5 Ways To Save 10 Invaluable Minutes

1) Stop reading blogs entitled '5 Ways To' ....

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My Lenten of Disconnect

I gave up FaceBook and Words With Friends for Lent.  It was easy to say I would do it.  Actually going cold turkey was the hard part. My daughter asked me to and so I did.  I think she was as tired of my head bowed to the iphone as I was of hers.  It was about time I bowed my head to more important things. 

I set up ground rules so that I wouldn't be accused of cheating. (More on that later)

1) I needed to stay connected to work and industry social media.  My success in my career is part and parcel social media so I could not just stop enhancing my skills or marketing my fabulous company.  My family knew that I would be continuing to surf, read, post, repost, tweet, retweet, square off, Link myself in, and more - but that I wouldn't be reviewing my personal Facebook site. 

2) I have many mediums connected together so if there were posts on my page that I wasn't aware of, I was given dispensation for the unintentional lapse of connection.

At the time of my start date in the game Words With Friends I had the maximum amount of games going and was ahead on all but 2.  To ensure I didn't play the game, I totally deleted it from my Iphone and Ipad.  This was the smartest solution because I didn't receive any "push" notifications telling me I was resigning.  This would have been an unbearable sight for my competitive spirit.  And the whole point of giving something up for Lent is to embolden your spirit, not break it.

 (read the other tips for disconnecting here:  http://mojocmo.posterous.com/my-roi-for-giving-   up-facebook-and-wwf-for-len)

My friends and colleagues asked me to write about 'what I missed the most' and to answer the question, 'was it worth it?"

Words With Friends,  What I Missed The Most:
I missed one or two people who made me Laugh Out Loud with the messages they would send after playing a particularly difficult word.

Words With Friends, Was It Worth It?
The time away from the game truly did help me see how I had formed a habit of checking the game at least 10 times a day.  I learned you don't have to use your brain to throw up letters on a screen.

I enjoy connecting face to face playing scrabble - or yahtzee - or farkle much more.  I now have 3 Words With Friends games going and only play once a day.  I feel reborn and it's a great feeling!  My WWF truly taught me WWJD and I am proud of that.

Facebook What I Missed The Most:
I missed my kids posts and my FB Friends who make me smile from the inside out.  I'm not about to tell you that I felt sad not being on Facebook.  I didn't.  I did feel "out of touch" when people around me would say "did you see on facebook?" I liken that to listening to someone talk about the TV show I missed.  You stare politely at those talking through you and you move on.

I happened to read a fascinating article,   Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?  By Stephen Marche
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lon...  days following the end of Lent.  Take time to read this article and much of how I felt hits the nail on the head. 

In the article Mr. Marche writes about a Carnegie Mellon study of 1,200 Facebook users which concludes the effect of Facebook depends on what you bring to it: 
 

'Everybody else looks so happy on Facebook, with so many friends, that our own social networks feel emptier than ever in comparison. Doesn’t that make people feel lonely? “If people are reading about lives that are much better than theirs, two things can happen,” Burke tells me. “They can feel worse about themselves, or they can feel motivated.”  '

I have always been a very social person.  Giving up Facebook allowed me to connect socially in other ways.  I read quite a bit more and I attended more events.  I also connected with friends I hadn't connected with in a long time.  My life is a full one and I found that I enjoy the personal connection of laughter with someone vs., laughing at a screen. Yet I don't feel Facebook is the big bad time waster or that I was "on it too much."  I realize now that I enjoy seeing, learning, hearing, laughing, crying, and communicating with others all of the time and Facebook is one tool to allow me to do that. 

I did replace group texting with facebook posts.  My son could not wait for Lent to end so he would stop getting awakened with my inane group texts,  An example is "Good Morning Family! I Love You!"    Those texts surly put the surly in my kids at times!

The stories that I did miss were the ones that were very personal.  Finding out a friend's wife has cancer was not easy to learn about second hand.  Yet, what is Facebook if not the ultimate in second hand news?  Just knowing my family kept me up to date on the posts that mattered deep to your soul made me realize how important connecting through Facebook can be.

 
Facebook, Was It Worth It?
Giving up Facebook was not as difficult as I thought.  I often was given elaborate explanations at the dinner table when the family started talking about "what was up" which was always about Facebook.  I also cheated.  My loving husband and daughter would text me updates they knew I would want to know about.  I would text my "conspirator"  a photo I thought no one could live without so she would post and tag me in it.  (Guess what - they could have lived without that photo!)  I wasn't proud of the fact I cheated. But I am human after all.   I am proud of the fact I admit it.  (WWJD)

My Lenten journey had me questioning not IF I should use the different applications, networks or games but HOW I should use them.

Matthew 21 includes the following verse:
"....And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

My Lenten of Disconnect gave me pause to realize I choose to make my house a prayerful one and turn away from those who wish to bring harm, negativity, or a disingenuous spirit to my life.

We can make Facebook and all of the other Apps, Mediums, Networks into what we choose and we can be better people because of how we use the tools in our life. 

Learning these facts and living them daily tells me my Lenten journey was a success.  (well except of course for the human moments of just a wee bit of cheating)

 

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Flying High in Seagrove

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It's a tough job but...

1-Family_60_V1.mov Watch on Posterous

Very proud to showcase our members stories. Makes it pretty easy to come to work when you work with people who have passion, care about others, and make you smile!

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MoJoCMO Fits me to a tee.

MoJo = Great Vibes.
MoJo = Mom Johnson (6 Cool Kids)
CMO = Chief Marketing Officer, Consumers Credit Union.
Love my family, neighborhood & friends and colleagues & connections!

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My ROI for Giving up Facebook and WWF for Lent.

My daughter looked me in the eyes and said - you could give up Facebook and the game you play when you're talking to me. 

That did it.  I listened to her and now and living a life of organizing my locker room.

I am paid to know about and utilize Social Media Tools to their fullest extent.  So I explained to Ellie that I could do it - but that I would still blog and I would still utilize the social media pages Facebook.com/consumerscu as well as @ConsumersCU, Linked In, Twitter, and the ConsumersCU Pinterest accounts.  

I have switched off Personal FaceBook Posts and Words With Friends.   I'm giving you a step by step guide on how I've completed this daunting task:\

1) Stop all notifications.

I went into settings on my Iphone, MacBook Air and Ipad and turned off all notifications.  I am amazed at how much this one little step took the

"want" out of seeing what is going on.  If it's not up in my face I tend to look for something else to do.

2) Turn off email notifications in the programs themselves.

I turned off email for FaceBook a long time ago because I was tired of having 20 You're Invited to Zombie Wars requests in my in box each morning.

I had not turned off Words With Friends because I am very competitive and wanted to always respond right away.  I have 19 games going. I turned off

my email notification and I am slowly trying to get past my intense desire to play just because I don't want to resign - and I will resign automatically because I'm 

not  playing.  I've resigned myself to that fact.

3) Bookmark Professional Social Media Only.

I took off all of my personal social media sights on my personal browser.  This helps me not be enticed just to habitually click it when I have a few moments.

4)  I moved the APPS off my main screen on my Ipad and Iphone.  This was easy and when I need to use FB for business I know where it is.

5) When I do open up the FB page it opens to my professional Consumers page vs., my home page.  Wha-La - that was quick and easy.  The only issue I have

is I see the red button that shows my personal notifications and friend requests.  I ignore them and so far have over 100 notifications!  I know they are mostly zombie

requests - but still.

What do I miss most about my personal FB?

I miss bragging about my kids.

I miss saying happy birthday.

I miss looking at my Hubby's face on his page - I love his profile pic and his face makes me smile.  (I've fixed this by putting the pic in my camera again)

I miss LOL from some of my friends posts - FB Friends posts can be hysterically funny.  

I miss knowing if I'm missing something important like a death or sickness.

My family knows to alert me in a text if there is something HUGE going on - but otherwise it's been relatively quiet.

What do I miss most about my WWF?

I miss knowing I'm SO close to beating some of my toughest rivalries

I miss playing 9 games with my husband while he sits next to me - and we don't speak - we just go back and forth.  Every once in a while you hear a snicker.  I miss the snickers. (so I'm eating them instead)

What am I gaining?

I am not one who thinks social networking is a time waster.  My work and life revolve around keeping people connected and staying connected.  So for me it's not about wasting time.  But it is about connecting.  I am gaining new insight into how we have become attached to our smart phones. How when we play a game at home we casually glance to look at the phone when it is not "our turn" vs., being in the moment with everyone. This is selfishness beyond belief.

I am also gaining knowledge of when posting something is just frivolous vs. having meaning.  

Mostly I am pausing to be calm, still and prayerful.  

I will continue to take a ton of pictures - and I'll upload them in an album called "40 days and 40 nights of Photos" 

To give you an example - here is a pic of Ellie's artwork that is being displayed at the Forest Hills High School Art Display.  (I just can't help bragging!) 

I'll keep you posted!

Lynne J. Johnson

Consumers Credit Union

Chief Marketing Officer

Good Times Ahead>>

616.214.0207 iphone

lynne.johnson@consumerscu.org

269.342.7904 x1753 office

269.488.1885 fax

Posted via email from LifeWithLynne

Digital + Face to Face = Engagement!

I love that I'm celebrating my 4th month anniversary with Consumers Credit Union the week of Valentine's!   One of my first goals was to visit each of our 13 offices and meet members and colleagues face to face.

In Marketing we are always trying to get more "face time" with our customers.  Some marketers are focused on numbers of visits,  unique visitors, friends and followers. In this new digital world they are important.  But I am a strong believer in real face time - where you can make eye contact and understand the feeling of what's being said.  You can communicate without guessing what the "text" or "email" really was trying to say.

I just spent last week traveling through West Michigan meeting with our Consumers members.  The stories they share are inspiring.  I've talked with a Coldwater mom who has only a few more payments until she's debt free.  I've met a South Haven entrepreneur who came to Consumers for a car loan as a student. He told me that the loan changed his life, enabling him to finish school. He has just opened a brand new laundromat in Hartford!  I've met a woman from Kalamazoo who's aunt was Elvis' Seamstress. (How cool is that?!) I've learned that because we have savings programs in our elementary partner schools, entire families have come to us to learn about budgeting and saving money.  I have also learned Consumers colleagues are chairing amazing charity events this year while working full time.  I can't wait to see those events come to life.

One way we will help share those stories is through our new Consumers Kodachrome effort. We will be taking to the streets to see our community partner's work in action.

Consumers volunteers spent Friday night with hundreds of people dressed in Pink!  We supported the West Ottawa #PinkOut and introduced our Kodachrome by Consumers concept with you, capturing the fun and excitement in pictures of communities doing the right thing.  Monies raised from the basketball game will go to VanAndel Institute for Cancer Research. Being there to see the excitement was so much fun and being able to share it with you is even more fun. (See the results here!) 

Join us all year long as we continue to share your stories one member at a time.  Who knows, you may just make it to the big screen - American Idol has nothing on our members!  See for yourself here!

I read with interest a recent blog by Steve Olenski on the LinkedIn Forbes CMO network.  He writes:  "A recent McKinsey Quarterly study revealed that having the ability to engage their customers and leverage those relationships is the No. 1 digitally related challenge facing marketers today."

The challenges we all face - whether we are on a marketing team or a hockey team- are connecting in a way that matters.  It's about using the right tools to communicate.  A teenager may like his or her mom to text (even though they say it is so uncool).  A teacher may request email.  A grandma may want to sit on the porch swing and chat.  What ways are you staying connected?

My role at Consumers Credit Union is to ensure we keep the lines of communication open and educate members on our services and products.  What ways can we stay connected with you?  Please share with me your thoughts lynne.johnson@consumerscu.org.  And by the way, if you'd like to be in pictures, sing a song, or just tell us about your member experience you can connect to me or goodtimesahead@consumerscu.org.

Posted via email from LifeWithLynne