• by David Hua , January 28, 2011

We're all in the health space whether it's health marketing, advertising, social media or content. As time goes by, we all get busy and, even though we talk about it all the time, we forget to take care of our own health. 2011 is here and the demands on every online health marketer continue to increase: for some, at an exponential rate.

After thinking about my own resolutions for the New Year, one became prominent -- to increase my time: to focus, think, work, and manage my health. With the onslaught of news headlines, tweets, status updates, phone calls, visual voicemails, shared links, group invitations, CityVille notifications, and the ever-growing email pile, it's almost impossible to stay on top of everything, have time for yourself and maintain your health.

So health marketers, here are nine tips to help you save time, be more productive and manage your health.

1) To Follow or Not to Follow

We have a fire-hose of information aimed at us everyday and to some extent we determine the contents of that stream. We accumulate subscriptions, followers, friends, newsletters, and deals. Like weight that accumulates around our midsection, it's time to shed the distraction. Dive into your social networks, online subscriptions, and online groups and unfriend, unfollow, ungroup, and unsubscribe from distractions that don't really engage you.

For Avid Twitter Users, Ask Yourself...

Who should I follow? WeFollow is a directory of Twitter users organized by interests.

Who should I remove? A twitter followers management application that shows the user who they are following that is not following them back and vice versa.

2) You are as smart as your network

Invest some time in following/friending the right people and joining groups that matter to you. By doing so, you will be kept up-to-date on news that's relevant to you.

3) Guardians at the Email Gate

Spend the time to create filters and labels for your inbox. You'll find it much easier to file and find these emails later. This concept is so proven that Facebook and Twitter have followed by putting on their own best suit of handcrafted list capabilities. If you are an avid Gmail user, you should try out Priority Inbox.

4) Batching and Bucketing your Consumption

Try to set up specific times when you check your email, tweets, Facebook, and reading through your RSS feed subscriptions. By "batching" you are giving yourself much needed time to focus and you'll benefit from taking in information in efficient parcels, rather than piecemeal.

5) Multiplatform and Cloud Access

My three favorite tools at the moment are: Evernote which can capture anything from your real and digital life to find at anytime via multiple platforms (mobile, pc, web).

Dropbox which can access files on multiple platforms and customize who you share folders with.

TaskPaper which is a simple to do list that can be accessed on the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and also can be sent out as text file.

6) Crowdsource your Questions to the Experts and your Social Network

Question and Answer Sites can prove invaluable. Check out Quora, a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. Formspring is also useful as it lets you share personal and interesting responses with people you know.

7) Close out of Applications, Chat Programs, and your Inbox

Multitasking does not allow for optimum concentration. By closing out of various applications as you are working and reading, you eliminate the possibility of distraction and increase your productivity and chances of getting into a solid workflow.

8) Monitor and Manage your Health through Apps that sync with the Web

Nike Training Club App teaches you how to do exercises with photos and video. It's like having a trainer at your fingertips ... literally.

DailyBurn is a diet and fitness app that syncs with the web and provides customization for various health goals. Whether you want to be lean, lose weight, or gain strength, it can be done with DailyBurn.

9) Monitor your Mood through Apps or SMS

If you don't measure it, how are you going to change it? Our mental health is important and it hasn't been easier to capture how you are feeling throughout the day. You have the ability to track it through apps, the web, SMS, or a combination of the three.

Mood 24/7 was developed by HealthCentral based on technology licensed exclusively from Johns Hopkins University to help you track your daily mood. This mobile tool sends daily SMS messages to your phone which will prompt you to enter a # 1-10 based on how you are feeling.

Follow these tips and you'll stay on top of your personal and business health.