Mindful Social MediaMini-Workshop by Beth Kanter, Beth’s Blog

Managing Your Attention Online: Why Is It An Important Work Skill?

A few quick assessment questions

Add up your score: # of YES

answers

Self-Knowledge Is The First Step

1. When you open email or do social media tasks, does it make you feel anxious?2. When you go online to do social media tasks or email, have you ever forgotten what it was in

the first place you wanted to accomplish?3. Do you ever wish the email or social media would just go away?4. Do you experience frustration at the amount of electronic information you need to process

daily?5. Do you sit at your computer for longer than 30 minutes at a time without getting up to take a

break?6. Do you constantly check (even in the bathroom on your mobile phone) your email, Twitter or

other online service?7. Is the only time you're off line is when you are sleeping?8. Do you feel that you often cannot concentrate?9. Do you get anxious if you are offline for more than a few hours?10. Do you find yourself easily distracted by online resources that allow you to avoid other,

pending work?

Self-Knowledge Is The First Step

0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10Source: Lulumonathletica

Source: Tzofia

Mindful Online………………………………………………………..Need Help Now

What’s Attention Score?

• Pay attention to your breath and cultivate mindfulness

• Understand your goals and priorities and ask yourself at regular intervals whether your current activity serves your higher priority.

• Notice when your attention has wandered, and then gently bringing it back to focus on your highest priority

Source: Howard RheingoldNetSmart

What is mindfulness online?

Sometimes your goal might be to learn or deepen relationships – in which case – having fun or making small talk or exploring from link to link is permissible – and important. Don’t make attention training so rigid that it destroys flow.

Source: Bandragirl: http://bandragirl.tumblr.com/

To establish new attention habits, start small, find a place in your routine for new behavior and repeat until paying attention has become a habit

What small habit will you change?