Two Favorite Tools After a "Break"

When I decide to take a break from Twitter during extended breaks from school, I have two saving graces that help me get back in the swing of things - slowly. I used to just start over from scratch - that's a good method, too! However, when I have a day or two during break where I feel I need a shot of my PLN, these tools help me believe I didn't miss anything. I secretly know I've missed a ton, but the "really good stuff" will come back around eventually! With these two tools at my fingertips, I don't experience FOMO (fear of missing out), and break is as close to a break as I can get. (Now I have to figure out how to eliminate nighttime dreams about school!)

TweetDeck
I've already written about how TweetDeck saves me time and energy - making me more efficient - when I want to use Twitter on my laptop. When I come back from a week off of Twitter, TweetDeck saves me once again. (If you haven't read this post, please do so now, or the next two paragraphs will have you wondering what I'm talking about!)

Before break: I make sure to shorten my "first" list (those educators I do not want to miss each day). I temporarily move some of these wonderful educators to a "first 1" list or other silly name. This list, too, is locked, so they have no clue they're being put to the side for a week. Really, EVERYONE is put to the side for the week, so it doesn't matter! Note: I often update lists using Twitter.com - I find it easier than using TweetDeck. After break, I can easily add these people back. Too many people in my "first" list after a long break gets me overwhelmed when I come back. I want to avoid that feeling!

To keep from being overwhelmed even more, I often just look at the last five tweets from each of my other columns, and then "clear" them so that I have a blank slate once again.

Feedly
I used to use Feedly to keep up with student blogs. We are not blogging (yet?) this year for various reasons, but I use Feedly to keep up with other educators' blogs - usually on a daily basis. Here is a very detailed post from Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano (@langwitches) about how to keep up with student blogs through Feedly. You don't have to get that organized!

Before break: I just make sure I'm caught up with what was in Feedly before I leave. What's great about Feedly is that all the posts you "miss" will be there when you get back - no matter how long you're gone! Just keep hitting the checkmark at the top of the page until you've seen them all. I love browsing and weeding out the posts I feel I really need to read after break. It goes by quickly on Feedly, as I have them categorized.

See how the organization helps you keep tabs without being overwhelmed:



Here is how Richard Bryne (@rmbyrne) uses Feedly...

I hope these two tools help you eliminate FOMO. How do you keep up after taking a break to be with family? Let me know in the comments below - we can all learn from each other. We truly need to take breaks during our breaks!