“I haven’t moved from my desk in hours – I have Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest up on my desktop. My phone to the left of me has Instagram pulled up. I just feel so tired” Sound like you? YUP! You’re experiencing social media burnout! Which is a real thing whether you’re doing this professionally or just causally or to manage your personal brand.
My job literally IS social media. So I understand how overwhelming, exhausting, and time consuming it can get. But I also know how rewarding it can be!
A job in social media can look so glamorous! But it’s tough and never ending which is why so many feel burned out, tired, or fatigued. If you’re a small business owner trying to wear the ‘marketing’ hat for your company, you might be feeling this too…
Here is some insight on how to avoid social media burn out:
- Don’t try to be everywhere and everything to everyone! I talked about this in my social media for personal brands post. If you’re doing social media for your personal brand, pick only three platforms and stick to that. If you’re doing social media for a company and have to be active on more than three platforms, plan out your posts and stick to your schedule.
- Plan Ahead! I mentioned planning out your posts in #1 but I’m serious. Strong content is key to a successful social media strategy. Create a content calendar and plan content that fits. Setting time aside to focus on your social media is a great way to do just that, focus on it! Once it’s done for the week, you can walk away from it feeling good.
- Schedule in advance. You can’t keep a global audience engaged all hours of the day (or night). Scheduling posts won’t replace you, it will just make you more efficient. I use Hootsuite and Buffer to schedule posts. This helps your brand be visible on social media no matter what the time zone is.
- Manage your notifications. Facebook tends to drown me in notifications. Be sure to turn off notifications when they aren’t necessary! I switch off notifications whenever I can and check pages I manage at regular intervals about 3 times a day. The continuous notifications can drive you crazy and distract you from other tasks.
- Set expectations – for yourself and clients. We all know social media doesn’t sleep – but you do! Let anyone impacted know when your available to monitor the page and when you’re not.
If you’re still feeling stressed over social media, it might be time to look for some external help or get some additional guidance. How do you avoid burn out in your job?
Read the Comments +