Can’t stress enough to “creatives” that work is only as fun as you make it. Do good work and you’ll impress someone. Phoning it in not only makes you miserable, it also means you have nothing to show for your misery.

But enough about work. 

I think I’m holding up my end of the bargain as far as resolutions go. Some have fallen by the wayside, while I’ve completely maxed out things I didn’t even resolve to do. Typical, that.

What makes me happiest? Conquering email. Crowing about Inbox Zero is silly, but I went through and purged over 4,000 conversations down to under 400 in about a day. Sounds like a chore, but I can tell you it was a rewarding experience. Sifting through those messages is the closest most of us come to leafing through a journal. It’s a catalog of experiences, good and bad, jobs gotten and lost, friends who’ve come and gone, and most importantly good insight into how one sees the world. Blew my mind a little bit. Also makes me wonder why I took so many bad pictures of great food along the way!

To celebrate, I bought the Sparrow app with an iTunes card I got for Christmas. Really enjoying it so far. Love the Dropbox integration. Smart move!

Really focused on GTD this year. With family and work, there’s never a moment to sit and think about what I’d like to get done. Priorities count. Started playing with Wunderkit this afternoon and I think it may be the answer to my GTD prayers. It’s the closest I think anyone’s gotten to having a Swiss Army knife for GTD, with notes, to-do and collaboration tools. Really hope it works!

Most difficult? Switching banks. We’re about 33% of the way there, having opened an account and redirecting our direct deposit. However, joining a credit union has some drawbacks, notably on the account management front. While it’s not true of all banks, ours lacks a mobile account management app and the online tools are a little dated. I think we’ll be making use of Mint.com and Manilla.com for account monitoring and billpay. It’s not perfect, but I think we’ll be much happier banking.

2012 has presented some challenges out of the gate, but nothing insurmountable. Here’s to trying to keep it that way! How are you holding up?

I used Instagram for a while, but I realized those pics are trapped in an ecosystem that’s just as complicated as Flickr, but without sets and at much lower resolution.

Privacy is important, too. Flickr offers me options. I don’t need to broadcast everything. If I want to share, I’ll twitpic and be done with it. Filters are nice, but a bit gimmicky and square photos have meant that more than one great image of my son crops his head off when I try to print. Bummer, that.

To top it off, I have a ton of photos hosted on Flickr, going back six years. Do I wish I’d snagged my real name instead of my ’00s alias? Yes, but they’re memories, no matter how silly the permalink.

Am I afraid of what might happen in the near future at Flickr? Of course. The Delicious spinoff went about as badly as possible. But I have to believe that Flickr can be adapted to a more social mobile experience that still delivers what people loved about the service when they first bought a pro account. At least I hope so.

So ‘fess up: who still uses and enjoys Flickr? Let’s connect!

The short answer is: not entirely. What I’ve lost in the early going is some of the engagement I enjoyed. It’s not an entirely passive experience — I still manage to interject from time to time — but it’s not the free-for-all that it was back when I was tweeting about Philly, music, parenting and baseball. I still do those things, but I’ve turned the volume way down. I can see the value in professionalizing Twitter and it’s worth the tradeoff, even if I’ve been inundated with some pretty funny CES tweets this week. (It’s like SXSW Music, but way geekier.)

You know what I don’t miss? The constant whirring of news that’s better suited for a police scanner. Want a snapshot of urban panic? Look at Twitter while a helicopter hovers over your house. It’s valuable information only if it’s correct and that’s an ongoing issue with hyperlocal news in the digital age: the game of telephone just went online.

That said, it’s harder than you think to cut ties to accounts you’ve been following for years, even those that annoy you or that you follow out of some sense of obligation. Twitter doesn’t need to be personal, but it often is. People get upset when they discover you’re not following them back. I’ve never followed everyone back. In fact, my follower to following ratio is nearly 3:1 and always has been. It makes it possible for me to actually pay attention to what’s streaming past in my timeline. If you’re trying to go pro on Twitter, don’t feel guilted into following back. The Twitter cops aren’t going to bust you for personalizing your user experience. You can always change if you like!

Of course I’m cheating by cramming people into lists. I use Baseball Brains and Critical Blasts to stay abreast of what’s happening in my favorite sport and in weirdo music circles without cluttering my timeline. I know it’s a feature few people use, but I’ve learned the value of organizing social media into groups. Much better experience that way.

Facebook? That’s a different story. Last night I transferred my photos from Facebook to Google Photos. I’m trying to disconnect there altogether and start over on Path. Why? It’s just too much noise and it’s all my fault. When I arrived on Facebook, I was a skeptic. Who didn’t leave MySpace wondering if social networking had any value at all. When I started, it was really nice to see familiar faces, even though we hadn’t been in touch in a decade or more. Back then, I was shocked that an algorithm could piece together my past and I loved it. Now I’m not so sure. Some of it has been great; high school wasn’t all bad and reconnecting with my exchange friends has been amazing.

But I overdid it. I glutted myself I didn’t take a moment to think about how much everyone would be sharing. I didn’t curate lists back then because I didn’t think it would get out of hand. Next thing I knew I was scratching my head trying to figure out why adults were asking me to help them on their virtual farms. I wanted to escape, but I couldn’t. Why? I had a baby, and in case you don’t know, once you’re a parent, everyone in your life expects pictures and videos. Facebook offered a place that wasn’t a dedicated blog where I could share those things in real time. It proved a trap and now I’m scrambling to get out. I’ll let you know when I’m free.

I caught this link on The Verge yesterday and took less than two minutes revoking permissions across my preferred social media platforms. Found services that I maybe used once in 2008 still had access to my info! Crazy, right?

Part of not feeling like a data mule is knowing what you’re sharing and with whom. Folks often think that cutting back on joining new services is what matters, but think about all the services you grant access to your Twitter, Facebook and Google accounts. Go look and see for yourself. It’s a little scary.

Now, I love new toys as much as the next guy, but it’s important to be mindful of those permissions. I have no idea how many user agreements I’ve signed online, but I’m sure it’s too many. Stay on top of those items and you’ll do well to lead a cleaner life online in 2012.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to deleting notification emails…

She urged me to think differently about work. In fact, she suggested that I pursue every opportunity to make my job my dream job. I explained that I’d tried and done and executed any number of things to make my job challenging, including running with a head full of steam into the established order, only to bounce back. She wasn’t accepting excuses. I kept moaning about “burn out” and I started to see what she meant. I needed to look at my job with fresh eyes. If I wanted to remain employed — and you can bet I did — then it would behoove me to really focus on making my job as cool as I imagined it could be.

It’s great advice to anyone looking to realize their profound resolutions going into 2012. One of the things I’ve been able to think about this week are my 2012 goals and how I hope to achieve them. Part of that is rethinking the way I approach my job, the way I interact with my colleagues and the way I go about executing my plans. The devil may be in the details, but you need to think big so those details don’t seem menial. If you find yourself “checking the box,” then maybe it’s time to think about hacking your job.

So what do I intend to do differently? These days, it’s not enough to be a troubleshooter. You can be whipsmart, but you need to take those critical thinking skills past the point of no. “No” is easy. My toddler says “No” like he invented the word. At work, “no” is a dead end. My goal for 2012 is to transform “no’s” into the “yeses” that make my job more exciting and engaging, as well as improve the work of those around me.

I plan to educate more in 2012. I don’t know what changed in me between the time I taught an intro course at Hunter College and now, but somewhere along the way I forgot what it meant to teach. You can’t just moan and groan that people simply don’t know things; if they don’t know things you do, then it’s your responsibility to bring them up to speed on topics relevant to the work. If there’s an opportunity to be an authority at work without being obnoxious, it’s incumbent on you to do the heavy lifting. In the short run, it may seem arduous, but you know what, your coworkers will respect you for taking it on and they’ll appreciate the opportunity to understand where you’re coming from. Once you’ve educated, everything starts to fit together better and you’ll stop feeling like you’re at odds with your department, or that you’re a fish out of water. Chances are, your coworkers see you the same way.

If you know me personally you’ll think this word of advice is very funny, but I plan on being more aggressive in 2012. Nothing I’ve written above comes to fruition without pushing for those opportunities. For me, this means thinking about work the way I thought about school: the “creative” or “knowledge worker” needs to incorporate debate and reflection into their daily routine.  For me, I need that engagement to feel whole, to feel like I’m contributing and being heard. But as I said above, unless you’re following through on that agenda, they’re nothing more than empty threats. The only way to actually “hack your job” is to do it.

Lastly, be generous. It cannot be stressed enough. There is no better bulwark against job security paranoia than being generous in every aspect of your work. People want to trust you and to be trusted. If you can assure them that you’re on the same team, you’ll spend much less time and energy (same thing, no?) worrying about who’s saying what about whom and that makes you more effective at your job. Most importantly, it improves your image at work and that’s really important. This is not to say you should be the Pollyanna of your workplace; generosity applies to critical thinking skills as well, something I covered immediately above. But be mindful of others in those criticisms, get past “no,” make your objective clear and educate everyone you work with to that end. You’ll be glad you did.

Short version? Write a plan. Execute against it. This isn’t just about “managing up” and other CYA efforts we all undertake from time to time. Get past “no” and get hacking in 2012.

And let’s be serious: I’m still following links back to blogs from Twitter. Not everything is being encapsulated 140 characters at a time. Aren’t you?

A short story: tweets like this one bear an eerie resemblance to discourse in the music blogosphere circa 2006. I’ll add that everything went pear-shaped in music blogging right around the time folks started to notice that it wasn’t fun anymore and that first was what mattered most. It’s what drove me to find something else to do as some of my favorite critics did the very same. Once everyone’s talking about what’s wrong, it starts to hurt the product. This is why I find folks like Maura and Chris and Daphne to be so inspirational: they’re sticking it out and still doing great work. If tech bloggers start to feel that the thrill is gone, I’d recommend checking out how Maura and Chris and Daphne are reinventing what it means to be a music critic in a Lady Gaga Pantsless in Paris world.

If you’re a tech blogger or aspire to be one someday, reach out to friends and colleagues who’ve written about music or food for pay online in the past decade or so. If nothing else, they can share more than a few stories about how Web 2.0 transformed the way we blog and how that process keeps iterating to new fields every day.

1. Local news. Pretty sure Twitter became what we used to call “hyperlocal.” Whether you’re in Egypt or Fishtown, Twitter is an easy place to find out what’s happening in your neighborhood. Word of caution: local Twitter can be just as unreliable as any other breaking story on Twitter.
2. Second screen experiences. Instead of “event capture,” I do quite a bit of tweeting about what I’m watching on TV. Whether it’s the Phillies or Boardwalk Empire, chances are I’m sharing reactions to what I’m seeing on Twitter. I even maintain a well-manicured baseball list on Twitter and from what I hear nobody uses lists. Don’t know what I’d do without it.
3. I’ll second “listening tool.” I don’t use trending topics often, but I’ve found search to be really helpful to peer into the information kaleidoscope we call Twitter.
4. Social sharing. Whether it’s retweeting funny jokes or interesting links, Twitter is a great way to grab someone’s attention. Don’t know if I’m in the minority here, but Twitter is an invaluable place to spend time while there’s nothing better to do. It’s my dear companion when I’m in transit.
5. Giving credit where it’s due. Part of the fun of Twitter is bringing offline fun to the Web. If I have a good chat with Twitter friend at lunch, I’ll share a bit to further the conversation online. Great way to generate conversation about topics of interest to the the greater community.

And you know what? It’s time to completely rethink some of these uses.

1. Let’s start with local. Part of the problem people have with the Internet is that they feel disconnected. That alienation stems from the belief that the Internet is what’s standing between real personal interaction. I think it’s a false dichotomy myself, but one way to assure that you don’t outsource those kinds of interactions to the web is to disconnect local from your Twitter feed. Sure, some of you may think that’s tantamount to taking the batteries out of your smoke detectors, but I have a hunch that if a local news story is important enough to affect your everyday life, you’ll probably hear about it outside of Twitter. Go ahead and talk to your neighbors more in 2012. You’ll be glad you did!
2. I’m pretty comfortable with the second screen graf, although I get that those tweets can be alienating to folks who aren’t watching with you. If I could tweet about the Phillies exclusively to my baseball list, that would be pretty great. Same goes for anything with a hashtag. Would be a pretty cool way to segment conversations without having to maintain separate accounts. Would love to see that happen in 2012.
3. Listening is bugbear, especially for personal use. Part of what was fun for me as an aspiring music critic last decade was jumping into conversations in comments sections all over the web. It was a great way to let folks know you were there and that you had things to say. I liken it to all the folks who liked the Velvet Underground or Sex Pistols or James Brown and then went on to form their own bands. It’s how I got started. Without being “RT from a celebrity” desperate, I think it’s valuable to do the same with Twitter. Don’t just eavesdrop on the folks you want to hear you, talk to them, however disorienting it may be. You may never get a response, but when you do, that’s a step in the right direction. Act like you belong and you will.
4. Feel the same way about social sharing. If you have an opinion, don’t sit on your hands. Part of the magic of the web was that it democratized publishing in very important ways. Take advantage of it! (I already know what you’re thinking about blogging. I’ll have a post about the state of the blogosphere tomorrow.)

That’s all to say that I’m completely rebooting Twitter starting immediately. If blogging has atrophied and those conversations are moving to Twitter and other microblogging tools, then it’s important to follow the conversation to those platforms. Sure, you can do what I’ve been doing and stay glued to RSS, but you’re getting the executive summary. If you want to watch writers work through thorny issues, whether it’s about technology or baseball, follow on Twitter. There you can see the germ of an idea start to bloom. It’s actually pretty cool and it’s a good opportunity to have input on a once very personal process. I plan to follow it more closely in 2012 myself, which means a year-end Twitter cull is in order.

Who will I be following in 2012? More tech writers and thinkers, more builders and doers, more Comcasters and more folks who make — and keep — the Internet fun.

Something I’ve come to love about the most excellent writers (call them “curators” if you must) is how they editorialize links. I think I’ve been slow to accept this because with music writing, it could be monetized in clear ways by publishing through a third party. When you read great stuff at blogs like daring fireball, you marvel at how far a link and an ounce of editorial can take you. Same is true for Twitter follows like David Carr, who just re-shared his insightful interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air specifically about this topic. Serendipity! It’s what makes the Internet fun and I think that I forgot that somewhere along the way while hoarding links and articles and ideas in Google Reader and Reeder and Twitter and Tumblr and Instapaper and all the other ways we use the web today.

So 2012 at Ramsayings will be about sharing those insights. Brace yourself.

These guys are seriously the greatest, most generous act in indie rock and I can’t help but think people still take them for granted, because, well, they do.

(I’d be remiss if I didn’t link over to Jesse Jarnow’s online home, Frank & Earthy, for full setlists from these shows.)

Have to say that having a two and a half year old really reminds you of the true meaning of Christmas, which in my household means going totally bonkers over all the stuff you’re so fortunate to receive as gifts.

Had a lovely time with family: great food and drink and company are what make the holidays so special. Already plotting for next Christmas!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday, too. All the best in 2012.