How to be Productive on Social Media

Is it possible to be productive on social media? After all, isn't social media a distraction?

Yes, you CAN?be productive on social media.?I know those words don't sound like they go together: productive and social media. But stay with me. I'm going to share with you several ideas about how you can.

The number one tip I have for you is: be the master instead of letting social media be the master of you.?I get it, FOMO. It's real.

I?also understand how?you feel about the call of social media, calling your name 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (366 during leap years). It's calling you. "Hey, come check me out. This is really important stuff."

You've got to step back?and?stay in control. You have got to be the master of social media instead of letting it be the master of you.

How do you do that?

Before you go on social media,?know your why. Why are you going on whatever social media app you're going to go on? Is it to have fun? Do you want to kill some time? Do you want to look at some cute baby pictures and cute dog pictures??What's your reason?

Or maybe you want to build your business, your brand, or promote your cause. Before you log into any social media site, I want you to understand your reason.

Whom are you following??When you do go on social media, are you consuming negativity? Are you consuming people who are angry and divisive? Think about whom you're following. When I go on social media, 99.9% of the time, I promote my business. I'm promoting my brand. I'm helping people. Very rarely do I consume. Quite frankly, I don't have time to consume. I don't have time to mindlessly and endlessly scroll. I've got a job to do. What about you?

Number two, turn all notifications off.

Do not have notifications on for social media. You do not need to know when someone comments, likes or shares?your posts. When you can go into the app, all your notifications are still?going to be there.

Now I'm not talking about Facebook or Instagram messenger, WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal, Telegram, etc. I'm talking about notifications for activity?on your content. However, I could make the argument of turning all notifications off, even for DMS. But we'll save that for another time.

Do not check your phone first thing in the morning.?You do not need to know what happened on social media or in the world when you first wake up. I know you think you do, but you don't.

When you?check social media first thing in the morning after you wake up, you're entering the world of other people's issues and?their problems. Don't do that.

When you go on social media, you?want to be careful not to waste endless minutes (or hours!). Because you know that when you open up?a social media app, there's a good chance that you're just going to scroll endlessly, and you won't even be conscious of the time.

Enter: the timer.?When you go on social media, set your timer: 30, 45, 60 minutes, and then have fun on social media. When the timer goes off, get off of social media.

Also, consider?taking breaks from social media.?I don't mean five or 30 minutes. I mean half a day, a whole day,?or maybe even?an?entire weekend. I know this is shocking to read. You must take time to walk away from social media.

When you come back,?social media is still going to be there. I promise you it's not going anywhere. The names may change, but social media will always be part of our lives (I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not). It would help if you took care of yourself by taking a break from social media.

One?final suggestion for you:?schedule time to be on social media.?This tip is similar to the timer I just mentioned. I put?time for social media on my calendar. Schedule chunks of time where you get your hit of social media, but then you get off and go do some needle-moving activity.

I’m Mister Productivity , founder of The Productive Life Membership and host of The Mister Productivity Podcast . As a #productivity coach, I work with busy #solopreneurs to support and teach them time-saving strategies. Because we both know you have better things to do than trudge through a never-ending list, sign up for the 21-Day Productivity Challenge.