I own a thriving yoga business, so social networking is a must for me each and every day. Like many modern business people, it’s how I advertise and stay connected to my clients. However, I have found it far too easy to lose track of what I need to get done, getting lost in friends’ newsfeeds and pointless articles. A tool that is meant for increasing your revenue and productivity can easily become the opposite if you don’t learn the benefit of a balanced and disciplined relationship with your social network world. I learned the hard way, but you don’t have to. Here are a few tips.
- Facebook Hiatus: If you’re able to give yourself a complete break from Facebook et al for a week or so, it will benefit you greatly. This will give you a clear look at what kind of Internet addiction you are facing; how much time you are wasting continually checking in at pointless posts; how much extra time you have in your day when you aren’t on Facebook. Free of this, you’ll most likely begin to live more in the moment instead of through post updates. I am aware that this is not possible for everyone, so for those not able to take a break, limit your interaction to simply advertising and other business transactions.
- Separate Your Social and Business Worlds: Facebook now gives you the ability to have both a personal page and a fan page. I have a “Tini Yogini” fan page upon which I post my inspirational videos, articles, quotes and classes each day. That way, I can log into my fan page and stay focused on work. I am not flooding my friends and family with my business stuff and I know the people that are signed up for my fan page are there because they want to see my business stuff.
- Set The Timer: You know the timer your mom used to set for the turkey in the oven? Get one of those and use to set it a time limit for your personal Facebook use. Instead of spending 45 minutes stalking the page of last night’s date, you’ll know that you need that time to check out those very interesting friends and posts. Facebook can be such a huge time suck because we go off on tangents that we would never go off on if we knew we only had a few moments to browse.
- Limit Yourself: In this technological age, we now have hundreds of social networks we can be a part of. There’s such a thing as “social networking burn-out.” It occurs when you have spread yourself so thin that what you once enjoyed is now almost a chore and you find yourself avoiding it or not giving it your all. It is important that you spread your energy properly and that you are getting a good return for the energy you put out. Determine which social networking sites work best for you. How can you reach the most people in the shortest amount of time? That way the sites you do post on are getting the best you.
Steve Jobs, one of the most successful business geeks of our time, suggested simplifying your life He said, “Focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” If you want to be productive and successful in the social network world, you must reign in that beast. Bring about a sense of balance and discipline to it and you will reap the benefits and be a successful Business Geek.
Sarah Stevenson, a.k.a., The Tini Yogini, is a Certified Yoga Instructor in Southern California. She has a degree in Behavioral Psychology and teaches not only yoga classes but also life affirming workshops. She also writes for www.beachbody.com, which provides effective home fitness dvds for all fitness levels including advanced elite training such the Asylum Volume 2 workout.
Featured image on home page courtesy of o0bsessed.
