Teeny Twitter Diet
Posted on 15. May, 2009 by Deb in As the Web Turns, The Girl
I love Twitter.
Twitter has kept me connected with old friends, helped me make new ones, kept me informed on the latest news, and allowed me to read the snarkiest thoughts of my children. It is a fabulous piece of technology and networking that allows me to instantly be aware of the world around me. Some days, however, especially on days when I am already stretching to maintain my focus, Twitter has become a distraction. I have discussed this with other creative folks and many say the same thing: Twitter is reducing their productivity, especially on creative projects such as writing.
Yesterday, I stumbled upon “Adult Attention Disorder: The Splintering of Communications“. I clicked to read the article, thinking it was about ADD. Instead, it was more about the perceived need to divide our attention between the many avenues of communication. Tom Steinert-Threlkeld consulted with Dr. David W. Goodman, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University.
What is happening with the splittering of communications instead is an overload of distractions, on individual plates.
This puts strain, instead, on what Dr. Goodman calls the “executive functioning” of the brain.
Some people are able to intuitively and naturally organize and prioritize endless streams of inputs and respond accordingly, rapidly.
Others, though, succumb to the distractions and can’t get out from under them. The barrage of communications and trying to figure out what to do with their contents – and the emotion that goes with some of it – “disrupts the ability to accurately prioritize” what to do. Or not to do.
I understood exactly what the article was talking about. Some of us, in order to be more productive, require more structure. I am always disciplined when it comes to work for my clients; I need to be more disciplined when it comes to making progress on some creative projects. As part of that need to be more disciplined, I decided that I would put myself on a Twitter Diet.
Like any diet, the same one doesn’t work for all of us. For me, my Twitter diet will consist of not keeping TweetDeck open all the time, catching up on all my Twitter friends three or four times a day, and restraining myself from sharing so many thoughts that I irritate my own friends. I’m not abandoning Twitter, just cutting back a bit. Like any diet, I will re-evaluate as time passes and make adjustments as I need. I hope you will stick around and continue to “follow” me, but I understand if you don’t.
I welcome your thoughts and comments on my diet, as well as how Twitter has affected your productivity and creativity.
MissMeliss
19. May, 2009
Some days Twitter and IM annoy me, other days they are lifelines that prevent me from going too deep inside myself.
I’ve set some personal limits regarding my Twitter use lately, and even though I miss some of the interaction, my focus has improved.
Good luck with your Twitter diet.