I’ve decided to bookend this first course through what I shall refer to as “walking videos.” They often result in awkward breathing and lots of squinting due to the sun in my eyes, but they also result in coffee and donuts. Was it only two months ago that Calgary was covered in snow? Now I’m in a t-shirt and thinking I should have worn shorts.
David, your post was hit me right between the eyes. Bullseye, you said pretty much how I’ve been feeling roughly since middle March when our personal and work worlds changed. I, too, felt the undeniable pull between work, family and now the master’s program, all vying for my time and attention. As a working professional and parent, your words were very topical to me personally. The struggle to engage social media more became a chore to me, rather than one out of passion. Introduced early on the class was the idea of identity, and which one was to be used in the context of personal/private vs. a professional one; a topic I genuinely enjoyed and hopefully will be the focus on my final assignment. Can I go back and re-invent my Twitter or Facebook presence within a professional context to the students? How much time can I parcel out to do this? I found it tough to manage that, often thinking of what my parents instilled me; “if you do not have anything good to say, don’t say (or at least don’t say it to your brother’s face).” So thinking this, I would rarely post, thinking, “eh, someone will say it better, or I have nothing of value to add.” I found I was more engaged in reading personal things in the social media realm and had no issues understanding and posting there. Perhaps I need to gamify my use of social media for professional reasons; a carrot and stick analogy to make me want to post, so I find something rewarding in it (and hopefully beneficial to the reader). Thank you for your post (sorry for the long comment), and best of luck in moving forward with the program. Now go get those donuts!
Thank you so much for your comment, and please don’t apologize for the length. After all the reading I’ve been doing lately, this feels incredibly brief. Here’s a reply to rival your post’s length.
The struggle to find balance between who want to be online and how we find the time to do it can be so difficult. Part of this is a thought that I’ve tossed around in my brain for years about how things like this often aren’t about time so much as they’re about prioritization. Maybe I’d like to go for a bike ride every day, but it isn’t high enough on my list of priorities. Things like work, school, family, eating, watching TV, etc. all higher priorities to me. It isn’t until we’ve completed the things that are higher priorities that we find the time for the rest.
Once we have the time, then we can start to deal with who we are in that space. It will likely be an evolution. How we talk, what we share, why we participate, etc. will all likely develop as we grow in the environment.
I’m interested to hear how your gamification goes. I like the sound of it and would likely benefit by the boost of endorphins when I get the “5 posts in one day” badge.
It seems like we all struggle to find a balance between school, work, family and personal interests. And on top of that we need to develop a separate online /presence life? I have quit my job 2 weeks ago, but do I have more time now ? Not really, it went to family responsibilities since I have 2 very young kids.
I also often wonder, where can i gain more extra time ?
I do have tiny breaks here and there, which i spend online to play a game of chess or read news, but it’s a 10 or 15 minute time window. I could replace it with something else, but is it possible to do anything significant in those 10 or 15 minutes ?
Oh man, that struggle of balancing time is so difficult. Two small kids, work, school, life. Those 15-minute chunks of time can be so important to finding some balance for mental health. Whether it’s short breaks for a game of a chess, a video game, baking, whatever… we need that time to remind us that our own needs are important to. Maybe the balance of time isn’t about creating a new online presence so much as we need to be more intentional with the one we have. Or maybe find online communities that need less time investment.