Are we wasting our time?

There's no such thing as down-time, or spare time. Only time. Time is finite, each day we are allocated exactly the same amount as everyone else, and how we use that time is our personal choice. So time is a precious resource, and what we do with our time determines the outcomes of our lives. Sobering stuff.

I was therefore interested in a recent tweet from my friend and colleague Nick Shackleton-Jones on our use of time. Here's what he said:

There is often an impression, especially from those on the outside looking in, that time spent on social media is time wasted. For many that may well be the case. But there are times when I am on social media, trawling through my timelines, that I feel it is time spent on worthwhile reading, thinking and doing. I have gone on record several times to say that Twitter (and other selected social media channels I use) has probably offered me the best continuing professional development I have ever had. And if CPD wasn't enough, look at what Nick says above. 

We are doing what matters to us, and that is why we spend so much time on social media. We are connecting with our peers, creating and communicating with our professional communities of practice, and we are expressing our learning to an audience of knowledgeable others. Here lies the greatest value of social media. Regardless of the many inherent dangers and pitfalls of social media, it remains a valuable tool to leverage our knowledge and consolidate our understanding of our expertise. Without it, we would all be the poorer. 

Are we wasting our time? by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Posted by Steve Wheeler from Learning with e's