Ask your wife about your Twitter usage. Ask her if you should cut back a little.
You probably just got that cringe in your stomach, and you know why, don’t you?
This isn’t one of those, “Twitter is of the devil” rants. Nor is it my attempt at being Dr. Phil. I’m just addressing an issue I see within the Twitterverse and my personal life.
Too Much of a Good Thing…
Ministries and individuals, alike, are using Twitter to impact the Kingdom in mighty ways. In fact, I’m excited about about the creative ways it’s being used, and look forward to a future think tank session focusing on fresh ways the Church can use it.
On the flip side, overuse and skewing of priorities is an issue for me and a lot of other folks.
A Personal Wake-Up Call
I realized I had a problem recently after several re-occurring mishaps.
- Instead of spending time in the Word, first thing each morning, I open up Twitter to see the latest scoop, and check to see if anyone included @mediasalt and @persinger in their tweets.
- While spending quality time with my wife, or while on vacation, I tweet frequently. Several times she’s told me “I’ll finish what I’m saying when you put your phone down.” Doh!
- I find myself getting my phone out during dinner to tweet and read tweets. This is family time. Why do I do this?
- I’ve had several close calls with the shoulder of the road during my drive in or from work. Why? Because I’m tweeting.
I am personally reforming my Twitter use. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I’ve intentionally tried ease up a little over the past couple of weeks.
Other Shortcomings
Being a part of Twitter, here are a couple of issues I’ve seen in recent months.
- Men who tweet about how they are about to have a date night with their wives, but continue tweeting all night. Devote this time to her. Twitter can wait.
- Men who tweet about going on vacation, and talk about how they’re not going to be tweeting for an entire week. Then, after a day, they tweet as much as they would during a regular work week. Come on guys… Man up, and spend this time with your family!
Tips for a Better Balance
Some businesses have blocked Twitter to enhance productivity out of their employees. These are less harsh.
- Pre-date tweets. Services like Hootsuite make it possible for you to pre-date tweets. In other words, you can schedule out tweets instead of always having to tweet on the fly. I’ve found this helps a lot.
- Don’t tweet on the weekend. Devote this time to your family, and keep the tweeting within business hours.
- Contain your tweets to once an hour. It makes for meaningful tweets.
Does this hit home, or did I miss the mark?
What tips can you share that have brought balance to your business, personal, and Twitter priorities?
… and your iPhone.
Nothing makes Lauren more angry than when we’re supposed to be watching something together or just catching up and I’m over there tapping away on the virtual keyboard.
I love technology and everything, but sometimes I wonder if we’ve exchanged deep and meaningful relationships for dozens of shallow ones. It’s hard to have a heart-to-heart in 140 characters or less
Don’t let my wife see this post.
My wife twitters too so it’s not too much of an issue. I do agree though on the importance of putting the phone/laptop down when it’s supposed to be your time together.
:: DONT TWEET ON WEEKENDS :: is comedy. love the insightful _ ness, especially for those who have a priceless commodity we call WIFEY.
thus why I dont have twitter….i’m sure it’s fun but there comes a point where I can only handle/manage so much. I think i would fit in the trading deep and meaningful relationships for shallow ones category. Just my take.
Great post!
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No this doesn’t miss the mark at all. I betting that chiropractors will have an increase in business due to people always staring down at their smart phones now - that’s considering the cell industry is expecting 75% of sales this year to be smart phones. Your thoughts on this symptom of twitter I can agree with. We need to learn how to disconnect, or more importantly why you should disconnect. I say this on the verge of possibly buying an iPhone myself.
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