More details are on the way so stay tuned…

No wonder they feel overwhelmed. Here are two quick tips to make this simpler.

Don’t Try to Drink from the Fire Hydrant

Whether it is Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter, don’t try to read every single post there (a.k.a. Drinking from the fire hydrant). Yes, you will miss things, but that is okay.

If you are on Facebook, just scan down the latest news feed and check your inbox for messages, notifications and updates. The first time it might take 10-15 minutes, but then you are caught up and it will take 5 minutes. I typically do this twice a day, once in the morning and once before the end of the work day. I usually update my status once a day, although sometimes more from my iPhone if I’m early for a meeting or stuck somewhere. I like to post comments to other status updates

On Twitter, just scan down the first page or two of posts for people that you follow. Remember that Twitter is “real time” and once something is more than a day or even a few hours, the value drops. I also use Twitter search to follow particular keywords about my interests.

Use a Timer

Whether it is a desktop widget or a kitchen timer, set one. And while this may seem very simple and you will give me the, “I’m too smart or disciplined or whatever to use a timer,” line, this very simple solution will help you enjoy the social networks without feeling like you are flushing your time down the drain.

Here is the simple strategy. Set the timer for 10 minutes. Open Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn. Go to town until the timer rings and immediately close the browser (tab) when the timer goes off.

So no more excuses. Use the social networks to build your connections between people, but don’t drink from the fire hydrant.

• Home Office Reboot

One of my radical ideas is the having an office without a printer. Seriously, people think I’m nuts. So far I really haven’t had an actual need much greater than once or twice, and it was simple enough to get something printed at almost no cost. Much cheaper than the ongoing expense of paper, toner/ink, etc.

Make sure to share your own home office setup stories here or at the Organize IT blog.

The problem:

Ever notice how your best ideas happen while you are in a situation where you cannot write them down? For me, ideas often happen in the car while driving. Invariably, I get back to the office or home and I cannot remember the idea or task or reminder or interesting tidbit.

Many people get voice recorders, whether as a typical tape based unit or something more high-tech, like an iPod, Treo or mobile phone. My problem is that I would never quite get around to transcribing the notes on the voice recorder into to something that I could use.

The Solution: Jott

So grab your cell phone, dial a phone number.

“Who do you want to Jott?” she says.

I say, “Jott to self.”

“Jott to self… beep”

Then leave a 30 second audio message.

“Got it. Who do you want to Jott?” she echoes back. Repeat the process or hang up.

Then magic happens. When I get back to my office or home, there is an email waiting for me from Jott. The message has been transcribed through voice recognition which I can copy into anything else, like a task list or email or document. And you can even link directly to the audio if the voice transcription didn’t work.

From my experience, the voice recognition is good enough that I almost never need to listen to the audio because the first few words are enough to spur on my memory. But it is there for the random time you might need to hear it again.

You can even send Jotts directly to others from the phone to delegate tasks or set reminders. I’ve recommended this tool to several people and the return reviews have been stellar. The voice recognition is quite good and I’m always amazed by some of the things that it gets right. Use of the tool is quite simple because you already know how to dial a number and receive email. Managing your Jotts isn’t something you need to actually do, just clean out the inbox from time to time. And you can even use the online tool to create SMS reminders to yourself for random things that you want to do. Accounts are free so go check out Jott.