Does your time seem to find a black hole during the day?
The black hole that seems to eat up many a work-from-home mom’s schedule is social media. I am ashamed to think how often I pick up my phone to check Facebook in the name of “work”. Maybe you have this problem too.
My blog follows me everywhere.
As a long time blogger I find myself asking these questions all too often when I am supposed to be offline:
- “What will I post next?”
- “Which kid is doing something Instagram worthy?”
- “I wonder if anyone has watched my last LIVE?”
- “I forgot to check in on (group name) today.”
It feels like an illness. I start a craft with my kids and suddenly feel the need to record or photograph the event, not just for a personal keepsake, but because it would be “perfect for the blog.”
When you write all that out in black and white it sounds quite absurd.
My problem is obviously lack of balance and self-discipline. Where many might announce a “Facebook fast”, when your job is blogging, social media is a large part of your marketing platform. It is imperative that we figure out how to peacefully coexist with it. We don’t have a choice. For better or worse we are stuck with it.
So what is a blogger to do?
I have a few ideas to help you protect yourself from the black hole of social media.
- Guard your time. Set your work hours and stick to them. There isn’t anything more important that your family and blogging can easily steal that time away if you let it.
- Desperate times may call for desperate measures. There are phone and desktop efficiency apps like Freedom that help you monitor and block distractions like social media so that you can get more work done in less time.
- Use a social media scheduler. There are so many to choose from and they are so easy to use. These are a life saver.
- Hire a virtual assistant. If you can’t even handle the time suck of batch filling social media scheduling queues, hire a virtual assistant to do it for you. A VA can also handle answering your comments on social media platforms as well.
Let’s get to the heart of the issue.
Often when I read blog posts about the evils of social media, I feel like they are a bit overkill. Social media is not the culprit. The various platforms are not to blame. It is what we do with those platforms that is the real issue.
It boils down to a lack of discipline. If we are not intentional in attacking our issues head on, then we will never see progress and growth. Your business actually depends on your ability to take control of the hours you are given and make them count. You can maximize your earning potential just by efficiently using your time.
If you could cut the amount of time you spend on social media down, imagine what you could accomplish in a day’s time?
Start thinking and acting like the successful person you want to be. Don’t fall into the black hole of social media, instead create good habits that will lead you to success.
