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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from bye bye, Twitpic! Twitter to release own photo-sharing service, announcing this week to iCloud, YouCloud, we all scream for iCloud. but what exactly will it be?
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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Google plans to make special Google Wallet stickers for phones without NFC to PayPal lawsuit against Google reveals recruiting saga and a deal gone sour.
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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Twitter says Facebook, Foursquare will remain in Tweetdeck to how Amazon helped Adam Carolla stay in podcasting.
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The following listener blogs were mentioned on today's show.

The other day, I wrote an article about time management. I compared the management of time, and its related tasks, to circuit training. Essentially, one spends a few minutes at one station and then moves to the next. For me, this meant five minutes on each task. Unfortunately, five minutes was not enough.

I then decided to try 15 minutes. It seemed long enough to get some work done, but short enough to fight my natural procrastination tendencies. Today, I find that even fifteen minutes is not quite enough. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot better than five, but by the time I really start to make progress on the task, my time is up.

As of this article, I am going to increase my time block from fifteen to thirty minutes. Hopefully, this will put me closer to the sweet spot.

I imagine the human body and its 8 hours of sleep. According to Wikipedia, R.E.M. sleep accounts for 20-25% of a night's rest. This stage of sleep is typically short but powerful. It is where muscles are repaired and the brain rejuvenates. Similar to sleep, I imagine the dynamic power of task sprints (short but intense). There will be a lull at the beginning, which is to be expected during a transition, but the latter half should result in good focused effort.

Feedback
What do you think? Have you done something similar? How did it work out for you? Let me know in the comment section below.

Photo credit: freakart

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Facebook testing new page recommendation tool to Twitter closes tweetdeck deal for more than $40 Million.
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The following listener blogs were mentioned on today's show.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Twitters now sending emails for re-tweets and favorites to Sony hacked again as attackers target Sony Music Japan. This is getting tiresome.

The following listener blogs were mentioned on today's show.

• Show Notes for Room 3026 Live (Ep. 275) by Erica Goodwyn
• Love, Live, and Learn – There’s More in You by lilsonproductions81

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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Facebook friends help plan your trip with Gtrot to Google Docs gets an Android app, lets you capture text with your phone's camera.
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I am excited to announce that I will be a guest on the SitePoint Podcast, which will air LIVE today at WordCamp Raleigh 2011 starting at 1pm. My segment, which will focus on the blog article entitled, "What Empire Avenue Taught Me About Generosity" will begin around 1:30pm (EST). If you're in the area, I'd love to shake your hand and say, "Hi!"

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from LinkedIn climbs past $100 Per share on second day of trading to students get Free Xbox 360 with purchase of Windows 7 PC.

Blog Roll
The following listener blogs were mentioned on today's show.

• Show Notes for Room 3026 Live (Ep. 273) by Erica Goodwyn
• Aaron K. White, Digital Alchemist from Empire Avenue, Talks With Room 3026 Live by Damond Nollan

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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we talked with Aaron K. White, Director of Digital Alchemy at Empire Avenue. We discussed the history of this wildly popular game, talked about future plans, and even got a hint on a secret achievement.

What is Empire Avenue? It is a game that allows players to buy and sell shares of stock in people. The game board is set online in a social media exchange. To play, you use digital currency, known as Eaves, to invest in friends and other connections. Using activity on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Blogs, and Empire Avenue, players can increase their share price and provide dividends to investors.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from WordPress makes blogging from your iPhone snazzy to Xbox 360 PayPal Shopping starts now.

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from a Facebook share is worth $2.10 to Google Docs levels up: unlocks pivot table powers.

Today, I woke up with this crazy idea. What would happen if I were to spend shorter amounts of time doing a number of different things. In the health and fitness area, we call this a circuit, but could it work for managing tasks?

How Does It Work?
My current process involves a calendar and a time budget. Each day, I block off a period of time to focus on communication, meetings, work, and other important tasks. While this works, I find that it can be a little rigid.

Throughout a normal day, people will call or email me and expect a prompt response. For me, this means the next morning. For everyone else, this means within the next hour. If composing email is not in my schedule, the recipient will have to wait until the next day.


At first glance, this is great for controlling distractions, but it does little for responsiveness.

The idea I came up with this morning was to use shorter intervals to cycle through daily tasks. Instead of spending all 60 minutes at one time to talk on the phone or compose email (say, from 7 - 8am), I can cut up that hour into smaller chunks of time, which can then be disbursed through the remainder of the day.

Having tested this concept, the following section captures my initial reaction and recommended next steps.

Pros
More responsive: The first thing of note was the speed by which I was able to address tasks. Instead of waiting 24 hours to address a concern, I only had to wait until the cycle repeated itself. Depending upon the number of tasks, it could mean a wait of 30 to 40 minutes.

Increased visibility: Some of the tasks include managing social networks. Prior to this new process, I would check my various networks once or twice a day. Today, it felt like I was on all the time. This gave me an opportunity to speak with a variety of people I might have missed. The benefit as I see it is an increased visibility in both the office and online.

Cons
Not enough time: Today, I gave myself about 5 minutes per task. It didn't take long to realize that five minutes wasn't enough to get into the groove and complete anything. By the time I started, it was time to move on to the next task. In hindsight, I would probably give myself between 10 and 15 minutes per task.

Too hectic: Again, at 5 minutes per task, I found myself jumping around in somewhat of a scatterbrained approach. At times, I didn't know what was next on the agenda. By the end of the day, I just addressed what was yelling the loudest. Unfortunately, that's not a very proactive approach to task management.

Not balanced enough: Spent too much time on social networking, which affected my time in other areas. Instead of grouping Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Empire Avenue, YouTube, and the like into a similar category, I ended up spending 5 minutes in each network. Clearly, this was unfair because I ultimately spent 30 minutes on networking and only 5 minutes in other areas.

Moving Forward...
...I will increase the alloted time from 5 to 15 minutes. This will allow me time to adjust to the task, engage, and let it go.

...I will group similar tasks into larger categories (Blog, Communication, Dissertation, and Work). With each 15 minute interval, I will move between one of the four areas. During the course of an hour, I would have touched all major tasks on my list.

...I will work from my task list to ensure that I am completing the highest priority items during the alloted period.

Additional Thoughts
Unfortunately, the circuit concept doesn't work for everything. Meetings, commute, meals, and similar actions are better suited for larger time blocks.

For anyone who has been around the time management block, breaking tasks down into smaller chucks is not new. In fact, I am aware of the egg timer approach and writing the dissertation in only 15 minutes per day. What I think is different about the circuit concept is that it continues all day long, minus the scheduled blocks of time.

Mentally, 15 minutes on anything is pretty easy to do. It is easy enough that even a career procrastinator like myself can use it.

At the end of the day, when I am asked what I have completed, I can easily review my many smaller tasks and say, "I did it!" Success, I believe, is built on things we do, not on things we hope to achieve. The difference is ACTION. Now, get out there and change the world 15 minutes at a time.

Feedback
What do you think? Would something like this work for you? Let talk about it in the comment section below.

Photo credit: by SFB579

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Foot Locker launches Sneakerpedia, a Wikipedia for sneakerheads to a new bill that would make illegal streaming a whopping felony.
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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from Twitter vigilantes recover Twitter friend’s stolen laptop by Lauren Dugan to Netflix seals deal to stream Miramax movies, starting in June.
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Over the past few weeks, I have been pretty active on a new social networking site. The site is called, Empire Avenue.

If you have been following my tweets, updates, blog, and radio show, you probably know something about it. However, did you know that Empire Avenue is much more than a game? It's true, the site encourages "players" to do more on other networks. In case you missed it, I highly recommend that you check out Room 3026 Live: Episode 265 for a wonderful conversation I had with Chris Pirillo, Adriel Hampton, and Laurie DesAutels regarding Empire Avenue's benefit.

It was during this past weekend that something interesting happened. I decided to engage in two events: [X]pendapalooza! and #SocialEmpire Speed Dating (Special thanks to John Gushue, Adriel Hampton, Ryan J. Zeigler, and others for making these events a reality).

In both cases, the idea was to give freely to someone else. With [X]pendapalooza!, players were encouraged to spend eaves (virtual currency) on others in a pay it forward kind of way. Any investments made in you were to be spent on someone else.

With #SocialEmpire Speed Dating, which isn't about dating at all, we were asked to "Like Bomb" someone's Facebook wall. To "Like Bomb" simply means to go down a wall and "Like" everything. It makes for an explosive time!

On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from 12 quick tips to search google like an expert to LukeW's data Monday: Angry Birds.
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On today's episode of Room 3026 Live, we discussed topics ranging from four low-risk ways to generate passive income and make your money work harder for you to Angry Birds launch assault on internet browsers, Chrome OS.

Life gets busy. Things are constantly being thrown at you. We are asked to pay attention to everything and at the same time. I, for one, never seem to do a great job of multitasking. You want me to listen while I'm watching television? Yeah, that's not gonna happen. How do you address this situation? By making it formal.