As soon as the lecturer mentioned a site, people “googled” it and everything was live. At the same time I saw people posting on their blogs, answering emails, ‘IM’ing, and searching the web as other thoughts relating to the lectures came to mind. It was a fascinating display of multi-tasking.

Is that good? Multi-tasking, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO_oEGHWSMU which many have embraced as the key to success, could be a formula for shoddy work, mismanaged time, rote solutions, stress and forgetfulness. Paying attention means to one thing, or so I thought.

Psychologist David E. Meyer of the University of Michigan says, “it takes more time for the brain to switch among tasks than it would have to complete one task and then turn to the next.” Obviously a man’s approach. A prolonged period of extreme multi-tasking, warns Meyer, may lead to a shorter attention span, poorer judgment and impaired memory.

Dr. John Medina, developmental molecular biologist who focuses on human brain development, said the brain does not pay attention to boring stuff. The brain wants a rotating, moving, digital image and up to half the brain power is devoted to visual processing. However the brain needs to rest to process information.

I optimally absorb information when I am taking (writing) notes so it can register in my brain for easy recall. While I am writing, I am reviewing the information, and ultimately able to summarize it into key points. All I need to focus on is the lecturer, his material, and the notes. Everything else is a distraction.

I am a strong advocate of technology and I am “plugged in” for far more time than I would like but how many things can one really do at once before it affects their absorption rate and their commitment to really being present.

The jury is still out and I am probably going to buy an iPad soon because I really like to meet with clients, having everything at my disposal.

Rav Berkovits Gives Us Valuable Advice

Using online social media platforms is now an essential part of a comprehensive marketing strategy to attract inform, retain, service and form loyal bonds with your audience.  With the many tools out there to choose from, the women needed to know why to use it, when to use it, and how to use it to have a voice in their market.  See more about the conference at JPOST.com

Here are a couple of the questions I addressed at the event:

• Time – Does it take up your whole day?  How many hours per day do you Tweet, Facebook or blog
• Market – Why must I deal with social media for the religious market?

How Much Time?

My answers were specific to each business owner that approached me.  The time allotted to social media varies.  It’s all about research and strategy. 

“Instead of researching the best ways to engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and publish content without a plan or purpose. However, businesses that conduct research will find a rewarding array of options and opportunities.”
– Brian Solis, founder FutureWorks, in a blog post on Mashable- January. 11, 2010

Investigate and find out where your customers are ‘socializing’ and be active on those platforms.  Creating a blog post takes planning, research, and creativity – the time invested into each of these elements is naturally up to the author. 

Posting articles and blogs should not take you more than an hour per day.  If you are involved in many forums sharing information and connecting with your customers, consider it part of your sales cycle and give it the time if deserves to engage your customers and develop relationships. 

Is there a Market?

A book publisher asked me, “Why do I need to be online when my market is only for the religious Jewish community?”  Before I got a chance to answer, another book publisher answered, “Are you kidding, a large majority of my business is done online and most of our marketing is done online.”  Of course, I mentioned it’s time to expand her market and not limit the company to such a small niche. 

The feedback from the conference has been mostly positive, but there are many that still harbor serious reservations about the dangers of exposing themselves and their families to both known and unknown dangers online. A key takeaway for those with such reservations is that others are also struggling with the issues too. Some decide to face them head on, while engaging the new media but with caution. Others are mostly deciding to wait-and-see how the rest have fared.

There was a very handy list of things you can do to use the net with greater safety. I have attached a scanned image PDF of the handout here.

What are your ideas about how to make the internet safer for the home? Any other thoughts on the subject? Let us know…