something that really will look appealing to the readers you have to work hard for it. A well researched content is way better than just a common written work. Many will want to read it.
My method is to consume content when I know I'll only have a little uninterrupted time on the computer, such as when the kids are up. Put the baby to bed or down for a nap, get the others well occupied, it's time to create! And hope that the kids stay as busy as I think they will.
This is such a tough one for me! I am always trying to find a groove for doing both. It finally occurred to me last week that I need to schedule in both so that I make sure I get it both done!
Lynn!
This so spoke to me - I constantly oscillate between creating/consuming and feel guilty when my reading pile or my google reader backs up to the point of overload...I feel better after reading your post here. I guess a lot of us are in the same boat...I like your guidance to set aside time EVERY day to create though - that is very important - I shall implement right away.
I'm also guilty of consuming more content than creating! However, I feel the quality of content I create makes up for this. At least that's what I think to myself so I feel better, lol.
My method is to consume content when I know I’ll only have a little uninterrupted time on the computer, such as when the kids are up. Put the baby to bed or down for a nap, get the others well occupied, it’s time to create! And hope that the kids stay as busy as I think they will.
Great article Lynn. Logging your time and activities is a real good idea for everyone, but especially the newbie. It can be like an addiction wherein you don’t realize what you are doing until someone, or something shows you.
Information overload is killing me! But what you've laid out is some prety solid advice... never really thought about that way... to busy trying to get everything read instaead of managing my time.
Thanks for the great article Lynn !