Two Places at Once: How to Avoid Letting Telecommuting Split You in Half

One thing about telecommuting is that you open yourself up to dualities--especially if you're a telecommuting parent. On the most basic level, telecommuters find themselves in two places at once: usually they're both at home and in the office. Or they're at grocery store and in the office. Or they're on vacation and in the office.

For instance, I went to the local Barnes & Noble yesterday, because my six-year-old wanted to go (and because my wife and I love bookstores too). Plus, I thought I might have an opportunity to see my 2011 Poet's Market on the shelves (not yet, though you can order it online here). Anyway, I went there to relax, but I was in editing mode before we left the store. In fact, everyone had to wait on me to finish working before we could leave. That's telecommuting.

Of course, there are positives and negatives to this situation (for both the employers and the employees). For both parties to have the optimal situation, it's up to the telecommuters to do a few things for their own sanity and well being. Here's a short list I've compiled (still a work in progress):

1. Get out of the house. Your house is most likely your office too. So, you need to get out of that place from time to time. Seriously. Plus, you need to get some Vitamin D (from the sun) for your health. After my first year of telecommuting, I had dangerously low levels of Vitamin D, because I'd essentially turned my home into a cave.
2. Get out of the office. For most telecommuters, this is even harder than getting out of the house, especially if you have a smart phone or some other electronic doodad that lets you check your e-mail, social network, and shave all at the same time and from anywhere in the world. While your work may be part of your life, avoid letting it become your life.
3. Exercise. I'm not saying that telecommuters should all be Olympic athletes, but we should be able to take advantage of some of that time in which we're not commuting to go for a 20-minute walk or dance to some music videos on YouTube or something.
4. Communicate with HQ. Make sure you don't get stranded on a telecommuting island. Communicate with your co-workers. When you have questions, ask them immediately. Don't let them build into 20-question e-mail messages. Communication accomplishes two things: first, it reminds your co-workers you're there and being productive; second, it keeps you focused and in touch with what's happening at the company headquarters.
5. Stay organized. If you can't keep your office clean, telecommuting may not be for you. Here's why: You are living where you work. So while you can keep personal and professional messes separate when you're working in the office, that is nearly impossible to do when your office is in the house. Organization is key.

If you have tips of your own, I'd love to hear them.

*****

Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

Or click here to fan me on Facebook.

Twitter Cheat Sheet for Telecommuters

Last year, I posted this Twitter cheat sheet for writers on my Writer's Digest Community blog, but Twitter is a useful tool for anyone trying to build a platform. Telecommuters--even if you're a salaried employee--should be working on their platform for two reasons: First, a strong platform makes you more attractive within your company; second, a strong platform makes you more attractive outside your company. In today's economy, you can't be too attractive. Seriously.

It's easy (and free) enough to create a Twitter account, but how can telecommuters take advantage of this social networking tool? What can they logically expect to gain from using it? What is a hashtag anyway? Well, hopefully, this cheat sheet will help.

First, let's look at some basic terminology:

• Tweet = Any message sent out to everyone on Twitter. Unless you direct message (DM) someone, everything on Twitter is a Tweet and viewable by anyone.
• RT = Retweet. Twitter just created a new RT-ing tool, so the ground may shift here, but the standard convention is to put an RT and cite the source before reposting something funny or useful that someone else has shared. For example, if I tweeted "Nouns are verbs waiting to happen," you could RT me this way: RT @robertleebrewer Nouns are verbs waiting to happen.
• DM = Direct message. These are private and only between people who DM each other.
• # = Hashtag. These are used in front a word (or set of letters) to allow people to easily communicate on a specific topic. For instance, I talk poetry with other poets every Tuesday on Twitter using the hashtag #poettues. Poets can click on the "poettues" after the hashtag (no space) or they can search on the term "poettues" in Twitter (right-hand toolbar).
• ff = Follow Friday. This is a nice way to show support for other tweeters on Twitter. On Friday.

Second, here are 10 things you can do to optimize your use of Twitter:

1. Use your real name if possible. Make it easy for people you know or meet to find you on Twitter.
2. Add a profile picture. Preferably this will be a picture of you. People connect better with other people, not cartoons, book covers, logos, etc.
3. Link to a website. Hopefully, you have a blog or website you can link to in your profile. If you don't have a website or blog, make one. Now. And then, link to it from your Twitter profile.
4. Write your bio. Make this memorable in some way. You don't have to be funny or cute, but more power to you if you can do this and still make it relevant to who you are.
5. Tweet regularly. It doesn't matter if you have only 2 followers (and one is your mom); you still need to tweet daily (or nearly daily) for Twitter to be effective. And remember: If you don't have anything original to add, you can always RT something funny or useful from someone else.
6. Tweet relevant information. Don't be the person who tweets like this: "I am making a salad;" "I am eating a salad;" "That salad was good;" "I wonder what I'm going to eat next;" etc. These tweets are not interesting or relevant. However, if your salad eating experience rocked your world in a unique way, feel free to share: "Just ate the best salad ever. Who knew hot sauce and lettuce could co-exist?"
7. Link and don't link. It's good to link to other places and share things you're doing or that you've found elsewhere. At the same time, if all you do is link, people may think you're just trying to sell them stuff all the time.
8. Have a personality. Be yourself. You don't have to be overly cute, funny, smart, etc. Just be yourself and remember that Twitter is all about connecting people. So be a person.
9. Follow those worth following. Just because you're being followed you don't have to return the follow. For instance, if some local restaurant starts following me, I'm not going to follow them back, because they aren't relevant to me or to my audience.
10. Communicate with others. I once heard someone refer to Twitter as one big cocktail party, and it's true. Twitter is all about communication. If people talk to you or RT you, make sure you talk back and/or thank them. (Here's a secret: People like to feel involved and acknowledged. I like it; you like it; and so does everyone else.)

Third, here are some extra resources:

• TwitterGrader.com - This site allows you to enter your profile at any given time and find out how you're doing (according to them) in using Twitter effectively. Of course, the grade you receive is bound to not be perfect, but it is a good measuring stick.
• wthashtag.com - This site allows you to search for hashtags, run reports on them, get transcripts between specific time periods, and more.
• Hootsuite - This is one of many tools that give the ability to Tweet and track your account without even going to Twitter. Many (maybe even most) people use these, though I'm still not a big fan, yet.
• bit.ly - This is one of many URL shortening services out there, which is very helpful when tweeting URL links, since they can easily eat into your 140-character limit on Twitter. This particular one makes it easy for you to track clicks, though I'm sure that's fairly standard.
  

And, of course, if you're not already, please follow me on Twitter: @robertleebrewer

*****

Use Twitter to Boost Your Writing Income. (Click here to learn how.)