In my recent post on the time-sucking dragon known as the social web, Jody Pirello offered some comments on how she keeps up with the latest trends. I think this is a critical career skill these days and I encouraged her to flesh it out into a post. It is our great fortune that she did — a MUST READ!  Here’s Jody:

I evolved into eMarketing differently than many of you probably did.  I started my career as a programmer.   As a developer I had to learn how to stay current, keep abreast of upcoming changes, and learn how to separate the here-to-stay from the gone-tomorrow. Those skills help me today, too.

Here are a few of the ways I do it (or at least, try to do it)

1. Use downtime wisely - I’m amazed at all the little bits of time I have available – waiting for a conference call to start, waiting on late team members, or even standing in line at the post office.  My iPhone gets a workout during these times!
2. Learn, always -  I work professional development into my every day life.  I watch video presentations while eating lunch, listen to podcasts during my  commute, and intentionally blur the line between professional and personal.  I’ll frequently have a conversation over drinks at the bar on a Friday night that translates into something I use Monday on the job.
3. Cultivate a learning ecosystem - No matter how committed I am I just can’t do it all.  I rely on a set of friends and colleagues to broaden my knowledge.  I have a friend who knows all things mobile, a colleague who’s a whiz at CPG , and another friend who has a thing for twitter apps.  And hopefully I contribute to the mix with my web development and project management knowledge.
4. Be selective - I can’t keep up with everything so I choose a set of problems, verticals and technologies to focus on.  This goes hand-in-hand with my learning ecosystem.
5. Work portably - I’d be nowhere without tools and services that allow me to work effectively on my terms.  Two of my favorites are delicious and Google docs.  They’re hardly earth-shattering but they have a big impact on my productivity.  If I come across an article that I’m interested in but don’t have the time to read it right now, I add it to delicious.  Same thing goes if I’m at home and want to use a site while at work.  Google docs is great for enabling me to do my work wherever I may be.  I write most of my blog posts in google docs too, and its one-click sharing allows me to get input and feedback without needing to merge comments.
6. Use my Google Foo - Knowing how to use search engines effectively is a must-have skill.  If you want to extend your Google knowledge or even just do a little brush up, take a look at Google’s search tips.   Don’t discount the less popular engines either – occasionally you can discover real gems by broadening to one of the others.
7. Prioritize blog reading - I have “must read” and “daily read” categories in my RSS reader.  I’ve made it a rule to never do the dreaded “mark all read” to these folders.  I may not read them everyday (yep, sometimes I even get behind on the “daily read” folder) but I do make sure I read them all – usually by the end of the weekend.

I’ve outlined what works well for me – my working and learning styles.  The key has been to find tools and processes that I could adapt into my regular life without effort.  If I had to try too hard to make them work they’d be among the first to go when I was busy or tired or just feeling a bit lazy.

What works well for you?

Jody Pirrello is a web technologist specializing in project management methodologies, business analysis, and web analytics. She’s the VP of Technology at NetPlus Marketing in suburban Philadelphia and one half of the SocialCloudNow http://socialcloudnow.com/team.  Follow her on Twitter @jpirrello.

10 Comments

• 

  By Jody Pirrello, February 16, 2010 @ 5:48 am

  Thanks, Mark. I’ve gotten so much from the {grow} community. It was great to give (even a tiny bit) back.
• 

  By Jim LeBlanc, February 16, 2010 @ 6:59 am

  You will never know how much I needed this advice. Jody, this is really great.
• 

  By Jody Pirrello, February 16, 2010 @ 9:21 am

  @Jim – I love being able to share. I’m so glad it was helpful!
• 

  By Marc Winitz, February 16, 2010 @ 9:39 am

  Fantastic advice Jody, very useful. I do some of this now, but not all. Your top suggestion “use downtime wisely” is by far the most useful. I write my own blog this way which is also a vehicle for staying current and learning new technology. Great stuff here!
• 

  By Jon Buscall, February 16, 2010 @ 10:19 am

  Great post, Jody. I agree about managing all those blogs you have to read. I dump a few out of my reader every Monday to make up for the new ones I keep adding.

  I only have space for so many reads in a week so I limit it to a chosen few. I literally make it a competetive space for my attention.
• 

  By Jody Pirrello, February 16, 2010 @ 11:17 am

  @Marc – I agree about downtime. You can really make a big impact in just a few minutes at a time. I think the trick is having faith that it *will* all add up.

  @Jon – I too pare down my reads over time. I’ll also sometimes skim a large set of posts to see what grabs my attention if I don’t have time to catch up on my reading.

  I also read a few bloggers’ “best of the week” posts that help me catch up on some things I missed.
• 

  By Dean Holmes, February 16, 2010 @ 2:09 pm

  Mark,

  So a few thoughts here for making the “downtime” possible:

  • Evernote.com with iPhone app to save time

  • Read It Later Firefox add-on to capture posts and sites you will want to check out at a later date

  • Firefox Shareaholic add on for sharing things fast

  • Google Search: Jody has it, must know these tricks and Parenthetic Searches I wrote about on my blog late last year

  Good stuff Jody.
• 

  By Johnny, February 16, 2010 @ 2:11 pm

  Thanks for the great tips Jody!

  I definitely agree with being selective and choosing your focus. The volume of new gadgets and information out there is often so overwhelming that it almost inhibits your ability to apply them.

  It’s much easier to concentrate on a few new things at a time and the rest you can learn by “osmosis” with other colleagues and social media friends.
• 

  By Jody Pirrello, February 16, 2010 @ 5:23 pm

  @Dean – very good suggestions! I hadn’t seen Shareaholic before.

  @Johnny – yeah, it’s so liberating not to have the entire universe as your target, right?

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