![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.brasstackthinking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/fast-300x199.jpg\" "\\"fast\\"")
Read enough about productivity on the internet \u2013 especially in social media circles \u2013 and you\u2019ll undoubtedly find counsel to cut down on \u201cdistractions\u201d like Facebook and Twitter, or to stem content creation in favor of doing the \u201creal work\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ostensibly, this Real Work of which we speak (and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve probably said something like that myself) is about doing the things that are concrete, tangible, and most likely relative to a day job or whatever work pays the bills. For me, it would be work that\u2019s pertinent to my day job as VP of social strategy for Radian6<\/a>. For you, it might be dealing with clients as a PR exec, or managing your team, designing websites, or any number of things.<\/p>\n In short, it\u2019s the stuff that you\u2019re supposed to be able to point to and see some kind of \u201creal\u201d result that moves your business or other goals forward. By whose standards we\u2019re judging \u201creal\u201d I\u2019m not quite sure. But there\u2019s something very important to remember.<\/p>\n I have an incredibly demanding job, as I\u2019m sure all of you do. If I wanted it to, it could easily consume my days completely for as many hours as I\u2019m willing to dedicate to it. Plus, I have a home and a family and friends that I want to have time for.<\/p>\n So, things like blogging or time just connecting on Twitter or browsing my feeds for interesting content seems<\/em> like a luxury. Something that doesn\u2019t have a place amongst the rest unless I want to admit that I\u2019m \u201cwasting\u201d time.<\/p>\n The truth of the matter is this.<\/p>\n These things \u00a0– this creation and connection pattern \u2013 is a tremendous part of the new normal of work today, and even more so in a job like mine. Connecting on Twitter allows me to participate in awesome conversations (yes, I still have them all the time), say hello to dear friends that don\u2019t share my geography, meet new people, and help or connect with people in relation to my work, speaking, or otherwise. Hopefully in the meantime I might add or share something valuable myself.<\/p>\n Browsing content helps me learn new things, test my assumptions, discover new voices and rediscover familiar ones. It gives me perspective, information, knowledge. And while there\u2019s tons of it out there, I know I\u2019ll never absorb it all, so I take what\u2019s good and make peace with leaving the rest. And having it means I can pass it along to someone else.<\/p>\n This IS real work<\/strong>. These things aren\u2019t merely distractions<\/a> to be easily dismissed out of hand as wasteful or empty. They are a core part of my work, and not just because I work in and around social media (my job also encompasses things like executive management and leading professional services). They\u2019re just different, and slowly replacing things that might not be as relevant anymore.<\/p>\n To claim otherwise would be hypocritical at best (how can I express how important these things are if I\u2019m not dedicating my own time to them?) and selling the value of it all short at worst.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m rebalancing again by allowing time in my day \u2013 deliberately and without remorse \u2013 to include and continue to integrate these elements, just like meetings and phone calls and project work. They\u2019re important to the new normal, my new normal, the way that work exists for me today. And they\u2019re integral to what and how I do what I do.<\/p>\n I think I might have started to lose sight of that a bit in the quest to balance everything myself, so I\u2019m going to make a concerted effort to put that back to rights. Hey, even those of us who believe whole heartedly in the value can require a reset.<\/p>\n And you? I know I used \u201cI\u201d a lot in here because it\u2019s a perspective I\u2019m exploring for my own universe. But I want to hear your take on this, \u00a0your variations on the theme.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the new normal of your work balance today that might not have been there a few months or a few years ago? I\u2019m curious about how social media has changed the way that you work, or if. \u00a0Is creation and engagement a nice-to-have, or is it woven into your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks, as always, to all of you for making this adventure so utterly and completely rewarding and worthwhile. Let\u2019s talk some more.<\/p>\n Amber Naslund<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read enough about productivity on the internet \u2013 especially in social media circles \u2013 and you\u2019ll undoubtedly find counsel to cut down on \u201cdistractions\u201d like Facebook and Twitter, or to stem content creation in favor of doing the \u201creal work\u201d. The Real Work Thing Ostensibly, this Real Work of which we speak (and I\u2019m sure … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,55],"tags":[1244,1241,1242,30,1243],"class_list":["post-2990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-ambernaslund","tag-distractions","tag-new-work-normality","tag-productivity","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-integration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2990"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2993,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2990\/revisions\/2993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Reality of New Work<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nWriting helps me explore ideas that in turn lead to practical applications of strategy for my job, exploration of new ideas with peers and colleagues, or even the makings of a book.<\/p>\nThe Reset<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s Your New Normal?<\/h3>\n