Social Media and procrastination: it’s about intention then execution for boosting productivity.
I love social media, I love how it constantly shows us how to disrupt, start, finish, execute, drive, think, laugh, cry, connect.
I also see social media being a major time-suck IF it’s not managed. Edward Young (of Charles Dickens fame) said
“Procrastination is the thief of time”
Today, I see social media being the step-sister to procrastination. Social media is the go-to when we are procrastinating about other work, opportunities, events, life…
I caught myself mindlessly scrolling the mouse up and down my facie-feed. I got so angry at myself when I realised what I was doing that I left my office and left my phone behind and did the family grocery shop – my pet hate – just so I would physically and mentally disconnect from blindly using social media as a procrastinator. [The grocery shopping was my punishment.]
I wonder, do you say you’re on social media as a way to avoid saying, “I’m procrastinating!” Does saying you’re on LinkedIn or Twitter or YouTube sound or look better than owning up to procrastinating?
Many clients ask me how I manage social media. I rarely share my strategy for a very deliberate reason. The way I manage social media, being someone who runs and operates their own Productivity Practice, will not compare well with my clients who are leaders, managers or employers inside businesses, both large and small. I encourage them to not compare but consider their actions, intentions and outcomes. I share overall tips that help keep productivity and execution as high priorities.
What I do say is:
If you have a habit of waking up with your mobile device in your hand and Facebook open and scrolling before you’ve had your first cup of coffee then ask yourself if that is working for you or against you. To dive deeper:
Is your family missing face time – REAL LIVE face time – with you because you’re Facebooking?
Do you feel as though you’re not really keeping up with the latest thinking, innovation, creativity that reading books (kindles count) that great thinkers offer?
Are you avoiding opportunities, chores, life connections, deadlines because you’re tweeting?
Do you go through your day checking your feed, stream, notifications because you’ve been struck with a heavy dose of FOMO*?
[Fear Of Missing Out]
Do you finish your day feeling a sense of achievement or do you feel as though you didn’t get done nearly as much as you know you could have?
When you sit with these questions and reflect, your truth [if you listen to it] will tell you if social media is running you or if you’re running it. Better still, are you executing an effective social media strategy?
If you need a comprehensive social media strategy, I’m not your expert. Who I am is the one who’ll say that once you have your social media strategy be sure to execute it. Keep yourself accountable to implementation and not over indulging or slipping (back) into using social media as a pseudo-excuse for procrastination. There’s nothing worse then investing in a plan and not implementing it.
Whether you want to implement a social media plan or just take back control of your valuable time and not let social media be the procrastination go-to, try this as a starting point:
TIME:
Start with limiting your social media time, use a timer.
INTENTION:
Set an intention for your social media session. For example, one 15 min block of time is pure fun on personal Facebook, or one 30 min time block is searching, reading and curating relevant posts on LinkedIn.
REPLACE:
Find other, more fulfilling, activities to replace the time you would have spent on social media e.g. write a letter to someone thanking them for something, call a relative, tidy a room/desk, declutter your email, read a book.
If you would like your team to be more effective at work and increase productivity; understand what their procrastination triggers are; and take back control of their social media habits, email and workload, then let’s chat about the one-day P.U.M.P.™- Pump Up My Productivity MasterClass for your team.
I’d love to know your thoughts…💡
