some folks have expressed curiosity about how i manage to keep up with my users. after i posted my poll on saturday, i figured a little discussion about how i'm doing it these days was in order. it's very different now than when i first started on SC, as i can't really be on SC during the day anymore. all things considered, that's probably for the best: i'm a tireless commenter/replier, and this gives other soulcasters a chance at cracking the featured posts page.

but before i proceed, i want to advise against anyone doing the same. it's a function of the fact that i don't sleep as much as i'd like, in conjunction of being a bit obsessive as well as a few other personal quirks. and with the blogathon going on, it's not easy to do, either.

so having said all that, this is what i usually do:

first: i wake up pretty early, most days. it isn't unusual for me to be awake around 5 or 5:30. i suppose i could write some of the longer, more substantive posts that i once did, or write, but the creative side of my brain isn't working at that hour, so catching up on SC usually works pretty well for me. since the majority of soulcasters are in the US, it's a relatively slow time of day here and hence a good time to catch up, at least for me.

second: i usually try to work my users & my conversations pages at the same time. yesterday morning i tried something new: having multiple my conversations pages open so i could see the oldest stuff, but also something refreshed from just a few minutes ago so i can see if anybody else is online. that's rarely the case, though. it might be smarter to keep multiple my users pages open using opera's tab feature, which also is on firefox and finally, even IE. i'll probably try that tomorrow morning, actually.

third: i read quickly and type very fast--last time i was tested, i type over 85 words per minute. i chalk my typing speed up to having once studied piano--the staff in a temp agency for which i once worked observed that generally, their experience is that former painists type very quickly. my sister types somewhere in the 90-100 WPM range IIRC and other anecdotal evidence has borne that out.

these days i have to leave home around 8:30 at the latest to make it to work at a time i find acceptable so i'm usually off by 8 am EDT. compared to when i used to work in manhattan, when i was leaving home by 6:30/6:45, i've gained a whole bunch of time! so in essence, from around 5ish to 8ish, i've got 3 hours or so of very concentrated time on SC. and working multiple tabs seems, at least for me, to make things run a bit faster.

that's really the only time i'm regularly on SC these days. it was a lot easier when i had a job that allowed me to be on during the day--but then again, it was also a job i didn't much like, as my longtime readers already know.

there was a time that i commented on every single blog by everyone i read. those days are long past, of course--i can no longer afford the time. part of me still wishes i could, but things are what they are.

so instead, i now comment on new (to me) blog entries if i've got something to add. and with some of the wise soulcasters around here, that need's not particularly strong, i'm finding. :>

ed