Gemmelsmirch.
This is one of my favorite all-time words, made up by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. and delivered with gusto in his book CrazyBusy. It refers to all the stuff we can occupy our minds with, stuff that often leaving us spinning like a top, going nowhere.
To Dr. Hallowell, “screensucking” (another fine word) makes up a lot of modern Gemmelsmirch. I doubt I have to explain this word, but the good folks at Learnstuff.com have quantified its effects. Their conclusion: excessive social media at work is “killing” productivity. Check out their infographic, below. Do you agree with this conclusion? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Thanks to the folks at Learnstuff.com for this infographic. You can see their original post at this link.
Hi Luigi,
Fun infographic. But I would argue that how much you get out of any tool depends on how you use it. No doubt time management is important with social media. But a few little tricks can make a big difference. For example, maybe try turning off all the notifications so you don’t get interrupted constantly throughout the day. And if you set up a social media dashboard like Hootsuite, you can open it up to check all your social media accounts at a few set times during the day – like during your lunch hour when it’s okay to be social. I also use the Pomodoro app you told me about now to time myself so I only take a 25 minute social media break at lunch and I use that time strategically. At least, that’s what I do most days. Some days I just watch a lot of cat videos. 😉