By Princess Jones
Life moves at the speed of light these days. While that’s great for some things, it often not so great for productivity. Many business owners cite social media as a big deterrent to their productivity. But at the same time, it’s a necessary evil. So how do you conquer social media while boosting productivity? Read on to find out.
Get It Out of Your Pocket
Mobile apps catapulted social media into a new era. Suddenly, we didn’t need to be at our computers to scroll, like, and post. You could be multitasking in line at Starbucks, on a train, or from bed. In theory, this should make you more productive than ever.
But in practice, those beeping, vibrating interruptions can wreak havoc on your productivity. Often, getting things done requires uninterrupted blocks of time to concentrate. When your phone is constantly going off with notifications, that can be hard to get done. Instead of you deciding when you’re going to multitask, the phone tells you when to pick it up.
Not only that, you can also get stuck in this habit of scrolling your social media feeds every time you feel bored or you want to procrastinate. The next thing you know, the day is gone and all you got done was a lot of scrolling.
Put a Timer on It
Once you’ve gotten rid of your mobile social media apps, you’re going to be doing more intentional use of social media. If you need to respond to messages, post something new, or like something, you’ll have to sit down to a computer to do it.
But social media can still be a time suck. It’s easy to fall into a black hole of clicking and scrolling. You say you’re only going to watch one dancing cat video. Cut to six hours later — you’ve watched hours and hours of animal videos and haven’t done one thing on your to-do list.
The solution here is to put a timer on your social media browsing. Set a time limit for it and get off when it rings. Only you can determine how much time you should be spending each day, but a lot of people find that no more than a half an hour is a good place to start. You can adjust as needed.
And if your will power is on the low side, consider getting some help setting time limits on your social media. Chrome extensions like Social Media Timer and Stay Focused will let you set a limit or block a whole site out if you need to.
Hire Someone to Manage It
If social media is not only taking up too much time, but it’s also taking up too much of your emotional work, it may be time to farm it out to someone else. You’ll free yourself up for more productive pursuits while putting your social media accounts in the hands of someone who has the time, experience, and temperament for it.
When you’re looking to hire a social media manager, look for someone with experience creating “sticky” content. You want stuff that your followers and fans will share and interact with. Try to find one who has experience with brands with similar vibes as yours does, even if it’s not necessarily industry specific. It’s more important that they get your brand voice right and that you can trust them to craft the right message for you.
Photo credit: Social media news feed from Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
