Communication Overload: When Business and Personal Lives Collide
Or, When 16 Hours a Day Just Isn't Enough
This morning, I went through my Facebook private messages to get caught up on correspondence, and replied to a back-and-forth conversation from September 26th. It wasn’t business-related; I answer those communications within 24 hours. But I wondered if this particular woman thought I had “blown her off”?
While I was answering her (apologetically), my cell phone was ringing, and I heard three text messages come in. Two important private messages awaited me, and someone had commented in a Facebook group I run (non-business-related) that demanded my attention, lest the conversation there take on a life of its own and need cleaning up.
And I hadn’t yet logged into my business platforms or inboxes.
That September 26th breach of communications etiquette got me thinking of all the avenues of contact we have to juggle each day.
My Own Daily Communications Avenues:
1) Business phone line;
2) Personal line;
3) Text messages;
4) Two business email addresses;
5) One personal email address;
6) Direct messages on three Twitter profiles;
7) “Replies” on those same three Twitter profiles;
8) Comments on a Facebook group and five Facebook Pages;
9) Blog comments on my own blogs;
10) Comments on any blogs I comment on;
11) LinkedIn messages;
12) LinkedIn comments on groups; and,
13) Google+ comments.
LinkedIn and Google+ have fallen by the wayside for now, much to my dismay.
Snail mail isn’t a daily concern; I go through the two stacks (personal and business) once a week.
I’m not complaining, by the way. I’m the social media community manager here at New England Multimedia, and that means communications and relationships are a way of life. I love it!
But, like you, the business isn’t my entire life. It’s everything outside New England Multimedia that screams for attention, and is often found wanting. And that’s how a message from September 26th slipped through the cracks.
Have you counted up all the ways people use to reach you? How do you manage it all? What’s your secret, or is there one?
Follow us to Get Free Tips on Using Blogging, Video, and Social Media for Internet Marketing!
Ouch–thank you for reminding me to respond to a personal email waiting in my “other inbox” for weeks. I do find I spend All Day Long on Deliberate Ink Communications, while personal messages tend to wait. I also hope people don’t think I’m blowing them off–I’m not. I love my friends and family. But… I am, kind of, when I’m honest with myself. Or else I’d have responded sooner.
Oh, Shakirah…you, too?
One boundary I’ve set up for myself out of necessity is that I don’t fret about not replying to every text, phone call, email, or private message, unless it’s called for, urgent, or time-sensitive. I’m also trying to train myself to think like yesteryear, and remember when there were distinct boundaries between hours spent at work, hours spent volunteering, and hours spent with family and friends.
It’s going to take a major overhaul of my processes, though. I don’t know if I can do it!
Hahahaahah. No secret! Some days I drown and others I manage well. That time management thing has no impact on me b/c I’m always flying from the seat of my pants. What we must do is manage like you manage your snail mail. Turn off, shut down and accomplish the tasks at hand and then respond to the bells and whistles all together.
Who am I trying to kid? That doesn’t work, but it sure sounded good.
“Turn off, shut down and accomplish the tasks at hand and then respond to the bells and whistles all together.”
Hahahahahahahaha!! *maniacal laughter*
Jayme, wasn’t it you who took the kiddos to a fair and celebrated later that you hadn’t turned your Blackberry on one time? Was that you? No. That wouldn’t be you. ;o)
The key here is boundaries. I take weekends for me. I am still connected but unless it is screaming emergency, I try and hold off on business on weekends. Does it always work? No but it does give me times I can count on being ‘off’. I also establish times I respond to phone calls…they can be very disruptive and scream fro attention. To be more effective all the way around, use voice mail. Set up a time daily when your return calls. Not only will you be more attentive, you attention won’t be constantly interrupted from what you are working on AND it gives you time to either research what the caller wants and prepare a better response which in the end makes you a better communicator! Let people know what your preferred method of contact is (everyone knows I love email and text)…those are less intrusive and/or demanding. All tools that help me manage it all (twitter, facebook, blogs, email, (X2 except for email I think I have 5 email accounts) and running a dept. I can relate.
Kathie, thank-you for sharing your tips! Boundaries are so very important. I do suffer from guilt over the boundaries I’ve had to apply in my personal life; those are the folks who mean the most to me, and the ones I have the least amount of time for. That’s the tough one for me.
Agree about the boundaries!!
Jenn, I definitely see you setting up boundaries since you started working for someone else! We miss you.
But don’t let that change your boundaries! You’re setting a good example.