Communication has become increasingly spread out over various sources for me. I’m not great at time management, so responding to it all takes up a lot of my day. I thought I would go over the different methods and how I use them.
Phone Call
I will only answer my phone if I’m expecting a call. If you leave a message, it will take me a while to listen to it and even longer to respond. I will also try to respond with a different method. I generally dislike phone calls.
Text Message
Texts alert me when they come in so I’m most likely to see them immediately. If you’re someone I know well, I will respond quickly and have a conversation of short messages. If you are not someone I know well or you are asking questions that require me to research anything, I will take longer to respond and when I do, it will be one long message. There is a chance I will forget about the text if I take too long to respond.
theboardgameworkshop@gmail.com
I have a lot of email accounts. Most of them go to my phone so I can check often but I don’t get alerts for them. There is a lot of junk mixed in with my email, but I check it often and keep it clear of unread messages. I’m much more likely to give long responses by email if they are required. If there is a lot of link pasting needed, I’ll wait to respond on my computer. I like having a searchable reference of past conversations. My phone doesn’t do well with older messages so that sometime needs to wait until I’m at my computer.
If I have an answer I will respond quickly. If I need to do research I can mark the email as unread so I’m less likely to forget it.
I recently shut off all alerts for twitter and facebook on my phone. I was spending a lot of time every time a single message came in. So now I check less frequently but still multiple times a day.
Twitter DM
Direct messages on Twitter also go to my email, so I’m more likely to see them. Similar to text and email I will give longer replies and take longer to reply if I need to research an answer. I may forget to respond if I take too long. I recently opened up my twitter DMs for my account and the podcast account. This is probably the best way to get a quick answer about something.
Twitter @
I will usually respond about as quickly as Twitter DMs but it’s limited by the character count. The fact that they are public may limit or expand conversations in unique ways.
Facebook Tag
My facebook notifications are full of lots of things I don’t care about mixed with things I need to respond to. So things can get lost in the mess.
Facebook Messenger
If we are connected on messenger this usually works well. Only slightly worse than text messages. If we aren’t connected, your message can get lost in their weird spam system. I’ve found messages months after they were sent.
Facebook Page Message
facebook.com/bluecubeboardgames
facebook.com/theboardgameworkshop
I have a page for blue cube board games and the board game workshop. The notifications for both pages are unreliable. The message notifications are even worse. As far as I know, nothing has been lost to spam folders, but it is not a quick response time.
Slack
Slack notifies me of any post in the 3 channels I use. Tagging me or a direct message will get to me faster, and I won’t miss it in a long conversation.
Discord
Similar to Slack, except it is blocked at my work. So I check it less often and usually only at night.
Website Comment
This is the most filled with spam. I don’t get them often so I don’t check much. They usually notify me, but most of the time that’s just for a spam message that made it through the filter.
You Tube Comment
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_VZA0WowMYFA-KcIVYiNVg?view_as=subscriber
I rarely check these and I’m not notified of them.
Timing
Depending on the day, sometimes many of these sources are overwhelming and other times I have time to respond and nothing to respond to. So time of day can drastically affect response times.
I honestly enjoy helping people and answering questions so hopefully this gives you an idea of how to get in touch with me.
Thank you! Keep up a good work and greetings from your Finnish fans!
Thanks.