I think it is an individual thing to know how many things you can have going at once! For me, I prioritize by having one extreme focus at a time, catch up on that, and move on to the next one. Effective for me but it can often feel like I’m staying only one step ahead of the avalanche! If I let myself acknowledge how much I have going on and waiting for my attention at any given time, I would be too overwhelmed to accomplish anything! I need to triage my inbox!

I don’t manage…I try to take it as it comes. I can spend the whole day checking my emails, answering my twitter, my facebook…and the next day…I dsiconnect and I’m web-invisible

Before you could be one person at work and one person online…one person with your friends and one person with your family…

Now you are just one person…available all the time…

Are we living more efficiently? Or is this just a rick to work all the time ?

I find tools to help me manage. I’ve got 72 blogs I keep up with on a regular basis, and have built them into my day. A friend recommended Feedly to me as a great means of tracking what blogs I read, and just as a friendlier format to read them in. I’ve also got a full time job and a small web design/consulting company to run on the side. Managing participation online as well as the rest of my life has become second nature… but I still follow general rules of etiquette… like if I’m out for a casual meetup, it’s acceptable to check my iPhone… but if I’m out with my friends, I actually do turn it off. I think the key is to being clear about your priorities and where you spend your time. After all, you’re only one person and you can only do so much.

Yeah, I think how to manage depends on individuals.

One thing I do want to ask, though, with relation to Wendy’s comment above. She mentions “general rules of etiquette”, but are those rules changing?

As a teen, I know most of my friends don’t really see anything wrong with checking our phones when we’re out together - the whole idea of this hyper-connectivity has been around all our lives, it’s all we know and we’re used to it.

What do you guys think? Are the “general rules of etiquette” changing?

My first and only phone ended up on the washing machine a day after I got it as a gift. I have not had a cell phone since. Katie and I were talking about the economy and stuff the other day and said Katie look at this way, we are survivors, and no matter what happens if things crash, we don’t have far to fall, for alot of people it’s a looong way down… We know how to take care of ourselves, like I said many posts ago, my motherly instincts are kicked in, they are being taught the basics..basic cooking skills etc. I think even engaging in a conversation with my teenage child about the economy is something we really need to be doingmore of…I get my best ideas from the youngsters. Being thrust into single parenting in June, working full time and over, maintaining myspace, keeping up with the music, advocating human rights concerns, keeping up with international politics, see mum and dad, shoveling snow, trying to self educate on abuse issues so i stay current in my field, it is hard as hell..but you know what David..I sink or I swim..that’s it..and I make time. And you know what when i am having a bad day, and judged for my hair or my clothes, or my age, lack of cell phone..you know my secret..i put my virtual middle finger up and silently say, judge this.

Exactly that….something’s gotta give I know it’s cliche but family is the most important thing because without that true support system all the other stuff doesn’t really matter. WE don’t leave this world wishing we had written one last blog post or checked messages on our blackberry or even written another song. What we wish for is that one more day with the people we love. That’s not unusual for people to check messages during a pause in conversation. It seems these days that pauses are uncomfortable. Silence feels like guilt ie. “I should be doing something.” If you are getting messages then you must be important? Again..me…me…me. I basically manage by not answering the phone when I’m busy or even when I’m enjoying the silence…if it’s important they’ll leave a message.

@David It must be very difficult to keep up with all that you do. Although it’s painful for me to say this…the line in the sand must be drawn at some point. Sometimes we have to put up walls…sometimes we have to knock them down and sometimes we have to rebuild them a different way. It’s knowing when and what to do with those bricks that is the hard part. It’s like receiving and passing notes under a door. The door sometimes has to be there to survive but as long as a little light shines under it you’ll be more likely to receive what is on the other side when you open it.

first of all i call my digital life THE virtual living and i rename my real life THE fantasy and then i choose to live for the fantasy.
easy as cake or pie or christmas cookies

a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker makes MY top ‘3′ and thank goodness good things come in threes (secret LOL)!!! because there’s something about an enigma wrapped in a …um..how does it go again?? an enigma wrapped in a bubble?? wrapped in a tootsie pop thing-y?? an enigma wrapped in a fur coat??
maybe that’s it because happiness is a warm gum apparently and shoot, i just killed the marks-man and changed his job to janitor duty!!!

PEACE!!!!

I never gave this question much of a thought, I’m spontaneous and tend to follow some master subjects closer than for the others I go by how the titles attracts me to reading. I unsubscribed to most of what was sent to my phone so when I receive information it’s when I took time to sit at my computer, it’s the only way I could make the information not cut into my offline thing.

p.s. sorry for the horrible spelling on my first post!

Do we really ought to keep up?
I don’t know it’s good or bad to have any boundaries, but the one thing I know for sure is we should enjoy living. How is this possible to live within boundaries and stay free?

Cut the signal for 1 month and I think you’d see sales of Paxil go through the roof. Many aren’t just connected, they’re dependant. The digital life has become/replaced real. Yes I feel social media and technology have some wonderful uses, but I feel far too often (myself included) it’s used to placate our minds. Our digital interconnectedness is just a thin veil to distract us from the scariness of the extremely segregated, fast-paced society we’ve created. Do we really “connect” with our 150 FaceBook friends? Do the one line Tweets help us establish or maintain meaningful relationships? Not likely, but the buzzes, rings and lights sure do make us feel needed/important/intelligent or whatever other facet of your ego needs a boost. While the technology is not to blame I think the way we use it is harming society/species. When we find ways to “manage” an uncomfortable situation we do not deal with or fix it. Personally I try to keep my digital life to my alone time. 10-15 years ago, if you chose to spend time with a person you gave them your full attention. Are they somehow less worthy of it now? As far as etiquette; try to remember that while the “connection” makes you feel needed it also shows anyone you’re with that they are less important than whatever else you’ve got going on.

@ Elizabeth Louise: I concur!

I must admit that it’s really a huge part of my life. I have my cell phone with me 24/7 and I’m connected everyday on the internet for work and personal needs. I do almost everything with these technologies and would probably go insane without it. It’s part of everyone’s life now and I think we just cannot be involved. But of course, it has it’s dark sides, it may not be as useful or helpful for everyone. We have to use all of this in a positive way and not forget the priorities in life. But most importantly, for those who have kids (I have a son) it’s our responsibility to make their education about it. As a parent and model, we have to educate them on how to use technology in a positive way, teach them the limits, the good and the bad about it. Finally and honestly, it may be hard to stay balanced.. with digital and real life sometimes..

I find my digital life to sometimes interfear with my real life. When I stopped watching TV 6 years ago I suddenly had WAY more of a real life. I have had a computer for two years now and I do admit that it tends to suck up some time, so I try to focus that time to be educational. I feel social networks are great for keeping up with my real life, connecting with friends, knowing about events and opportunities, it’s great!
I do find at times though when I take a step back away from the tech, it hinders my real life because people I know expect things out of me, like answering their messages or posting pictures, or even coming to their events. I get alot of messages, I have alot going on in my life and in my head, so I don’t respond until I feel like it, because I m busy or and relaxing away from it. This gets people concerned for me, mad at me, hurt by me…because they have expectations of instant communication and I don’t always care, have time, or know what to say until I think about it for a while. This causes stress for me and distance in relationships.
Sometimes the instant communication can hinder too. You might say something that is taken the wrong way and people don’t understand what you are really saying, so you lose them through communication that might not have been properly thought through. I also find that I sometimes can communicate online in a way I can’t seem to in real life.
In my real life, the closest people to me are ADD/ADHD no doubt from watching too much Tv as children and food alergies. They are always distracted and frequently cut me off and what we are doing to recieve text messages and such. I am used to it and learn not have expectations or to take it personally. You can tell when someone is really enjoying your company when they ignore their phone. Quality time is still there, for quality people. Finding balance takes time, managing time.
Things like my digital voice recorder help me capture my songs as they flow out in my real life and I can easily share them online.
One assists the other but can make communication just as difficult as ease. I am still learning to manage both.