Another great chat for the books with 652 Tweets and 82 participants! We learned a few weeks ago that defining the role of a community manager is difficult because the objectives of the position vary from company to company.   We had no idea how many answers we’d get when we ask how people defined their day!

We had a special guest, Royale Scuderi, join us to help out with some quick productivity tips.  Follow her for some some suggestions and ideas if you need help organizing your life.

Make sure to follow the new @CmgrChat Twitter Account as well!

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Q1: What does your average day look like?  Do you have a routine?

rhappe: I have a weekly routine – there are things I do on particular days… but not a fixed daily routine

rhappe: Weekly we do member newsletter, weekly programming, member outreach monthly-measurement & public newsletter

jkhalif: Starts with my early morning workout…work and then my side projects..No typical routine

mor_trisha: My average day routine: Scan discussions, look for issue reports first, go from there

Austin_Curtis: I try to plan out almost every hour of my day to be as productive as possible.  Love making lists and checking things off

heidianspaugh: I’m still figuring that out in a new role. Scan email for issues and mtgs, read SM RSS feeds, create or plan day’s content…

swonderlin: My routine is a tight one since I deal with multiple accounts – have to dedicate time to each one in order to get everything done.

JPedde: 1 Thing I do is make sure to create a weekly to do list at 4pm on Friday

KellyLux: I think the thing that makes this job exciting is there is no ‘routine’ day …But that is also the thing that can make it very stressful

LynnKoves: I also make lists and constantly prioritize based on urgency.

pushingvision:I use a prjt list w/ deadlines, followup dates, status, etc. I sort by priorities/dates to avoid missing smthg.

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Q2: What are ways to better organize your day/week/month?

Austin_Curtis: For each day you can make a little timeline and put activities in each slot.  Spend time thinking ab wut u want to accomplsh

KellyLux: One thing I do that helps is I have a big whiteboard calendar color-coded w/ all my events/chats/etc, so I can c what is coming up

Draddog: Having a task list, broken down by priority and current status is the best way I’ve found to organize

jvkautz: Clean desk policy, and a no-unread email policy. Put events on elec. calendar with notifications for imp. events.

RoyaleScuderi: I actually schedule blocks of work by project on calendar.

RoyaleScuderi: Outlook is my command central – categories, folders, color-coded calendars…

Austin_Curtis: Ask yourself where do you want to be in a month from now? Then break it down week by week

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Q3. How do you explain what you do to others?

swonderlin: When people ask me what I do, the best way to explain is that I’m an “online reputation manager”

shawn_grainger: You really can’t explain it.. Ppl see it as your playing Farmville, you need to show and show results

jvkautz: I tell others I get paid to be on FB. After the laughing stops, I break it down in more serious detail. Tough though.

joshshear: If you say “online marketing,” most people will get it, even if you’re not in charge of ad buys and such.

heidianspaugh: I kinda love this question. I used to describe CM as a cross between marketing/advertising, customer service, and product dev

mor_trisha: I am manage 2 website cmtys, responsible for overall health & growth. I train ppl, evangelize, advise on design, strategy, directn

@ahvance: To those who know nothing about #SMM, I tell them I help humanize products/brands.

jvkautz: Before I found this chat, I didn’t even know what my job title should be

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Q 3.5: Tell us what multi-tasking you’re doing right now

40deuce: haha Q3a: I’m chatting with you, monitoring and responding on twitter and doing research for a blog post

ahvance: I am blogging for a client right now!

jvkautz: Q3a: Ha – with this content stream? I’m zoned in on this chat alone. Multitasking is the devil.

heidianspaugh: A3a: Doing #cmgrchat while editing “rules of engagement” doc, reading a whitepaper on “SMM & Women” & answering email!

Trace_Cohen: @KellyLux Writing a press release, updating strategic documents, SM for three dif acc’s, listening to music and finding an apt

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Q4  What takeaways do you have that will help you do something different this week/this month?

40deuce: Q4: so far, none really other than if I want my to-do list programs to actually help me I need to actually populate them

buona_vita: q4: hopefully match up online notes with written ones.

pushingvision: A4: Setting schedule goals. Trying Evernote. Reducing # of “systems” for to-dos

shawn_grainger: Q4. Takeaway –> I am not alone, all of us face the same confusion and pushbacks when explaining what I do all day!! refreshing

jvkautz: Q4: I’m SO making a list.

KellyLux: Keeping my to-do-list in front of me and putting everything that comes in on that list. Gonna be a long one…

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Products for Organization:

swonderlin: I use “Things” for Mac – syncs with my #iPhone #iPad and laptop

40deuce: I’ve been trying out @producteev for a few weeks now. It’s good, but I’m bad at scheduling to actually schedule things

RoyaleScuderi: Just downloaded Reqall, been using Todo for iPhone

maggielmcg: I like Toodledo, also having certain days/times to do recurring tasks like approving members to Linkedin, etc.

rhappe: I use DropBox to share and organize files, etc (and access via iPhone) and that is quite helpful

RoyaleScuderi: Its not the tools you use as much as clarity about what needs to be done and priorities!

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Thanks to all who participated! If you would like to see the entire transcript, please click here.Make sure to come back to #cmgrchat every Wednesday from 2-3pm EST for more chats – Next week’s Chat will be announced on Monday.

If you would like to follow any or all of those who participated today,  please click here.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for future topics, leave comments or get in touch with myself or Kelly!