Social media – the blessing of my life and the bane of my life. The first part of the article is here if you have not read it yet. I’m going to explain further why social media is a detriment to productivity as I found out the hard way. I was on social media Twitter, Facebook and WeChat at 9 yesterday in the morning, with the intention of wanting to do a quick check and update on some of the stuff I read online the day before. Happily lounging on my couch, still in my pj, scrolling furiously at my Twitter to see if I missed any news when the good old trusty tummy start to rumble “Hungry. Feed. Me.”
I looked up and to the shock of my life, it’s 12 in the afternoon! I have just wasted my half of my day on social media!! During those 3 hours, I could have try a new recipe, swim many laps in the pool, finish 5 chapters of a book (I’m a fast reader) and definitely explore new blogs in WordPress, instead I was tweeting and liking.
Here are below scenarios that you could be productive at work but instead your eyes are roving somewhere:
1. Presentations
The long ongoing droning of some presenter standing on the raised platform makes one’s eyes drooping down. A silent vibrant tells you that you have a Tweet, you quietly and discreetly reached into your pocket and did a quick scan. Oh, it’s your grandma tweeting you her latest home-made cookie recipe. Well, she just made you hungry in the middle of 3 hours long presentation.
Don’t! Preparing for a presentation takes a lot of effort even adjusting the tiny figures in that pie chart can take hours. Plus all the researching that the presenter has to come up with. Have some respect for the speaker even though the topic is not interesting to you. At least, he got guts to stand up in front of hundreds of people and belt out about a subject he obviously have passion in.
2. Meetings
Could we ever have more meetings? These time consuming discussions sometimes doesn’t get results and you find your hand reaching across your notebook and tapping into the screen of your smartphone. When the host of the meeting caught you, you just grin and brush off as an important text from your boss, forgetting that your boss is in the same meeting as you.
Don’t! Unless you want to be labeled as someone who is rude. It pisses everyone in the room off when you don’t pay attention and got caught off by a question whereas everyone is debating intensively about what is the office party theme this year. It may appear to your colleagues that you simply don’t care. Great leaders have their mobiles turned off during a meeting, giving full attention to the organizer (gulp!).
3. Training
You think you already conquered the subject matter, in fact you know no one in the office does it better than you so why did your boss send you for more communication skills training? It is just wasting your time when you can be out there, raking in millions for the company. That just gave you the right to pull out your mobile and start looking through photos of your ex’s latest crush on her Facebook again.
Don’t! You do know that trainers can discreetly to send an evaluation report to your company and your boss, don’t you? Especially if the course is a paid one, the more the company will asked for a report. You wil be seen as someone who waste company’s resources and not someone who wants to improve.
4. Report Churning
You are running reports on your laptop. You have got all the formulas right down in your trusty Excel sheet. You’ve been so good at it, you think you can close both eyes doing it. A ‘Ding’ alert you of a new Facebook post, you take a quick peek and laugh at the new photo of your kitten that your mum just post.
Don’t! Whenever you are concentrating on your work, stay focus. The exception to the rule is when you got frustrated and getting nowhere, then go ahead and take a 5mins break away from your desk. But if you think it is just a harmless 5 second peek, think again. You’ll lose your train of thoughts and you might end up skimming through areas where you should take note of. Plus a 5 seconds will turn into 5 minutes as you just have to text your mum how adorable the kitten is. 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there, before you know it, it could have accumulated a good half an hour of your “5 minutes” throughout the whole day. Don’t you rather go home early than to have to do another half an hour of overtime?
5. Lunch
You tried to make your escape by going off lunch 10 minutes later than others but that boring dreadful tech colleague of yours caught you just as you are about to sink in your teeth onto a delicious sinful fat dripping bacon sandwich. He sat opposite you and just to make him feel uncomfortable, you start scrolling your Twitter while he talks about how much he is looking forward to next week’s office sports day.
Don’t! Now this is plain rude to use your mobile in front of a person who genuinely wants to bond with you. If you don’t wish someone to do it to you, don’t do it to others. If you find the subject he is mumbling about not up to your interest, you can always steer it gently away to other areas. Plus you don’t really want to isolate him, you might never know when you will need his help.
Social media in our lives are still important, bringing us the latest news, bonding faraway friends and families, at the very least, give you an opening topic to chat up that cute receptionist over coffee break. Just do it responsibility during lunch alone, a coffee break or a self rewarding timeout after solving a difficult problem.
Haha! Now I have just made everyone join me on this guilt trip! Have a great Monday!
Do you have other examples to share? Drop me a comment below or come and follow me on The Social Media Twitter MiddleMe_net.
MiddleMe 
Social media can really make you forget the time. I don’t play with Facebook but I do use Twitter and Google+ and I understand 100% how it can happen.
BTW, you are an excellent writer and I look forward to your postings.
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Thank you so much for your kind comments. Its crazy right? That we can spend so much time on one device.
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It sure is. I think a lot of it has to do with our ability to inter react with others and still hide behind the keyboard.
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That is also a danger to society, the ability to hide behind the keyboard yet spout nonsense on the internet.
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There sure is a lot of nonsense out there too. ☺
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Awesome post! I concur that social media can turn out a time guzzler…looking forward to read more similar great enlightening posts!
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Thank you so much, Vincent for visiting the website and leaving me a comment. Have a great day ahead! 🙂
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Kally, have a great Monday, also.
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Another excellent post. Even though one aware of the proceedings, all your post bring fresh perspective to the topic. Keep posting such nice informative posts.
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Thank you so much for encouraging me. Pinky promise I will do my best 🙂
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Reblogged this on Olamatts007's Blog.
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Another excellent article. Social media attempts to fill a need that we all have to be accepted. In turn, it puts unrealistic demands on our time, and in fact, on our living. It is so easy to become nothing more than a participant in someone else’s online existence. The more we use Social Media, the less time we have for ourselves and those we love in real life. One of my pet peeves is being out with friends who cannot put their phones down because they are afraid they will miss the latest “kitten on a keyboard” or “rat carrying pizza” craze that sweeps through Social Media every single day. I never bother to arrange a second meeting with people like that.
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The saddest thing I have seen is whenever my friends and I go to a new restaurant, the first they asked is not for the menu but whether the restaurant has free wifi. Since when do we determine where to eat based on free wifi??
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Haha! That was awesome observation. I was at restaurant (travel through Billings Montana) and young lad sat at large table with family members. It was his birthday and each family member stood up, presented him with a card….some were hand drawn…and waited for him to open his presents and cards.
His sister must elbow him each time because his google tablet had his attention.
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Sad … so very, very sad, but how many times have I seen something similar??? 😦
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We live in a technological society now…. Simply sad…
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If I’m the family member of the young lad, the next present he is going to get from me is a birthday cake emoticon and a thumbs up on his Twitter! That’s what you get when you ignore well wishers!
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I try to keep away from social media,by leaving my phone upstairs on purpose or leaving it in the cabinchaletshed when we’re at the club. We tend to look because we think we’re missing out,when in actual fact,when we look we’re not.
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I had the most gratifying moment when I lost my iPhone to the toilet bowl a year ago and I had to resort to using a Nokia brick for a month before I replace a new one. Suddenly, I had so much time on my hands! 🙂
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Haha. This blog so much fun.
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Aah, the office life, seemingly alone but never truly alone. It only goes to show the many faces we must wear to accomplish a day at work without offending someone.
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In life, we wore a lot of faces in front of others. Only to our truly loved ones, we show our true colors.
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Great post. Its really strange how we can spend hours on a device and never get bored. Really look forward to reading your articles. They’re very good.:)
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Hi Raina, thank you so much and I’m super glad you like my articles. 🙂
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I agree 100%! I was in a college mathematics class and one of the students in the back of the room answered a phone call while the teacher was giving a lecture! The teacher didn’t say anything and everyone ignored him. I wish I had said something. I’m sure he continued to be an ass because he got away with that behavior. Thank you for saying what needs to be said. 🙂
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Well, that student is really an ass and strange that the teacher didn’t take a firmer hand. We all need to give respect where respect is due. 🙂
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Shared on FB and Linked In … Which Seems Kind of Hilarious Since the Subject is About Spending Too Much Time on Social Media! LOL 😀 But This Was Too Good Not to Share w/Others!
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Haha I also have an post on social media. Check it out you may change for the better 😉
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Hahaha!! Thank you for sharing with your audience. Perhaps once they see the post, they’ll respond to you via a phone call, not a text. Lol!
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LOL 😀
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I got rid of FB probably 6 years ago and haven’t looked back. I do have a Twitter account but has a great deal of dust on it was primarily used for work related issues anyway. I don’t miss it at all. When I was telling a friend of mine that I was getting rid of FB he said to me “how will you get along without social media?” To which I said “I’m sure the earth will continue to rotate on its axis.” And guess what it continues to do so. Think that it’s referred to as social is hilarious because it’s anything but social. As you mentioned in your post people are in restaurants looking at their phones rather than interacting (being social) with the people they are with. Everyone sits down phones on table waiting for the next notification. Mine is in my purse. I also didn’t care for all the nastiness I was seeing on it, so I got rid of it. Free.
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Good for you!! Well, I didn’t have Twitter, Facebook until I set up MiddleMe and for the longest time, I didn’t feel I was missing out. In fact, I felt liberated and my friends have to specifically call me to update me about their life. Thanks for dropping by and I’m so happy that you find the article interesting!!
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Brilliant and so true how social media is so easily becoming addictive! Loved how you turned the scenarios into dos and donts. Great read
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Thank you Sonia for your compliment!! I like to keep heavy topics readable.
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i do that all the time. I really end up looking at funny videos on faceboook and youtube to pass time in the office and before long i have wasted one hour or so
great post
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And you wonder why your work get piled up. Lol..! Thank you for leaving me a comment!
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Reblogged this on GUM: Growing Up Millennial.
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What I usually do when teaching is…leave the smartphone in my laboratory’s closet, lock it and just open it when the breaktime comes. Or, sometimes I turn off the phone until 2 pm when the class is over. Everyday I teach 3 classes until Thursday (totally 12 classes) and Friday is totally my free time though I have to handle other jobs at school hehehe.
Sometimes leaving social media is fun..
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Oh yes, you discover after end of the day, you never really miss anything much. Thanks for reading!
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Haha…but sometimes I’m stuck on it and until I couldn’t sleep then.
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This is a topic that is near to my heart… Best wishes! Where are your contact details though?
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You may wish to email me at Kally@MiddleMe.net.
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Good post, and well written! If I owned a business or was doing some type of training, I would confiscate the cell phones until the day was done (it would probably be like a coat check situation). I don’t have a smart phone, though I do answer calls because my wife and parents are the only ones who call unless it is important. I have had texting blocked from my phone also. When I’m on the computer, it is a time waster for the most part (my current job only needs 5 to 10 minutes on the computer each day). Right now I need to be focusing on a new job, using the computer, since my job is ending soon, and most jobs want an online resume/application. My last many jobs, I would leave my phone in the car during work hours. A good employee should be creative with their time and effort, even though some training is boring. I need to learn to doodle.
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Haha!! Doodling is a time waster too! Thanks for reading my article and dropping me a comment. 🙂
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You got it all right there. That’s exactly the reason why i refrain myself from checking my fb acct. i learned how important it is to value my privacy. I make it a point that i only check my fb acct once a week. I don’t like that feeling of wasting my whole day scrolling through my homepage and achieving nothing. Thank you for this post. Riding along with your guilt trip. 🙂
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Haha!! I no longer feel guilty because I stopped checking my social media accounts every single hour, now I renegade to check twice a day. Once when I wake up and once when I’m going to bed.
Welcome to MiddleMe! So happy that you can drop by.
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How can I release pictures in articles upon Wikipedia with out infringing copyright?
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