Let's face it: a growing number of people are using Twitter these days (best stats I could find; as of April 2008,Total Users: 1.
0+ million; Total Active Users: 200,000 per week; Total Twitter Messages: 3 million/day).
This is a lot of people spending a lot of time on Twitter who still need to get things done.
Yet many people do not know how to use twitter to it's full extent.
In this article I will summarise some of the key tools that twitter has to offer to integrate it with other tools that you may be using.
If you want to spend a lot of time conversing with people on Twitter, that's great, but many people still need to get their tasks done.
Let's take a look at how to do that.
Why use Twitter to get things done? Twitter isn't necessarily the best platform for getting things done but if you're already using it a lot, it might be easier or faster for you to do things while still in Twitter.
Keep in mind if you're a business owner twitter is a great source of potential business leads, if you know how to tap into it - my next article! 1.
Reminders: Need a quick reminder that you have an appointment, or need to follow up on something later? Follow "timer" on Twitter, and send it a direct message with a reminder time and it will ping you at that time.
For example: "d timer 30 pick up Chloe".
2.
To-do list: A couple of popular to-do services are on Twitter: Remember the Milk (on Twitter) and Nozbe (on Twitter).
Follow them and send them direct messages to add things to your to-do list, or to check the items on your list.
3.
Calendar: If you use Google Calendar (gCal), go to Twittercal, then follow gCal on Twitter and add events by sending direct messages to gCal.
For example: "d gcal meeting with paul tomorrow at 7pm".
4.
Delegate: If you're going through your to-do list or email and find a task that's better suited for someone else, sending that person a direct message (assuming they're on Twitter) can be quicker and easier than sending an email or making a phone call.
5.
Follow up: The same applies to following up.
I've done it a bunch of times; instead of opening up your email program, composing a new message, typing in the person's address and the subject line, and then writing the email ...
you can just direct message them on Twitter: "d zen_habits don't forget to answer my interview questions" 6.
Accountability with goals: Want some extra motivation to achieve your goals? Announce through Twitter or on your blog that you're going to post your progress updates every day on Twitter.
For example, if you're trying to eat healthier, you can post everything you eat on Twitter.
Trying to exercise? Post your workouts on Twitter.
It's great motivation, and you can get some support and encouragement from your Twitter friends.
7.
Get info or ideas quickly: If you have a good Twitter network, you can ask a question and usually get a few responses quicker than many other methods.
I've gotten website and service recommendations, ideas for a post I was writing, restaurant recommendations, people interested in a job, and more.
8.
Do real work: It's possible to do real work on Twitter - people have written stories or posts by writing them in little chunks in Twitter.
It might be worth a try.
But if that doesn't work, my strongest recommendation is to turn Twitter off when you need to do some real work.
Then, when you're done, reward yourself with 10 minutes on Twitter if twittering is your thing! Other useful Twitter services: 1.
Tweetlater: plan your tweets ahead of time and schedule delivery over time 2.
TweetDeck: helps you manage your tweets and to sort through them easily 3.
TweetPic: very useful tool to submit your pictures, no additional account needed other than your twitter account 4.
Tweetbeep: A service to keep track of keywords through alerts that you set up.
You'll get an email notification if anyone mentions you or your brand or your blog posts in their tweets.
5.
StrawPoll: create a poll.
Your Twitter contacts can participate in the poll by simply sending an @reply message.
6.
TwitResponse: allows you to schedule delivery of your tweets - very useful if you want to set up a bunch of tweets in the future.
7.
Zen Habits: Yes, you can get updates on the latest Zen Habits posts, as well as The Power of Less Tips of the Day, and more.
8.
TwiTips: An excellent blog with dozens of tips for using Twitter.
I will follow this article with another that explains in more detail how to promote your business very easily using twitter