Time Management and Social Media

Time Management and Social Media

Employees, business owners, homeowners…we can all throw all of our Time Management skills out the window when it comes to social media.  According to the Nielson Report, 121 billion minutes was spent on social media in July 2012.  This is compared to 88 billion minutes in July 2011.  Does Social Media suck out time…absolutely!

GETTING SUCKED IN TO SOCIAL MEDIA

It is, simply put, just too easy to keep scrolling and scrolling down to view what every one of your friends has posted on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and the other over 100 or so web sites that want you to have a presence on their site.

After all, you know the importance of Social Media to your search engines and Google search.  It is part of being in business.  But how do you avoid getting sucked into it all and throwing a monkey wrench into your time management schedule?

BALANCING YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT

We all have tasks that are required of us on a daily basis.  To start your day and be productive, you have to get out of bed, right?  And where you take your day from that point on will determine your level of productivity.

Do you log into your computer first thing every morning…or check your phone to see what email arrived while you slept?   Are you standing in your kitchen having a cup of coffee, saying goodbye to the children and kissing your spouse…while the phone is still in your hand?

This immediately puts you into the mindset that you are overworked and underpaid!  Stop the madness and take control of your day.

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ROUTINE CAN DICTATE YOUR DAY

After you have completed your morning routine, it is time to think about Time Management and your Social Media.  It seems that our instinct is to immediately want to know what happened during the night…while we slept.

Whether you are a business owner or homeowner – whether you work in an office or from your home office – it doesn’t matter.  You are in charge of your Time Management.  One of the techniques that I use to keep myself from scrolling and scrolling and commenting over and over on posts is to set a time limit to be on Social Media sites 3 times a day.

My biggest Social Media site is Linkedin. This is because Linkedin is a business to business social media site and actually puts money in the bank for me.  My second biggest Social Media site is Facebook.  On Facebook I will scroll down and see if anyone has said anything interesting and then move on.  The key to staying on task and not getting sucked-in to the Social Media black hole is to set specific guidelines as to how much time you have available to spend posting, searching, liking and connecting with others.

HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD YOU SPEND ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

I suppose that this can be debatable…and I hope that I get feedback on my thoughts.  I find that checking Social Media, for a limited amount of time in the morning, noontime and again before I go to bed is sufficient for my needs.

The key is to not put the rest of your family, life and household obligations on hold because of your Social Media addictions.  So many times, I hear people say use Social Media as their excuse for not getting anything else done.  As if someone twists their arm to stay on Facebook…really?

STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND YOUR PHONE

Hold yourself accountable to stay away from Social Media when you know that you should be concentrating your efforts in other areas of your life.  I have actually worked with Entrepreneurs who have this struggle and had them do this exercise.  Turn off all of your whistles, bells and alarms and do NOT login to any Social Media accounts or email for the morning or afternoon.  I’m willing to bet that the world will not end if you don’t check Facebook or email!

Improve your Time Management skills.  Take control of your day and get more done!  Be accountable and in charge of your time.  Let me hear your thoughts and comments!

Linda Clevenger, Professional Organizer

Organization Direct

www.organizationdirect.com