Install RescueTime.
I've been using it for years.
We invite the community managers of our clients to use it.
You've heard of this already I suspect. It's one of many tools that tracks what you're doing online.
This gives you a clear idea of where you spend your time. It's really not what you might expect. Most community professionals average about 15 hours a week on e-mail, about the same amount in the community, a bunch of time attending meetings (not shown), and the rest on a myriad of other tasks.
Two things happen when you install this.
1) You tend to get more done and be distracted less. This is the Hawthorne effect. The mere act of being observed by a tool encourages you to be distracted less.
2) You tend to rebalance your time. Once you can see how you spend your time, you have a gamified incentive to change it. This is where gamification works well. You aim to be more productive, spend less time on Facebook/Netflix/reddit. You have new targets every where.
3) You can show your boss how you're working. If your boss ever questions what you're doing, you can give a clear breakdown of how you spend your time.
It's a simple tool that can change the way community professionals work.
p.s. Use Unroll.me for another simple tool to unsubscribe from the mailing lists you never visit.
On October 29th to 30th, the world's top 250 community professionals are going to SPRINT in San Francisco. Will you be one of them?
