Confessions Of An Instant Info Junkie

In the past couple of months, I’ve gotten more into … oh, hang on a sec – just let me check this.

Sorry, as I was saying, in the past couple of months, I’ve gotten more into the Facebook account that I’ve had for about a year-and-a-half now and … excuse me just a minute…BRB.

LOL!!!

Okay, I’m back.

I don’t have as many Facebook friends as other people I’ve seen, but at last count, it was about 70, which is nowhere close to the approximately 1,400 followers that GNN has on Twitter. Feeds from GNN are automatically posted to both and … got to get this, can you give me a minute?

Where was I? Right.

In the case of Twitter, I’ll get a notice on my email, which buzzes on my cell phone as it’s recharging. With Facebook, the cell phone will buzz whenever someone leaves a note for me or wants to become friends, etc.

My Facebook account is an odd hybrid, which features current friends and colleagues from the golf industry and, to my delight, I’ve managed to connect with friends from high school, as well.

The people I’ve met from the industry must wonder what the current black-and-white high school football photo is all about and probably can’t even identify me in that photo, while my friends from high school might look at more recent photos of me and wonder whatever happened to the mane of black hair that once protected my cranium.

Such an eclectic mix of Facebook friends allows me to see what’s going on in golf from a personal perspective and also share thoughts, jokes, chatter and memories with the people I grew up with, although some will say I never grew up.

The problem is … oops, sorry there goes the buzz again. Hang with me.

Back again.

As I was saying, that’s what the problem is with social media. Along with the endless supply of spam, junk e-mail and press releases from people and companies I don’t even know, the notifications from various social media outlets are making my cell phone regular background noise throughout the day.

In most cases, the notifications I get from true friends and colleagues are ones that I do want to see, which makes it tempting to immediately check what’s just come into my inbox. The reality is I need the discipline to fight that urge.

As GNN blogger Tiffany Gordon wrote in one of her earlier contributions here, e-mails, text messages and cell phones are causing us to lose the interpersonal skills that we need for business.

They, along with social media, are not only consuming a lot of time, but also regularly interrupting the train of thought needed to get a job done.

When I first started working on my own, I knew I would have to be disciplined and develop regular routine and structure, but regular routine cannot include checking e-mails and social media sites every time my cell phone beckons.

This social media junkie needs a self-imposed intervention and, given my own addiction, I’ll bet there are plenty within the industry who are feeling a strain on their own productivity.

Watch for these warning signs:

A vacant, far-off look in the eyes.

Inability to finish sentences.

The increasing use of acronyms like BRB and LOL.

Treating it as a joke and denying that this is a serious threat to productivity.

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