Blogger: Michelle Ule
Sitting in for Rachelle Gardner
How do you deal with social media exhaustion?
What to do?
You have to continue, but there are steps you can take to mitigate some of the overwhelming “shoulds.”
Here are nine suggestions if social media is burning you out.
1. Tweet ahead.
Set up a variety of tweets to automatically tweet without your intervention.
I use Hootsuite, others like Buffer, but it has helped me deal with the incessant need to post on Twitter. Hootsuite has a fee, but it’s a business expense and a mental necessity.
Remember, however, to check Twitter and respond!
2. Blog ahead.
I’ve written elsewhere on how to write blogs and schedule them. I personally rejoice when I have a few posts already written, preferably two weeks ahead, because of the breathing space it gives me.
Writing a blog twice a week is like having an extra child–it always needs your attention.
3. Set up Facebook posts ahead of time on your author page.
I’ve got a book launch next week and am part of the 12 Brides Collection Facebook page. I’ve already scheduled 25 posts to run on the site while I’m traveling.
Again, I pay attention to what is happening, but I don’t have to write the posts while I’m on the road.
For the last two years, I’ve been posting a response to that day’s My Utmost for His Highest on my Michelle Ule, writer Facebook page. Those are written already and, again, with traveling coming up, I’ve scheduled them, too.
You can’t schedule on a personal FB page.
4. Find guest bloggers.
When a computer emergency caused a friend to have limited access, she worried about her blogging.
Several volunteered to take a turn as a guest blogger until her nightmare resolved. She was thankful, we got additional coverage and now she owes me one.
Except, I’m full of grace and not counting.
5. Take a break.
Just announce you’re going offline for a week or two. I’ve never done it, but it works for some.
6. Set limits on the time you spend on screens
In my case, I turn off my computer at dinnertime.
Of course, I check my Ipad sometimes while watching a movie . . .
When, completely burned out after I finished writing a book, my husband took me away for several days to sit by the water and watch it flow. I was not allowed to touch my screens.
That was helpful . . .
7. Make sure you’re doing the soul-soothing activities you need.
What am I doing on social media if I haven’t spent any time talking to God that day?
Have you had a conversation with any flesh and blood people today?
8. Ask for help.
I’ve paid my assistant to put tweets together for me–maybe you could swap tweets with a friend (write some for them, have them write some for you?)
9. Take a Sabbath rest.
Consider not touching social media on Sundays, just to separate that day from all the others.
Knowing one day will be social media-free may very well be all you need.
Have I missed anything?
What do you do when participating in social media feels overwhelming?
Tweetables
9 tips for dealing with social media exhaustion. Click to Tweet
Social Media Exhaustion–handling burnout. Click to Tweet
My Sabbath-keeping is supposed to include no posts from Saturday evening to Sunday evening, a self-imposed requirement I violated just last week. I can’t even follow my own instructions !
I post an on-vacation sign for a few days every year. I frequently urge my friends to schedule in some family/rest time. I know I can pre-schedule posts for my vacation time, but somehow, that seems out of sync with “practice what you preach.”
lol! We all violate our own rules, don’t we?! All you can do is try, right? I like your idea for posting an on-vacation sign on your social media. Good idea.
Good idea. I always cheat, sigh, but I try to limit myself!
Not tired of social media; I’m just plain exhausted. And yet…
I’m told my words inspire;
some say my thoughts bring hope.
I won’t therefore, retire,
although it’s hard to cope.
Every poem is born of pain,
more than I can afford;
tomorrow, the demand again,
and I’ll lay it on the Lord.
I’ve borrowed from His boundless strength
to rise, and keep my joy,
and thus, though I am worn at length
I’m still in His employ.
I see it come, the fall of night,
but I’ll be here; it’s only right.
Aye, your words do inspire, Andrew. I stop here and look for them. And whether I find them here or not, I pray for you and thank God for you, warrior!
Amen!
Mary Kay, your words mean more to me than I can say.
Thank you so very, very much for taking the time to say this.
I spend 15-20 minutes in the morning, again in the afternoon, and last in the evening on social media. The rest of the time I’m too busy with my reality world, including actually working on my stories. When I eventually get published, I don’t see that changing. If my publisher expects more, well, I’ll just have to make sure my agent makes it clear I don’t “do” social media – at least not until I see clear and concise evidence that it significantly increases sales (which I have yet to see any studies on one way or the other).
I admire your restraint and it’s a good one to have.
Great ideas and points, Michelle!! Social media can be such an amazing tool as well as a beast of burden for us. lol
I recently evaluated my social media presence to determine where my time on social media can best be utilized for my platform and enjoyment. And I stopped stressing about it and took a long break from social media which helped too and now I’m back.
I also found a fun way to connect and build my brand by starting a Facebook group (A Split in Time Fiction Group) for those (like me) who enjoy reading split time/dual time novels (which I write too). It’s fun and relaxed! It doesn’t feel like “work” and I’m building genuine relationships with readers (and published split time authors) even though it’s also a great opportunity to build a community that one day will hear about my published books too.
Find your niche in social media by focusing on something you love especially if it’s specific and no one else is really doing it like a community for those who love split time novels or Gothic lit or military themed novels, etc. It’s definitely helped me!
Great ideas, Morgan!
You sound plenty wise to me. Wrangling social media into where it works for you is really the best idea.
Thanks, Michelle!
It’s been trial and error for so many years for me with social media. I’d be doing great and posting consistently and then it was just a burn out and not wanting social media to take over my mind all the time. It’s hard. You feel to do it right it has to be all-consuming, you know.
So I just quit. (I’ll note I became a mom for the first time in this social media silence period.) I rarely posted even on my personal FB account. And I re-evaluated it all when I embraced the reality of social media being an integral part of the publishing industry and my dream to be a published author — so I just had to get creative and see what worked for me without feeling like work. My break was much-needed and now I’m back refreshed and with a plan! (I’ve just got to remind myself of that plan. hehe)
My issue is not so much keeping to a shedule myself, but that I’m an adult caregiver, and for the moment at least, I may be all over the map. Writing does come first (after God & family) and I try to adhere to that. Being a “perfectionist” and going over things a thousand times, doesn’t help though. Oddly, I take orders well–and these are great tips to keep in mind. Thanks, Michelle!
Pat, this is for you, with respect, and with love.
They walk among us, silent saints
whose secret deeds of grace
take all their heart, but no complaints
are written on the face.
They give a mighty stalwart arm
to those too weak to stand,
and shield the injured from the harm
the world can blithely send.
They’re known to God, and in His heart
hold special place and glory,
for though their lives be torn apart
His tears will mark the story.
Dear caregiver, I take a knee
for you leave the hero’s legacy.
Oh. My. Word….or rather yours, Andrew. I DID cry upon reading this and will save it. In fact, with your permission, I’d like to include it in a devotional I’m thinking of putting together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord uphold you with His strong right arm.
Pat, please feel free to use it, in any way you’d like. I’m just so glad you liked it!