Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago · 2 min. reading time · 0 ·

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How to not waste time on beBee

How to not waste time on beBee

Never, ever confuse motion with progress.

Deep down, I am a simple person.

I work with complex things, in a complex environment.

My days are full.

I am busy.

I am also a raging introvert. I need to take time to process things. To simplify them so I can understand them. (I would make a terrible fire chief).

I wouldn't say I'm ADHD, but I have a mind that rarely stops.

I also delight in creating things, accomplishing things, and trying new things.

I also volunteer with organizations that do meaningful, important things, like alleviate poverty and help those in need.

This creates a perfect environment for me to be overwhelmed, to be consumed by what I do.

To be in the place where everything and everybody needs and wants my attention and input.

To be busy, but to accomplish nothing. Nada. Not a thing gets done, or if it does, it gets done poorly.

I've been at this place on more than one occasion.

Let's get back to the first line in this post.

I am a simple person... that is, I best understand things when I can distill a complex concept down to a simple, easy to remember maxim. 

It helps me remember things in the thought storm that goes through my mind.

The simple little maxim in the picture was my ticket to maintaining my sanity.

In the North American culture I grew up in, it was / is considered a good thing to be busy. (Idle hands are the devil's playground after all...).  Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.

As such, being busy was a goal to strive for.

And so I tried... and it just about killed me.

As I grew in my career and life, I had to learn to manage things.

I learned that not everything is critical.

Not everything is productive.

Just because I (or someone else) looked busy, it didn't mean I was actually accomplishing anything.

I learned to prioritize.

I learned not to be bothered if I didn't appear busy (THAT should not be the goal).

I learned that I should focus on things that really made a difference.

So Kevin, where are you going with this???

If you follow me on beBee and other Social Media, you will know that I usually get around to the point...  so here it is.

The same concept applies to my social media posts. (and yours).

Spinning out dozens of comments, posts, re-posts, blogs, photos, Likes, and 'Relevants' does not make me a social media contributor.  In doing so, I contribute to the flood of chatter.

If I apply the maxim above to my social media, I should take the time to consider:

  • Do I have something to say?
  • Have I learned something I can share?
  • Do I want to add to the conversation?
  • Do I have an alternate viewpoint I want to share?
  • Am I giving people room to have another ideology or viewpoint? 
  • Am I trying to pass my viewpoint off as the only 'right' way to see things?
  • Am I being respectful?
  • Can I show my appreciation? (BTW... "Nice Post" is not the best way to do so).
  • Has this delighted me and do I think it will delight others? (as long as I take the time to describe why it did so).

I find if I review my social media activity through these filters, I am getting the level of engagement that social media promises. I am not one of the 'deliverers of drivel and fluff' which have choked the other platforms.

After all, this is essentially a community, and as such, I take my role as a 'contributor' very seriously.

I'm not obsessed with being active, but getting genuine satisfaction out of the time I spend online.

I feel good in calling myself a 'contributor'.

If you have stuck with me this far... a simple but genuine thank you. No 'vegemite' in the comments this time.

_______________________________________________________________

About the Author:

8e09c141.jpgI'm the Chief Information Officer for Appleby College, in Oakville, Ontario Canada, where my team is transforming the delivery of education through innovative application of technology.

I'm convinced that IT leadership needs to dramatically change how IT is delivered rather than being relegated to a costly overhead department.

In addition to transforming IT in my role as CIO, I look for every opportunity to talk about this... writing, speaking and now blogging on BeBee ( www.bebee.com/@kevin-pashuk ) , LinkedIn, ITWorld Canada, or at TurningTechInvisible.com.

I also shoot things... with my camera. Check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/kwpashuk

""
#Kevin #Social Media #Nada #Sloth #Likes
Comments

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #53

#78
Thanks Don... without calling it 'mindfulness' (which I know is a well used phrase at your house), I am on a quest to use my time wisely. Perhaps it helps that I've never responded to guilt as a motivator.

don kerr

7 years ago #52

Kevin Pashuk "I'm not obsessed with being active, but getting genuine satisfaction out of the time I spend online." Good mantra.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #51

#76
Thanks Debasish!

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #50

In pulling together some thoughts for a post, I realized that I've already written it. So... here a repost of what I'm pondering today.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #49

#73
Thanks Phil for the comment. I'm pretty sure we agree that blather, drivel, and rot only clogs up the works, and we all have the opportunity to keep beBee as a forum for great material. I do agree that a share is better than a banal comment...

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #48

Good to see this piece resurface, Kevin. It is, to my mind very solid advice. I often read that if you don't have something positive to say, don't say anything. But how about if you don't have something substantive or germane to say (because you haven't read the post or are just too busy to draft a serious comment), don't pretend that you have by posting a generic effectively meaningless comment. If you simply want to register support for a writer, why not save us all some time by registering a "relevant" or sharing the piece? On LinkedIn, the common wisdom was to comment in order to be seen as active. But that rationale just led to a mass of insipid, generic, and meaningless comments. Why don't we avoid playing those time-wasting games here on beBee. The result will be a less cluttered feed and platform. Cheers!

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #47

#69
Thanks Joel.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #46

#68
Thanks Tony for commenting and sharing. I like your comment that we say we are 'busy' when we are not engaged. Thanks for the complement as well.

Joel Anderson

7 years ago #45

Well said Kevin Pashuk

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #44

Busy Monday morning... Thought I'd repost this one from August for all the new bees that have joined since then.

don kerr

7 years ago #43

Kevin Pashuk Can you remind me just one more time where exactly is the medial prefrontal cortex? I am having a hell of a time getting the screwdiver into it.

Lada 🏡 Prkic

7 years ago #42

#57
Dear Kevin Pashuk, you do not need to explain. I forgot to put the quotation marks on „drivel and fluff“, which are mentioned in a figurative sense. I laughed at your picturesque comparison. :-) Thanks for your posts that always make me want to comment.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #41

#56
Thanks for a thoughtful comment Lada Prkic. There's an old saying that "One person's trash is another person's treasure". While the things I publish and share are of deep interest for me, I don't expect others to share my enthusiasm. I should perhaps clarify what I mean by 'drivel and fluff'. These are the posts that really serve no purpose other than consuming time. I would liken them to the publications you find at the checkup counters of your local grocery store (at least here in Canada) that have shocking headlines about celebrities marriages, relationships, etc. These publications are designed to be shocking, or misleading. I find much of what comes across social media right now, or sadly from online news agencies is in such a category. If you are impressed about a new way to engineer a bridge and post an article about it, then your passion for that topic is apparent, and while I may not actually read that post, I can see you are contributing to the community. Posting a video showing one more poor guy getting hit in the crotch with a baseball does not add value to the community. But in the end, the filters I list above are for MY posts and publications. I need to feel as if I'm contributing the community I belong to.

Lada 🏡 Prkic

7 years ago #40

What some people think is worth sharing, others maybe think to be drivel and fluff. When I share something about the new building materials, such as the wooden glass, I think that I contribute to the spread of knowledge -- I learned something new and want to share it. Many such shares delight me and I think they'll delight others and would foster fruitful conversations between people in the field. But others might think that such contents are less valuable than the Producer posts. I don’t think that only the Producer buzzes add value to my personal brand, nor are only important to make me a serious contributor. Neither am I prolific in commenting because I always try to write something more than just “nice article”, but the time I spend on social media is limited. I’m not either obsessed with being always active on social media, as you said Kevin Pashuk. A “less is more” approach should apply to social media, too. When I review all my beBee activities through my filters, which by the way are almost the same as yours, there is nothing I’d be ashamed of, or consider to be drivels. But filtered through someone else’s filters the result might look different. In the end, all that matters to me is how I feel spending my precious spare time on beBee. And I’m really satisfied. :-)

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #39

I had to look up ambivert Aurorasa Sima, yep I think that's me too! am drawn to people, I get energy from social gatherings and am pretty outgoing. (Extrovert) It’s draining to be around lots of people. I prefer peace, solitude and quiet time. I usually crave alone time in my free time. (Introvert) It depends. (Ambivert)

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #38

#52
Thanks Aurorasa Sima, I just learned a new term.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #37

#44
The older I get Kevin Pashuk, I get drained much easier interacting socially with people. Is there something in between and introvert and extrovert? I used to think my husband was an extrovert until I realized that he socializes well with people but prefers and enjoys time with just those he's closest too and also thrives on intellectual convos that he can relate to, which is usually technology based or hmm wait, sports too lol!

CityVP Manjit

7 years ago #36

#42
Dear Kevin Pashuk I do appreciate your values and it is good to put it out there that this is who I am, because that does not leave any surprises, only clarity. If Manjit is Kevin here, then once upon a time my value system would say something similiar to "I am not one of the 'deliverers of drivel and fluff' " What I do here is apply meta-cognitive value to my own words. I have already mentioned that small talk is one of my weaknesses. So what changed in me that today where I would have this perspective before, I am transforming to a different value? What changed me is appreciation of what waste is. Once I understood waste is a normal process of existence, I started to curb my own value judgement about it and begin the process of appreciating small talk. This thread is about to reach past 30 comments and it is bounded by small talk of which politeness is one of its features. I am typically still impatient about social niceties and I want to be several steps beyond where the conversation may be. That is my bad because I am not as nuanced in knowing the value of fluffy good stuff - but I have reached a point where I still know my values but did I then consequently take the path of judgement or did I take the path of appreciation. The only way I know which path I took for sure, is re-reading what it is I have written. The evidence of that is in my own words, whereas if I find myself slightly on the defensive, then usually it is my own values slapping me in the face. For instance I still have the British sensibility to say "Sorry" when there is absolutely no reason to say it, it is a Brit habit that formed over a lifetime. Yet once I am conscious of it, then that is appreciation. I now think about to my younger days and the extent of this pre qualifying.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #35

#47
Thanks Steven Brooks... What you describe is similar to a lumberjack taking the time to sharpen his saw at the beginning of the day. The time he spends sharpening is more than recovered in the increased productivity when he's actually cutting. I've found this to be true for any of my team involved in creative or cerebral activities (programmers, writers, etc.) On the outside, they looked comatose (or more likely that they were wandering around with a dazed look on their face), but on the inside, the mental gears were whirring away.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #34

Lisa Gallagher... You brought up the Introvert comment. Please let me shamelessly promote a previous post I did on the topic. https://www.bebee.com/producer/@kevin-pashuk/acknowledging-your-inner-introvert

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #33

#35
Thanks Lisa Gallagher. Every time I take a personality assessment (e.g. Myers Briggs) I bend the needle on the Introvert side of the Introvert / Extrovert scale. That doesn't mean I'm locked in a room away from people, but mostly that I do not get energized by interacting with people - my batteries are draining, not charging. It also means I love to deep dive into learning things, and generally do not speak up on topics I am unfamiliar with. Get me talking about something I have researched, and you can't shut me up.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #32

#34
Thanks for the info on the Hunter S. Thompson piece Robert Cormack. The reason I brought up my 'raging introvert' challenge, is that we do not do well with small talk. We do like to deep dive into things we are knowledgeable and would rather keep our traps shut about things we know little about (unlike others who need to speak out to know what they think about a topic). My favourite authors do not waste words. Like you mentioned, they are original and are 'people who couldn't write a common line or thought if they wanted to'.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #31

#33
Thanks CityVP Manjit. I'm not against small talk, funny memes, or cat videos per se, but if you read my words above, this is a filter about what I produce to contribute to social media (and is not about other people). I want to maximize MY experience and not waste time on things which have a specific purpose of wasting time. I can be busy and not accomplish anything. Days like that leave me drained.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #30

#32
Thanks for sharing this post Michele Williams!

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #29

#30
Thanks Gert Scholtz. It's OK to be an 'innie'. Thanks for summarizing the post so well.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #28

#28
#29 Thanks Franci Eugenia Hoffman for the comment and the share.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #27

#27
That's a great book Wayne Yoshida.... I do like the subtitle... - Hint, it's ALL small stuff.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #26

#26
Coffee (again) sounds great. It is your turn to buy. I'll check my calendar and send you a message Don Kerr

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #25

#25
Thanks Henri Galv\u00e3o. If you are like me and do not like spending time on inconsequential things.... quality over quantity is indeed important.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #24

I would have never pegged you as a raging introvert Kevin Pashuk! I do a lot of reading and repost what I find interesting or feel others may find interesting. You made good poibnts, completely understand.

Robert Cormack

7 years ago #23

All good points, Kevin. I like to think of conversations here being like conversations at a dinner party (albeit an intelligent one). Too often, bloggers feel compelled to write what they think people want to hear, instead of offering a new thought or perspective. I stopped reading most posts because I'm not seeing something I haven't seen before. I often go back to my heroes, people who couldn't write a common line or thought if they wanted to. I have one article by Hunter S. Thompson that I read four times a week. It's essentially his eulogy of Richard M. Nixon called "He Was a Crook." I consider that my benchmark for any post, meaning SAY something original, and stop SAYING what has essentially been covered ad nauseam.

CityVP Manjit

7 years ago #22

Small talk is the essential glue of a community and that actually represents one of my weaknesses. The steps small talk takes is both building permission, but also permission as a psyche that we have developed as a social construct. So a lot of the "drivel" is actually the glue that brings people together. Facebook is not drivel, it is supernova social glue and that glue is a massive attractor beam. What is inside the Facebook container is a mirror of how society engages outside that container. If Facebook is the secular space which we must not become, why has it become the biggest force of marketing presently known in the online space? Why did Microsoft buy LinkedIn other than their software needs to remain relevant to the way we work i.e. how we use Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc etc Steve Jobs did find the way to supernova scale in combining art with technology, but Bill Gates shaped how we work rather than how we communicate and are entertained. Look at our own words and we will see that at their root is, will people read what I write, how well do people understand me, what contribution am I making and nearly all of this has a marketing underbelly. If I call my own thinking my brainfart it is just a word, unless I am trying to sell something there is no devaluation in it, unless someone decides to use that word against me, there is no devaluation. When I am on other platforms like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn - what my eyes and ears see is the quality. I know the MacDonalds is there, but I am still going to eat my own chapati. BeBee deserves to be a platform as big as the others and I take my cue from Eagles WASTED TIME Lyrics ["So you can get on with your search, baby, and I can get on with mine And maybe someday we will find , that it wasn't really wasted time"]

Mamen 🐝 Delgado

7 years ago #21

Thank you Kevin Pashuk without Vegemite on the top! ;)

Gert Scholtz

7 years ago #20

Kevin Pashuk You got me hook line and sinker with "raging introvert"! So much to take from your buzz but for me it is 1)To show in comments why you appreciate the post, 2) don't sweat the small stuff (or make the small stuff big stuff) and 3) Your social media maxim's are the essential rules of social media engagement distilled in ten succinct bullet points. Thanks Kevin.

Wayne Yoshida

7 years ago #19

Kevin Pashuk, I know how you feel. A bunch of years ago, a co-worker gave me a copy of "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson - I read it several times. Carlson offers a different way of looking at things, and it helped me to relax a notch or two.

don kerr

7 years ago #18

#1
beginning to think Kevin Pashuk that on the raging introvert you may be only half right! Coffee next week? My treat this time.

Milos Djukic

7 years ago #17

#22
My pleasure Kevin Pashuk.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #16

Thank you for sharing this post Milos Djukic

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #15

#20
Let the Introverts unite Deb Helfrich!!! (but alone on their computers over social media). Kidding. Anyone who knows an introvert know they can be as wonderful in person, just give them some time to charge their batteries in between socializing.

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

7 years ago #14

#18
Dean Owen well said. I FULLY AGREE. THEY ALREADY ARE SUPER BEES

Dean Owen

7 years ago #13

Vegemighty good ! A shout out to debasish majumder and others who also provide thoughtful comments asking nothing in return.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #12

#16
Thanks Donald Lauro for getting the background of this maxim clarified.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #11

#13
Thanks Graham Edwards. Glad you enjoyed it.

Graham🐝 Edwards

7 years ago #10

Thank you Kevin Pashuk. This has been great food for thought!

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #9

#11
If I was a journalist Randy Keho I would have starved to death by now. I can't help taking the long way. We Canadians like to 'beat about the bush' since we have so much bush to beat around.

Randy Keho

7 years ago #8

You'd make a poor journaist, too. Kevin Pashuk Don't bury the lead! I'm a busy man. Get to the point. I'm juggling so many things I'm thinking of joining the circus. Now, what were you talking about? Oh, yeah, getting things done. Good point. Let me think about that for a minute.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #7

#9
Thanks Marta Garc\u00eda Quijada. Just like the lesson we learned about not saying everything you think... putting a filter on your social media voice is appropriate too.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #6

#4
Thank you Javier beBee. I'm excited about what beBee provides me, and naturally I will promote the heck out of it as I am able. I'm an old hippie (turning into a teen at the tail edge of the sixties) and as such, tend to thrive on organic growth, which is what is truly fulfilling for me. BeBee has certainly stimulated my writing... I sat down last week and filled out a whole page of ideas for new posts. Ideas haven't flown that freely for a long time. My challenge is to keep things worth contributing.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #5

#3
I knew there would be at least one person who said "Nice Post" Irene Hackett... and I like your sense of humour.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #4

#1
Nice to meet another RI (Raging Introvert) Harvey Lloyd

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #3

#2
I heard that phrase in a sermon, or a speech, or passing by in a comment years ago, and latched onto it. It can't be attributed to me or any other person that I know of... consider it in the public domain.

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

7 years ago #2

thanks Kevin Pashuk !

Harvey Lloyd

7 years ago #1

You had me at raging introvert. I too distill things down to single goals, beliefs or values. Within the complicated world these are handy tests of validity when getting involved with situations. Unfortunately it has side affects. No one else got my distillation of values or they are in the middle of their own distillation process. To an introvert watching others go through it is challenging. I enjoy your perspective and now I know why.

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