Take Back Control of Your Time on Social Media
April 2, 2013
How do you turn 10 minutes into two hours? Go on Facebook. What may sound like a silly joke is actually a scary reality for many people who have fallen victim to the social media time suck. Facebook, in particular, has been known to turn even the most disciplined person into a Facebook-aholic.
Not you, huh? Let’s see about that. Do any of these comments sound familiar?
“I go on to take a quick look at my newsfeed and the next thing I know I am liking everybody’s posts, watching videos of cats, and I’ve been on for an hour.”
Or…
“Whenever I post a new status, I spend the next couple of hours constantly checking in to see how many likes and comments I got.”
How about…
“I have more than 3,000 online friends but I spend my Friday nights at home commenting on the movie I just watched…alone.”
If you can relate even a little, then you need to take back control of your time on social media. Don’t worry; a full-blown intervention isn’t necessary. Just follow a few simple steps and you’ll have your life back in no time.
- Set aside a specific time of day that you will spend on your social media instead of going on every time you have a free minute or in between other tasks.
- Once you’ve decided when you will schedule social media into your day, determine the amount of time you want to spend on it and stick to it. If you don’t trust yourself, set a timer and when it goes off, you log off!
- Set goals for what you want to accomplish. Are you looking at competitors’ pages? Expanding your network? Writing a blog post? Knowing exactly what you want to achieve will help you make the most of your time online.
- Make a list of the things you could be doing or stopped doing because you are spending too much online. Have you neglected your exercise routine? Do you grab fast food instead of cooking a meal? Are you staying up at all hours of the night instead of getting the proper amount of sleep? Put the list on your computer as a constant reminder.
- Remember that you are in control. Don’t let distractions get you off course.
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Author
- Kelly Jones
Social Media Manager
