Edmund Wilson, recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal for Literature, was one of the most prominent social and literary critics of the 20th century.

He realized, like most uber-productive people, that, while there were many behaviors needed to guarantee high output, there was one single behavior guaranteed to prevent all output:

Trying to please everyone.

He had a low tolerance for distraction and shunned undue public acclaim. To almost all inquiries, he would respond with the following list, putting a check mark next to what had been requested…

Edmund Wilson regrets that it is impossible for him without compensation to:

read manuscripts
contribute to books or periodicals
do editorial work
judge literary contests
deliver lectures
address meetings
make after-dinner speeches
broadcast;

Under any circumstances to:

contribute to or take part in symposiums
take part in chain-poems or other collective compositions
contribute manuscripts for sales
donate copies of his books to libraries
autograph books for strangers
supply personal information about himself
supply photographs of himself
allow his name to be used on letter-heads
receive unknown persons who have no apparent business with him.

But Edmund was no hermit. He was sociable. His writing, honed at Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New Republic, also played a large role in introducing F. Scott Fitzgerald (a friend who referred to Edmund as his “intellectual conscience”), Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner to the mainstream public.

Though he was thought stubborn and prone to odd whims, a perception no doubt encouraged by his auto-response, he had his good friends and got more done in years than most will get done in a lifetime.

Is it time for you to craft your own Wilson letter? How much more could you get done if you eliminated even one type of request?

Question of the day (QOD): What is the best wording you’ve ever received or written in a decline letter?

Total read time: 5 minutes.

I’ve evolved as a user of the micro-blogging tool called Twitter.

That said, technology is a great slave but a terrible master, and Twitter can turn the tables on you with surprising subtlety. This post will explain how I use Twitter and the 5 rules I follow to keep it from using me…

I use it mostly as a digital diary for recording the fleeting moments, fun online findings, and useful tools that are worth sharing but not worth a separate blog post. For those of you who want more from me than 1-2 posts per week, Twitter is where I put most of my discoveries.

It is also amazing for real-time polling of followers on topics ranging from strength training to the best online back-up tools (in descending order of preference: www.getdropbox.com, www.sugarsync.com, www.jungledisk.com, the last of which uses Amazon’s S3).

I avoided following people until one month ago, as I didn’t want another inbox (which direct messages or “DMs” produce), and I didn’t want to inadvertently hurt the feelings of acquaintances I might neglect to follow.

Following no one avoided both problems. I elaborate on this approach in a short video here.

I started following because I was interested in observing effective, interesting updates and also measuring the impact of following on my time use. Secondarily, I noticed some fine print in Twitter’s seldom-read Terms of Service (bolding is mine):

*Spam: You may not use the Twitter service for the purpose of spamming anyone. What constitutes “spamming” will evolve as we respond to new tricks and tactics by spammers. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be spamming are:

* If you have followed a large amount of users in a short amount of time;
* If you have a small number of followers compared to the amount of people you are following;
* If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates;

Though it seems these rules aren’t yet strictly enforced (some business and RSS accounts are almost exclusively links), I didn’t want to risk being banned, as I find Twitter both fun and useful. [Update: as several readers pointed out, I read this and got things backwards. Following no one is fine; following more people than follow you can get you banned.]

The 5 Rules of Keeping Twitter Use Under Control

1. Don’t post and read at the same time.

Here’s the problem with following others, as fun as it can be.

You decide to make a quick post on Twitter.com, but then you notice the stream of updates from the people you follow. Then you click “older” a few times and peruse a few quick links like “World’s fattest cat (pic)”. Before you know it, 30 minutes have passed and you have forgotten what you were going to post, as well as your to-do list. Repeat this whenever your mind wanders throughout the day = nothing done.

Having your friends’ updates as the default dashboard helps Twitter’s pageview count but can kill productivity.

I suggest writing updates (“tweets”) separately from reading friends’ updates, so that you can better prevent entering the hyperlink blackhole. I read friends’ updates after 5pm and use Ping.fm, which automatically shortens URLs, during business hours to update both Twitter and Facebook status at the same time. I found TweetDeck and other applications, while full of cool features, too seductive and easy to overuse.

2. Set alerts or blocks on Twitter usage.

My time on Twitter immediately more than doubled once I followed others, despite the misperception that I was still spending roughly the same amount of time on the site. I used RescueTime (Disclosure: I am now an investor in RT, but I recommended them for months before we were introduced) to track usage and then set alerts, which is how I measured the increase and reigned in overuse. Use a program like RescueTime or MeeTimer to alert you when you exceed a pre-determined time on Twitter, or when you’re about to load the Twitter page.

For those who want to stronger methods for preventing time wastage, download Firefox and use LeechBlock to block certain sites entirely for set periods. From their site:

“You can specify up to six sets of sites to block, with different times and days for each set. You can block sites within fixed time periods (e.g., between 9am and 5pm), after a time limit (e.g., 10 minutes in every hour), or with a combination of time periods and time limit (e.g., 10 minutes in every hour between 9am and 5pm). You can also set a password for access to the extension options, just to slow you down in moments of weakness!”

3. Follow those who won’t create another inbox, or follow everyone and go Gary V.

I follow mostly close friends and celebrities, both of whom are unlikely to send me many direct messages, as the former knows I prefer phone and the latter doesn’t know I exist. The other approach, which bruises fewer egos, is to follow friends and strangers alike but make it clear that you don’t read any DMs, a la Gary Vaynerchuk. Based on attempts to the do the latter on Facebook and LinkedIn, I’ve concluded that most of the world doesn’t read directions or alerts, so I opted for the friend and celeb option.

4. Don’t post unless you add more value than the attention you consume (both yours and others’):

1. Add value if you consume attention.

I use Twitter as a “micro-blogging” platform, exactly how it’s most often described. Just as I wouldn’t put up a blog post that reads “just ate a burrito. Mmmm… good,” as it consumes readers valuable attention without adding value, I wouldn’t put up such a post on Twitter. On the other hand, “Just had an incredible mahi-mahi burrito at [best unknown taco stand] in San Diego. Must-eat: www.website.com In NYC, try: www.website2.com” adds value with actionable details. Mundane perhaps, but still a cool “to-do” that ethnic food lovers can tuck in the back of their heads.

Some self-indulgent tweets are fine, but make sure 90%+ help or entertain your readers somehow. Information empty calories are parasitic.

2. Use the tool for its best purposes and ignore the rest.

Use a tool for what its best suited to do. Don’t make a Swiss army knife out of every social media tool or you’ll end up with nothing but overwhelm, passive-aggressive “friends,” and a dozen separate inboxes.

I use the blog for testing ideas/campaigns/memes, catalyzing social change, and introducing more developed concepts so I can watch and track their impact and evolution in the blogosphere.

I use Twitter to broadcast time-sensitive suggestions, questions, events, random facts, and happenings, and other ideas that don’t justify an independent blog post. I don’t want another IM program.

3. Linking is fundamental to adding value.

Twitter is perfect for honing your word economy and value-to-attention contribution: offer a brief takeaway and quicks links to more resources for those interested. Minimal attention impact for the uninterested with gateways to more goodies. Here are a few recent examples.

5. Do interact, but don’t try to respond to everyone. Don’t overuse Twitter out of a compulsion to please others.

To quote @karmakorrupt via Twitterholic extraordinaire @sacca: “Seeking approval from others is a full time job with no vacations or benefits.”

Remember: Twitter is something you chose to do. Unless you work at Twitter, chances are that you have another job (or family) that’s more important. Focus on doing big things and enjoying Twitter and similar tools in the downtime.

Related Links:
See Tim’s profile on Twitter
Measuring What Really Works on Twitter
Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners
5 Ways to Use Twitter for your Business or Career (NY Times)

Napoleon, though mostly known as a little man with a funny hat, is regarded as one of history’s great commanders. He was also well-known for his unusual but effective methods of information management.

Here are just two examples from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay entitled “Napoleon, or The Man of the World“…

His instructions to his secretary at the Tuileries are worth remembering. “During the night, enter my chamber as seldom as possible. Do not awake me when you have any good news to communicate; with that there is no hurry. But when you bring bad news, rouse me instantly, for then there is not a moment to be lost.”

It was a whimsical economy of the same kind which dictated his practice, when general in Italy, in regard to his burdensome correspondence. He directed Bourrienne to leave all letters unopened for three weeks, and then observed with satisfaction how large a part of the correspondence had thus disposed of itself and no longer required an answer.

(hat tip to Ryan Holiday for the source)

He was also a source of excellent quotes that can act as decision-making guideposts. To wit:

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”
“Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.”
“He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.”
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”

Read more on Napoleon’s military strategy here, aptly referred to as “Napoleonic strategy”.

###

Odds and Ends: Short Interview from London, Comment from the Philippines

Ryan Carson interviewed me in London yesterday, and we covered a number of topics more and more people have asked about, including: favorite software and tech, more detail on outsourcing e-mail and the inbox (the fundamentals are in “The Holy Grail: How to Outsource the Inbox and Never Check Email Again“), application of 4HWW and lifestyle design during a recession, and much more.

If the video doesn’t display for you below, it can be found here. I hope you enjoy it.

—

I’ll let this comment, from another post on the blog (The Art of Letting Bad Things Happen, which I reference in the video), speak for itself. From a virtual assistant (business process outsourcing) in the Philippines:

I am a writer in the Philippines employed by a BPO company which caters to clients in the US needing virtual assistants, and I speak on the latter’s behalf as I get to observe them everyday.

I am sorry to disappoint AAndrews, but as “laborers” in the Philippines “making the cost of Americans’ dream activities less and so affordable”, a VA’s life is not all that bad so there really is no need to guilt Tim Ferriss and others like him who rely on virtual assistants. The VAs in our company may get just a pittance of what personal assistants get paid in the US, but it is still a win-win situation because the cost of living here is after all not as high as the US’s. This case with the VAs and others like them is not the vile, repulsive thing that child labor is.

Those of us in BPO companies are professionals happy to be able to stay in our country doing work we like. We are aware of the gulf between our pay and yours, but you see, with our salaries, we get to live like your average young professionals. We make rent, send our kids to school, enjoy time with friends, indulge in hobbies, dress decently.

Here as in anywhere else, your lifestyle is a choice you make.

I like data and enhancing performance through following the numbers.

I use half a dozen tools to track metrics on this blog, and I have similarly used tr.im to track click-through on Twitter links, demographic and geographic splits, etc.. I find retweets interesting, but only to the extent that they attract meaningful attention (not just impressions), which can be approximated with clicks on embedded links. In the last two weeks, I’ve found bit.ly to be more reliable and robust than tr.im.

Below I’ve included my top-30 most-clicked Tweets from 12/21/08 to 2/13/09…

I’ll present a number of findings first that I’ve observed across all the data gathered thus far (about 8 months across several tools), recognizing that the sample size for this approximate two-month period isn’t sufficient in and of itself.

First, what are the best times to Tweet for maximum impact?

12 midnight – 4am PST: 6, all between 12 midnight and 2am = 3 per hour
4am – 8am PST: none (at least partially due to the fact that I’m sleeping)
8am – 12 noon PST: 8, all 10am – 12 noon = 4 per hour
12 noon – 4pm PST: 11, 9 between 1:30 – 3pm = 6 per hour
4pm – 8pm PST: 9, evenly spread = 2.25 per hour
8pm – 12 midnight PST: 3 = 0.75 per hour

Conclusion: Based on this limited data set, if you were to post in one 1.5 hour window during the day, the most effective time frame would be 1:30-3pm PST (4:30-6pm ET), which averaged 6 top-30 hits per hour. It’s possible the 4-8am PST period could beat this, but — alas — sleep is more important to me than Twitter.

Second, do the most-clicked headlines/Tweets have common characteristics?

For headlines, here are a few observations:

Top 10 Tweets – 4 questions (4 opening questions)
Top 11-20 Tweets – 2 questions (1 opening question)
Top 21- 30 Tweets – 3 questions (1 opening question)
Conclusion: 70% of the most-clicked Tweets are statements, but 4 of the 4 questions in the top 10 were opening questions. If you include a question, using it to begin the Tweet will increase click-through.

The most common words in top-30 most-clicked Tweets: how to…, best, most, worst, great.

The top-30 most-clicked Tweets in descending order of popularity

1—-Total Clicks—-Date—-Time (PST)—-Actual Tweet

2 4724 1/13/09 11:38 AM The best job in the world – seriously – is taking applications now: http://tr.im/62yw Thanks, MJ! (www.minjungkim.com)
3 4180 1/25/09 10:35 PM Want to remember everything you’ll ever learn? Use this algorithm: http://tr.im/bnsa Thanks, Gary Wolf + readers, for reminding me :)
4 3838 1/26/09 4:20 PM The most incredible fat-loss photos you will ever see: http://tr.im/cwlw
5 3640 1/21/09 12:49 AM The “worst Twitter post ever”? http://tr.im/b9a1 I doubt it.
6 3627 1/12/09 12:18 AM Markus Frind works <1 hr per day and makes $10 million per year: http://tr.im/4scm Good illustration of keeping it simple.
7 2602 1/20/09 10:21 AM What happens when one of the world’s best violinists plays in a metro station for change? http://tr.im/ave3 using a $3.5-mill violin
8 2514 1/7/09 12:24 AM Some great thoughts on the topic of boredom: http://tr.im/32me Thanks, @gmc!
9 2230 12/22/08 11:18 AM The most impressive 27-year old you’ve never heard of? Barack Obama’s speechwriter: http://tr.im/2k3k
10 2139 2/4/09 8:56 AM How to fold a t-shirt in 2 seconds (video): http://tr.im/ekl4 First saw this method in Tokyo.
11 2080 12/22/08 5:11 PM Newest Wired mag feature now online ‘Flirting with The 4-Hour Workweek’ – freaking hysterical: http://tr.im/2kjs

12 2016 1/20/09 1:43 PM How to learn any language in 3 months: http://tr.im/ayrt
13 1953 1/2/09 4:50 PM Is the Aeron chair worth it? http://tr.im/2uxd Do you have any fave chairs for extended sitting and writing?
14 1864 2/4/09 1:49 PM For those who prefer undressing to folding. How to undress in 2 secs (video): http://tr.im/emf7 Thanks, @1rick!
15 1833 12/31/08 12:30 AM The best infomercial ever: http://tr.im/2rqy This guy is great – “you’re gonna love my nuts” Check out the fine print S&H.
16 1728 1/26/09 10:42 AM Today on Techcrunch – Kevin Rose: 10 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Followers – http://tr.im/cuaj
17 1695 2/5/09 5:15 PM How to open a bottle of wine w/ a phone book: http://tr.im/eul2 Tree or car tire also work quite well.
18 1667 2/2/09 11:28 PM How to do push-ups without your feet touching (video): http://tr.im/eawc
19 1576 1/31/09 5:50 PM My favorite article about redesigning (and explaining) the Internet: http://tr.im/dwze
20 1574 12/30/08 3:29 PM Thinking of setting up online companies in Vermont. Anyone tried this? http://tr.im/2rd0
21 1541 1/19/09 11:26 AM Great chart – The Air Force’s Rules of Engagement for Blogging: http://tr.im/a98z Thx @gmc!

22 1534 1/27/09 5:30 PM The basic movements of Parkour: http://tr.im/d687 Wear ankle support.
23 1413 2/2/09 12:38 AM How to build an upside-down fire. Fun stuff: http://tr.im/e47t
24 1394 1/28/09 12:39 PM RT @devincheevers Great write up on Verdasco v. Tsonga. No time? Just read paragraph 3: http://tr.im/dct7 My fave paragraph in a long time.
25 1360 1/8/09 2:32 PM When insane pen tricks go wrong: http://tr.im/39qq From @jpdefillippo You’ll shoot your eye out!
26 1349 12/29/08 11:52 PM Wow. The real Star Wars hologram projector, from USC: http://tr.im/2qjq Thx, @gmc!
27 1348 12/24/08 2:58 PM Trial by Fire is here! http://tr.im/2mme Takes a min to load, but thx to akman and @rostendorf for pointing it out :) More X-mas coming
28 1339 2/6/09 1:55 PM Looking for successful case studies and new tools/sites/resources for updated and expanded 4-Hour Workweek: http://tr.im/ezw3
29 1290 2/2/09 11:08 AM RT @mashable How much is your Twitter account worth? http://tr.im/e771 Also, added reader fire-building tips: http://tr.im/e47t
30 1260 1/25/09 2:10 PM Giving away brand-new Fujitsu color travel scanner: http://tr.im/cmhc Do sth #nice for others today and link or describe. Have fun with it!
31 1251 1/1/09 1:43 AM Drunk awareness test. How many passes does the team in white make? http://tr.im/2rrv Happy 2009! It’s going to be the best yet :)

Can you find any patterns in the data that I missed, or have you found patterns among your own most popular Tweets?

Related Links:
Follow Tim on Twitter
How to Use Twitter Without Twitter Owning You – 5 Rules
Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners
5 Ways to Use Twitter for your Business or Career (NY Times)

Auto-response from Gary Vaynerchuk:

Subject line: Thanks for the email — click the link

Hey, here’s a link that will explain everything!
http://tv.winelibrary.com/garyvs-inbox [video above]

Before the economic recession hits us like a Pamplona bull, we will have long entered an digital recession characterized by lower per-hour output from digital workers and a higher incidence of problems like “e-mail bankruptcy.”

This Chapter 7 of personal productivity is a failure point where the user — physically incapable of responding to the number of unread inbox items — deletes all messages and sends an e-mail to all contacts asking them to resend anything still relevant.

Last Saturday’s front page article in the New York Times, “Lost in E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast,” [Tech tip: Use BugMeNot to get throw-away usernames and passwords] highlights the measurable extremes of information overload and how the same tools that helped create the problems seldom fix them…

The concept of “batching” e-mail is highlighted in this article, using case studies from Intel.

Tactical approaches to preventing e-mail bankruptcy range from video confessions like the above to preventative measures like a formal “digital rules of engagement” statement.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the author of The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness, has the following contact guidelines at the bottom of his site:

“You are welcome to send me a very brief email at gamma [at] fooledbyrandomness [dotcom]. You would do me a favor if you waited a while as I am not in an online mode and have 500 neglected letters in my inbox (so please just send mail for pressing matters). Concise messages are much preferable (say a maximum < 70 words). (There is a ten page letter I have had in my "to read" box since 2002). Note that I almost always reply (but ONLY to short messages), time permitting (but once) –even to nasty emails. However, note that I will not reply to trading and finance-related questions (my specialty is problems of the applications of probability and epistemic issues, not financial advice). I will not reply to letters asking me to rewrite sections of my books (I write books, not emails). Also note that, thanks to my new keyboard, I sometimes reply in Arabic, particularly to academics (which can be easily solved using Google Translator which captures about 35% of the meaning).

[Please, please, do not send me the list of typos in my drafts. Also please refrain from offering to "improve" my web site. Also, please do not send me passages from Tolstoy or the Ecclesiast on luck and randomness]."

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape and noted thought leader, keeps it sweet and simple on his blog:

You can send me email at pmarcablog (at) gmail (dot) com. Due to volume and other responsibilities I probably won’t respond but I will try to at least read all messages.

Things haven’t changed much in the last hundred years.

Edmund Wilson (1895-1972), famed literary critic and author, sent the following postcard in response to nearly all postal mail:

“Edmund Wilson regrets that it is impossible for him to: Read manuscripts, write articles or books to order, write forewords or introductions, make statements for publicity purposes, do any kind of editorial work, judge literary contests, give interviews, take part in writers’ conferences, answer questionnaires, contribute to or take part in symposiums or ‘panels’ of any kind, contribute manuscripts for sales, donate copies of his books to libraries, autograph works for strangers, allow his name to be used on letterheads, supply personal information about himself, or supply opinions on literary or other subjects.”

The only downside? He found people started mailing him just to get a copy of his “auto-response.”

C’est la vie.

###

Odds and Ends: Danish friends, please help! + Signed copies of 4HWW

Fun segment on Danish TV — can any Danish readers help?
If you speak fluent Danish, I’m doing my first translation experiment at DotSub and would love a minute or two of your help! I was on primetime Danish television via DR1 and had a blast. Check it out here. If someone else is transcribing or translating, the page will be locked to avoid overwrites, but please check back. Thank you in advance for even a few words!

Signed books for those interested…
I don’t do book signings or touring, so there are very few copies of the 4HWW with signatures. For those of you who might be interested, the UK publisher let me know that there are a limited number of signed copies available here from my trip to London.