{"id":5295,"date":"2016-08-29T15:35:31","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T13:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/?p=5295"},"modified":"2023-08-10T12:24:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T10:24:42","slug":"content-social-media-distraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just wanted to share a few thoughts that have been on my mind recently with regards to writing. Actually, it all started as I was reading Cal Newport\u2019s latest book<\/a>, Deep Work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Content<\/p>\n\n

Many of us are well aware of the growing problem of distraction, not only in the workplace, but in a life riddled with push notifications, instant messaging and tiny doses of dopamine in the form of \u201clikes\u201d, \u201cshares\u201d and \u201cretweets\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the book, Newport\u00a0introduces the idea of\u00a0Deep Work as:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively-demanding task\u201d<\/p>\n

– Cal Newport<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While that might seem like common sense at first, Newport\u00a0goes much further\u00a0into this concept and highlights what can be seen as both a problem and an opportunity in industry:<\/p>\n

The ability of humans to do \u2018deep work\u2019 is becoming both more scarce and more valuable as a career skill.<\/b><\/p>\n

In other words, individuals can leverage the ability to intently focus and produce \u2014\u00a0and also make themselves incredibly valuable to businesses by nurturing this ability. In many areas and professions, those few people with a grasp on deep work and an ability to reliably DO deep work on a regular basis will rise to the top of the professional food chain at a rapid rate, given the fundamentally higher quality and faster pace of their work.<\/p>\n

Enter: Content Marketing<\/h2>\n

This got me thinking about how the responsibilities of a Content Manager fit into these definitions of \u201cDeep\u201d work, and its arch-nemesis rival, \u201cShallow\u201d work:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Writing original, useful content is deep work<\/li>\n
  • Forming new ideas for content is deep work<\/li>\n
  • Developing a content strategy is deep work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    And conversely:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Content promotion is shallow work<\/li>\n
    • Partaking in industry discussion on social media is shallow work<\/li>\n
    • Scheduling interviews & guest posts is shallow work<\/li>\n
    • Copy editing is shallow work<\/li>\n
    • Re-purposing content is shallow work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Writing is, by all accounts, a “deep work” operation<\/h2>\n

      I don\u2019t think many people would argue with the suggestion that good, research-based, long-form writing requires deep work in order to be valuable. Generating new ideas, structuring arguments and conveying such arguments through words is a process that\u00a0demands\u00a0minimal distraction and a reasonably high proportion of the human brain\u2019s capacity in order to be successful.<\/p>\n

      Social-media-based work is the opposite<\/b><\/h2>\n

      Social media interaction is used in Newport’s\u00a0book as a prime example of \u2018light work\u2019 \u2014 something that does not require long-term focus and attention. In fact, it\u2019s argued to be one of the main causes of the rapid decline of our ability to focus over the last decade. Every time an interaction takes place, such as replying to an incoming Tweet or sharing a news update, our brains are being trained to take the \u201ceasy path\u201d, focusing on small rewards gained through little effort.<\/p>\n

      Herein lies the\u00a0problem<\/b><\/h2>\n

      The problem here is clear: These are two responsibilities\u00a0undertaken by many Content Managers in businesses\u00a0today. We expect people to juggle between a task that requires the utmost focus and attention over an extended period of time, and something that\u2019s built around tiny, interrupting interactions that cannot easily be scheduled or batched together.<\/p>\n

      In assigning these two responsibilities to your Content Manager, you could be destroying their capability to do deep work \u2014 to research and write the great content that your business needs to grow.<\/b><\/p>\n

      We already have a problem with a flood of unoriginal, regurgitated content which you could argue is a byproduct of applying shallow work to the process of writing. How do we avoid this downward spiral and leverage the benefits of deep work that Cal mentions above?<\/p>\n

      Is this an individual\u2019s problem, or a business problem?<\/b><\/h2>\n

      Clearly, both aspects of a the Content Manager\u2019s role are a requirement in today\u2019s industry. If you spend time writing great, original content but don\u2019t put any effort into promotion, you won\u2019t see results. We need to do both of these things.<\/em><\/p>\n

      So what can we do to mitigate this problem?<\/p>\n

      Content Managers:<\/b><\/h3>\n
        \n
      • Make your manager and team aware of the concept of deep work, and the conditions that in-depth writing requires.<\/li>\n
      • If you really do have to handle social media AND deep writing, think about whether you can batch these tasks into specific days.<\/li>\n
      • Automate as much as possible on the social side to remove distraction.<\/li>\n
      • Set aside time to do deep work. During this time, negotiate that it\u2019s acceptable to be offline from Slack, or unreachable by email \u2014 whatever it takes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Founders & Marketing Managers:<\/b><\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Understand that the responsibilities mentioned above are effectively incompatible with each other.<\/li>\n
        • Consider hiring a social media manager to handle your business\u2019s social presence, including the sharing and promotion of content \u2014 avoid pushing this task around your whole team!<\/li>\n
        • Encourage Content Managers to find their own way to get into the ‘zone’ for doing deep work on content. If that means working remotely, quitting Slack and email for a day or any other more-drastic measures, then at least be open\u00a0to the idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          In summary:<\/strong>\u00a0Business leaders\u00a0should understand that the ability of their\u00a0content team to shut themselves away and switch off from social media is critical to the operation of writing\u00a0industry-leading, original content. The kind of content that differentiates their\u00a0business from the sea of noise that your team strives to stand out from every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gtm"],"yoast_head":"\nAre you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work? | ChartMogul<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work? | ChartMogul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ChartMogul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chartmogul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-29T13:35:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-10T10:24:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Shelley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Mr_Ed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@chartmogul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Shelley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ed Shelley\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55ca03cbfebabf05e94258e529620fcb\"},\"headline\":\"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-29T13:35:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-10T10:24:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\"},\"wordCount\":917,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"GTM\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\",\"name\":\"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work? | ChartMogul\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-29T13:35:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-10T10:24:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"ChartMogul\",\"description\":\"Get all your SaaS & Subscription Metrics with a Single Click! MRR, churn, LTV and much more.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ChartMogul\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ChartMogul-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ChartMogul-Logo.png\",\"width\":278,\"height\":52,\"caption\":\"ChartMogul\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chartmogul\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/chartmogul\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/chartmogul\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55ca03cbfebabf05e94258e529620fcb\",\"name\":\"Ed Shelley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0266c82a7f8c5d908b6e777ae14b3f52031ea56eb421b3624c74426e07c751c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0266c82a7f8c5d908b6e777ae14b3f52031ea56eb421b3624c74426e07c751c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ed Shelley\"},\"description\":\"Former Director of Content\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/@Mr_Ed\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Mr_Ed\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/author\/ed\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work? | ChartMogul","description":"Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work? | ChartMogul","og_description":"Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team...","og_url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/","og_site_name":"ChartMogul","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chartmogul","article_published_time":"2016-08-29T13:35:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-10T10:24:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Shelley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Mr_Ed","twitter_site":"@chartmogul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Shelley","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/"},"author":{"name":"Ed Shelley","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55ca03cbfebabf05e94258e529620fcb"},"headline":"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work?","datePublished":"2016-08-29T13:35:31+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-10T10:24:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/"},"wordCount":917,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg","articleSection":["GTM"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/","url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/","name":"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work? | ChartMogul","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-29T13:35:31+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-10T10:24:42+00:00","description":"Why you should think carefully about mixing social media and writing responsibilities amongst your Content Marketing team...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/coffee-thoughts-concept-1.jpg","width":1440,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/content-social-media-distraction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are you enabling your Content team to do Deep Work?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/","name":"ChartMogul","description":"Get all your SaaS & Subscription Metrics with a Single Click! MRR, churn, LTV and much more.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"ChartMogul","url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ChartMogul-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ChartMogul-Logo.png","width":278,"height":52,"caption":"ChartMogul"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/chartmogul","https:\/\/x.com\/chartmogul","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/chartmogul\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/55ca03cbfebabf05e94258e529620fcb","name":"Ed Shelley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0266c82a7f8c5d908b6e777ae14b3f52031ea56eb421b3624c74426e07c751c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0266c82a7f8c5d908b6e777ae14b3f52031ea56eb421b3624c74426e07c751c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ed Shelley"},"description":"Former Director of Content","sameAs":["http:\/\/@Mr_Ed","https:\/\/x.com\/Mr_Ed"],"url":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/author\/ed\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5295"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17542,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5295\/revisions\/17542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chartmogul.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}