The New Daily Saint Faith and Work Blog

Some new things are on the horizon for The Daily Saint.  As the site has gone through maturations over the past two years, Easter Sunday is the perfect time to announce a new blog.  The them is new and fresh but more importantly, the content is more lazer-focused than ever before.

You'll still find productivity tips but my passion has changed in the last year.  A little less focus on tools and tricks and more of a sense of the meaning and value of work.  As the Benedictines practice the ancient formula of "ora et labora" or prayer and work, so The Daily Saint blog will focus more on the intersection of faith and work.

The blog will now focus more on the spiritual side of work.  As I'm a Christian and Roman Catholic, I'll be hilighting the best of my own tradition while bringing out the best of the business world as it relates to faith and work.

So get ready and enjoy the ride.  New things ahead.

*photo by Kool Skatkat

How Twitter Can Make Life More Contemplative

My experiment with Twitter began about a month ago.  I've been surprised at some of the positive results. Apparently I'm not the only one.

Lately though, and maybe it's because Holy Week is about to begin, I've been enjoying some of the contemplative benefits of Twitter.  And here they are:

  • A Twittered life appreciates the simple things. Some things that folks Twitter about are seemingly odd.  When someone's sick or when a woman is giving birth- neither are activities that I want the inside scoop on but thankfully, there are probably a few thousand others who do find that intriguing.  What Twitter does provide is a chance to track simple things that crop up in all of our lives. Twitter makes them seem mysteriously interesting.

  • A Twittered life shares ordinary moments with those who care about you. I enjoy learning about folks that I follow on Twitter.  One is a triathalete. One blogs for a living.  One is a professional juggler.  Somehow, the more we all Twitter, the more we care.

  • A Twittered life finds meaning through work. One guy just bought a new labeler.  Another is processing his in-box and a college friend is following her passion through non-profit work.  It's all work and it's pretty darn interesting.

  • A Twittered life appreciates nature. I've never been to California but I follow those who post about it.  Likewise, Wisconsin isn't at the top of my list but I find it more intriguing as a result of Twitter.


How's Twitter impacting your contemplative life?

*Photo by Maynard

4 Surprising Ways to Use Twitter

I initially began using Twitter after reading Leo Babauta's Twitter Experiment post a while back.  I told myself, with absolute resolve that I would only try it out for a week or two.  Now, after a hundred updates on Twitter, I've become a fan.

But not a fanatic.

Who are the Twitter fanatics?  They are those who use Twitter like it's candy, posting 10-20 updates a day.  If you subscribe to them (ahem, Robert Scoble or Guy Kawasaki), you'll quickly get tired of the flood of posts.  It's just too much.

I also find that folks who post 5-10 in a row get tuned out as people don't like to plow through their posts in order to get to the people who are more selective in their posts.  Too many Twitter posts is like stuffing your garage with items, only to have to walk over the junk in order to get to that bike that's on the other side.

The good news about Twitter is a little feature called "Do Not Follow".  Use it whenever you are getting fed up with someone's tweets.  Give yourself permission to not follow someone famous- it's really ok.  Heck, they don't know you anyway so go ahead and experience the simplification of a streamlined Twitter deck.

To my surprise, Twitter has had some really surprising uses.

SURPRISE #1: Use Twitter to cross promote your workshops and events. Jason Womack does this all the time.  He's about to go on stage for a gig and tweets a few minutes before hand.  You just can't help but be interested in what his work is accomplishing.  Even if you're not a big public speaker, Twitter can help to expand your circle of influence by sharing your schedule with folks who are either in the geographical area or simply following you on Twitter.

SURPRISE #2: Use Twitter to cross promote your blog posts. Lisa Hendey does a super job at this as she's writing all the time for everything from her own blog to bigger sites like Catholic Exchange.  Just put up a little shout-out to your article and folks will be more interested.   Very simple.

SURPRISE #3: Use Twitter to read interesting links as posted by others. Since I've become an iPhone user, I've discovered all sorts of ways to share an article with the click of a button.  Using Tiny URL is also an easy way to point people towards your link but with a shorter URL.

SURPRISE #4: Use Twitter to share music. Gene Monterastelli does this really well, posting songs via Blip. You find out what kind of tunes those you follow are into.  This of course works in the reverse way as others get to know your style of jive.

For those who are just starting out with Twitter, follow Leo's advice and try it with moderation.  See what works and have fun!

Confessions of a Lazy Blogger

When I first started blogging a few years ago, I went through a series of stages that most authors can appreciate.

  • Wow, I'm online!

  • Ok, now what do I say regularly?

  • This is really easy!

  • People are actually reading me?

  • Better check my stats...

  • Better recheck my stats...


And so it goes.  In those early days (here's TDS in retro format) (and in version 2.0) life was simple and something like blog stats meant a lot to me.  I joined a few networks and saw the others as competition.  When top 50 productivity lists came out, I felt honored to be among the ranks of 43 Folders and Zen Habits.  After all, those are the big dogs, I thought. I Stumbled.  I Dugg.  I plugged away at Delicious.  I posted for LifeHack and others.

LAZY


But, as with many things in life, I just got lazy and didn't really care about so many of those things.  Checking my stats became an afterthought.  RSS subscribers- if folks showed up, cool.  If not, my quality of life was really not affected all that much.

I even tried an experiment when I went on vacation.  I watched my traffic while not posting for a week.  Guess what? They were nearly identical to when I was posting like a maniac.  I realized that my small fish of a  blog was in a very big pond.  A humble truth was once again realized.

TODAY


So what's my outlook today?  I blog because I can.  I have something very unique to discuss with readers- the spirituality of work.  Very few other folks are talking about it so I know that I'm filling a void.  RSS subscribers are a handy item for job interviews but beyond that, my children's quality of life is not affected one  bit by how many folks are reading TDS in Google Reader.  And that's ok.

In the big pond of blogs, some small boutique shops can survive.  WIth the right attitude, a unique product and a willingness to be at service to the wider community- The Daily Saint and this humble correspondent will be around for a long time.

What Productivity Blogs and Tabloids Have in Common

I must admit, I get bored of productivity blogs.  I mean, come on now, does the world really need one more list of gadgets, yet another "seven reasons why GTD is cool" or better yet, another Covey vs. Allen showdown article?

The answer is simple- yes.  Just like tabloids that magically appear in your grocery checkout aisle, prod blogs fill a particular niche.  They minister to those who

  • experience stress

  • want to work less

  • strive to achieve more

  • desire to link their values with their work


That being said, I think we all fall into that mix.  Here's another observation- readers of Zen Habits, LifeHacker or Productivity in Context stick around for a few weeks to a few months.  They then get fickle and move somewhere else on the internet dial.

New readers are always popping up which is why "another top six reason to..." post is still valuable.