Working Online: How to Increase Your Production

I started my morning as usual. I was up before 4 a.m., coffee in hand and surfing the Internet. I glanced at my e-mail, checked in on a few Facebook groups and went to look at a forum I moderate.

And the Internet died at 4:23 a.m.

I did all the usual things - I checked the phone lines, I restarted my router and the box from my provider. The box says I have a DSL connection but the web is not coming into my house.

The joys of living in the country and making a living online.

I tried to call my provider and actually received a message that said "all circuits are busy - please try again." I was awake enough at this point so I started to write.

By 10 a.m., I had written seven articles, exercised, taken a shower, gotten dressed, done the dishes, cleaned the bathroom and started the laundry. I'm usually lucky to get one article written by that time and forget about having any housework done by then.

The productivity without the distraction of the web is breathtaking. But, how do you avoid Internet distractions when your work is on the web? How do you balance social networking and promotion without getting sucked into the black hole of social media?

Set a timer
This is one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received, even though I don't follow it. The suggestion was to set a limit to your research time, whether looking for ideas or verifiable sources. For a medical writer, it could be longer. For someone who is an expert looking for a couple of facts to back up personal experience, it might only be 10 minutes.

Copy the links into a blank Word document along with any pertinent quotes, close your browser and start writing.

Log off of Facebook
Social media is my biggest time suck. On days when I have several assignments due, I resist every temptation to just "check in." I check in the morning to see what my web friends are up to and shut down those windows.

Schedule promotion efforts
Interaction is a huge part of social media. It isn't enough to just spit out links and hit a button that says "share" or "retweet." While I take time each morning to chat with others online, I save a block of time each week to schedule any promotion I need to do.

Use a scheduling platform such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. If you're a blogger, make use of RSS feeds and Networked Blogs. By setting up promotion ahead of time, you won't feel the need to cram a bunch of links into a short amount of social media time. And, you might avoid losing followers and friends.

Switch gears
I write several news commentary articles each week, and lose a lot of time searching for subjects. If something doesn't strike my fancy, I go back to the basics.

Write an evergreen article or seven. Write some blog posts in advance and schedule them to post at a later date. Keep producing until the right headline comes along.