{"id":12971,"date":"2017-02-13T04:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rocksdigital.com\/?p=12971"},"modified":"2025-06-24T10:19:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:19:40","slug":"social-networking-time-suck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocksdigital.com\/social-networking-time-suck\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid the Social Networking Time Suck"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Social<\/a>
Image Credit \u2013 niroworld\/shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Social networking<\/a> has become one of the most important ways to complement business communication, but it\u2019s also one of the biggest sources of distraction and time suck for otherwise productive entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Tips for Managing Your Time on Social Networking<\/h2>\n

Learning to manage your own social networking time will help you leverage all the great benefits while avoiding the unwanted side effects of lost time and productivity.<\/p>\n

Here are just a few tips to get you going \u2026<\/p>\n

Set Clear Social Networking Goals<\/h3>\n

Before committing to participation on another social network, make sure you have a very clear idea of what you want to accomplish. How does your time spent on that network contribute back to your business, marketing, and sales goals?<\/p>\n

Think about it \u2013 if you were going on a trip by car, you\u2019d need to have some idea of a destination, where to start, and what roads you\u2019re going to take to get there. This kind of planning is even more important on social media because it\u2019s just too easy to get distracted.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to know what you want to get out of your networking efforts.\u00a0Whether it\u2019s the ever-changing political climate that gets you all fired up or a funny meme of a cat saying something hilarious, we\u2019ve all been distracted online.<\/p>\n

Take time to identify your goals over the long term (expand your reach, get more loyalty from your audience, etc.) and what you intend to do on a short term, daily basis (respond to comments, post a new video).\u00a0Whether you use paper and pen, mind mapping software, or voice memos to yourself to plan this out, record your ideas somewhere so you have a rock solid plan for what you hope to do.<\/p>\n

I like using Trello<\/a> to help organize themes and expected outcomes for each network where I spend time.<\/p>\n

\"Trello<\/div>\n

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Limit the Networks You\u2019re Involved In<\/span><\/p>\n

Too many business owners try to be everywhere at once. This is a recipe for burnout and it isn\u2019t likely to grow your business<\/a>\u00a0because you won\u2019t have time to work on your actual business.\u00a0It\u2019s important to select only a handful of key social networks and if you\u2019re just getting started, simply begin with one network and expand from there.<\/p>\n

Of course, finding out what works best for your business will take some experimentation. Just don\u2019t rush to do everything at once because you need to dedicate the appropriate time and effort to seeing what produces the most benefit.\u00a0Your time is money, and it\u2019s important to focus more on those activities that directly generate income wherever you can, which brings me to the next tip.<\/p>\n

Prioritize Other Tasks First Before Social Networking<\/span><\/p>\n

On a daily basis, work on your core business tasks first and then try saving social networking for the latter part of the day. That way, you can ensure everything that needs to get done gets taken care of.\u00a0Carving out time at the end of your day will allow you a chance to do more exploration, and you can use that time to find new people to follow, interesting articles to share and more.<\/p>\n

Speaking of prioritizing, decide how much time you are going to spend and what you\u2019re going to do once you log into your social networking accounts.\u00a0And always remember, when you log in \u2026 serve your fans first \u2013 reply to comments, likes and shares.<\/p>\n

Define Your Notification Strategy<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing more detrimental to productivity than being interrupted all day long with emails telling you about new retweets, likes and comments. You can limit these interruptions in a few ways:<\/p>\n