Time management

Social media moves at an astronomical pace. With the latest trend always on the roll, the strategies, processes, and analytics have to be revisited time and again. So, it feels like a social media manager’s job is never done. It doesn’t matter what time of the day or week you work; there’s always more to do. For the majority of brands, social media remains the first touchpoint with their potential customers. Hence as a social media manager, you don’t just have to be ok with your schedule; you need to thrive on it. You remain the crux of the brand and create strategies that cultivate an engaged audience and drive accurate results for your brand. Your role is cut across several departments, right from marketing to sales. In addition, you have the responsibility and liability of speaking on behalf of your brand. A social media manager is authorized to create genuine and authentic values of a brand, which takes time and effort. There are a bunch of tasks lined up for a social media manager, including analytics and strategies behind them. You work in a field that is constantly evolving and requires detailed research and thought. So as a social media manager, how do you balance your hectic day without disturbing your work-life balance?

Getting organized ahead of time

One time management tip for social media managers is to get organized ahead of time. This will make your life so much easier! Plan out your schedule ahead of time so that you know what is going on in the day and how much time you will need to complete each task. When you don’t plan out your schedule, time management gets much harder. It is also important to stay organized and keep your desk/workspace clean so that you are more efficient with time because it takes less time to find the things you need. Being organized will make a huge difference in time management for social media managers! Extra Tip: You can use an app such as Trello or Asana to help organize tasks ahead of time. These apps allow you to plan out your week and each day of the week if needed, which saves a lot of time compared to organizing tasks on paper! If you don’t want to use these types of apps then there are plenty of others too like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar!

Get more done with dedicated work blocks

Another time management tip is to get more done with dedicated work blocks. It’s important to understand that time doesn’t go on forever and there will come a time when you need to stop working. You can only be productive up until the point where your brain needs a break, which should happen at least once every two hours! For example, if you normally spend 45 minutes per hour of focused time then it would make sense to take 15-minute breaks in between each block. This way you are still able to focus effectively without getting burnt out too quickly! Extra Tip: Try using a Pomodoro timer to help manage these blocks without forgetting!

Learn to properly rest

It’s a good idea to take time each day to rest and not work so that your brain can process everything you have learned throughout the day. This means taking time each week where you don’t do any social media related activities, like posting content or managing accounts! Rest time is also important because it helps your brain recharge to be able to focus better. Without time for rest, you will feel burnt out much faster and that can lead to a decrease in productivity! And by ‘taking time off’, we mean really taking time off. For example on Sundays, get away from your workspace, mute social media notifications and just relax, go outside and enjoy some nature!

Automate repetitive wherever possible

A time management tip for social media managers is to automate repetitive tasks and work wherever possible. This way, you’re not doing the same thing over and over again which can get very tedious! For example, there are many apps that allow you to schedule content in advance such as Pallyy or Later. These tools make it easy so that all of your posts go out on time without having to do anything manually every day for all those clients! Extra Tip: If there’s something in particular that needs manual attention then try using a tool like IFTTT (If-This-Then-That) which allows users with an extensive list of connections between various other services and websites across the internet. It’s a great time saver!

Build a small team around yourself

Our last tip for all of you social media managers is to build a small team around yourself. Oftentimes, one person alone can’t handle the workload for every job which means you need help! Even if it’s just taking on an additional task or two that will free up time in your schedule then go ahead and delegate some work! You don’t have to do everything by yourself all of the time. Building a team will allow more time for rest and creativity as well so make sure you take advantage of this resource when possible! On the other hand, if you don’t want to or feel uncomfortable searching, qualifying, and hiring team members then you can always have a white-label agency like us step in! When working with a white-label agency like Mango Social, there’s no micromanaging, hiring/firing, no overhead costs, etc… Instead, you get a project manager and an assigned expert per client. And don’t forget, you only pay PER client, instead of hourly or salary!