I’ve actually started to get back to normal. Over the weekend I checked FaceBook at least 6 times. I responded to Tweets, and caught up with some e mails. I read some blog posts, responded to blog comments and even managed a FaceBook status update lol. But this got me thinking…
These last few weeks I’ve read more than I’ve read in ages, and I’ve been journaling, more than I normally do, and it’s been great. It’s almost been like going back to basics, and although I haven’t written as much as I would have liked to, it’s made me realise that social media takes up far too much of my time. But how do you find a happy medium? Allocate a certain number of hours a day for online stuff? Set a limit to how many times you check FaceBook? Or only allow yourself to read X amount of blogs per day?
I’d be interested in hearing your methods 🙂
This week I have a couple of writing events to attend and I’ll be listening to a friends hypnotherapy for writers MP3….more about that as and when it’s available to download. Now, if only she could give me something to help me keep up with social media 😉
What are your writing plans this week?
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The View Outside 
I try to limit the time I spend online–even though that’s hard to do! No Facebook at all for me, same for Twitter. There are few blogs I always read, (yours 😉 ) but I set them aside to read all at once, and comment if time permits. If I don’t watch the clock, social media has a way of chewing up my writing time really quickly!
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I’m still trying to find my happy medium. Come December I need to get a better schedule going. Hubby and I have been going to the gym and it’s difficult for me to get into the writing mode. May need to only check social media on those night. But I find myself checking it quite often at work, especially if we’re not busy. I’m definitely burned out after this past year. Good luck finding your groove!
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I recently suffered a social media burnout where I didn’t want to do any of it. I have cut my email notifications down to about 20 people whose blogs I read regularly. They don’t all post every day. The rest, I leave in my reader. I clear my email daily. I give myself 30 mins a day to go through my reader and 15 mins twice a day on Facebook. I don’t Twitter. I am in the process of completing my “Settings and Feature Articles” for my book, so I will start a new blogging schedule to only blog twice weekly. I am now finding time to engage new followers, read, and write more. I don’t know how authors who also hold down an 8 hour a day, or more, job do it. Wishing you the best at finding your way through this tangled web.
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I’ve closed my FB account and feel like a free woman. I do miss contact with a couple of friends, especially the updates on their children, but I’m sure it’s the right decision. I’m still on Twitter, which I much preferred anyway, but keeping quiet most of the time. The hits on my blog have reduced considerably as a result but I’m able to concentrate much better on the new WIP. I figure I can always take up the social media again when the novel is finished.
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An author I like, Scott Sigler, has social media set into his daily schedule so of NaNo I’m going to try and do something like that. When I get home from work I’m not going to get onto social media (aside from a quick #AmWriting) until I’ve hit my target for the day. Hopefully that will set me a good log term routine 🙂 x
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Good luck, Peter. I’m hoping to try something similar with social media and NaNo.
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Thank you 🙂 good luck as well, finding that happy medium is going to be vital I believe 🙂
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I get social media burnout quiet a bit and find that closing down my FB account for awhile helps. I don’t want to get rid of FB totally as it’s allowed me contact with people I haven’t spoken to or seen for many years. But I do think I need to cut down social media quiet a bit as it does stop me actually getting on with life. Lol best of luck with finding a happy medium. 🙂 x
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I’m beginning to hate all things social-media-ish! My blog hangs round my neck like a dead dodo as I don’t have enough time to check out other people’s blogs regularly (except the ones I receive by email), don’t post often for the same reason and therefore don’t keep my followers interested! I like to hop on FB for a quick nose or a chat with someone I haven’t seen for ages, but I’m really wondering if it’s all more of a drag than a pleasure. I have been spending time building a network just in case I ever complete a whole book I might want to try to promote, which has basically led to me having much less time to write said book! Now, the laptop goes off once I’ve checked what I need to check and I catch up on reading or do a little writing. I don’t like feeling burned out! I will keep up my blog as I do like blogging, but I can’t let it eat into writing time. Good luck with finding the happy medium – let me know when you do! 🙂
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I have a once weekly visit to Facebook now to check for messages and posts to my page. I blog just once a week which I post to Twitter and Facebook so I deal with my responses to that. Otherwise it’s mail and posting to some blogs I follow and liking the rest. That keeps me pretty well occupied. It’s writing I have a problem with, not being able to find the inclination or the time any more.haha
I’m sure you’ll find a balance that suits you Vikki.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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Great question, Vikki, especially as I’m about to host a WCWA meeting on the use of social media as a marketing tool for writers. I’ll get back to you with our conclusions. I blog twice a week and have started preparing a schedule in advance so I at least know what I’m going to write about, even if I can’t write it in advance. I read an article last week (and I have to confess I can’t remember the author) about automating wherever possible. I’m not a fan of automatic tweets – if I get a message once an hour or once every 30 minutes from someone, I know they’re not sitting online all the time – but I’m starting to look at how I can automate some of the activities. I only use FB and Twitter actively; I’m registered on Google+ and Pinterest, but don’t use them. Writing plans for the rest of this month? More work on the novel and a couple of competitions due before the end of the month. Ex
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Thank you for mentioning the mp3, Vikki. Now for some good news. Hypnotherapy CAN help you with your blog! It can help to prioritise and manage in a focused, effective way. Let me know if you want a session 😉
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Ha! Vikki, I am right with you. It’s become a little bit of a treadmill… okay, A LOT! It’s impossible to keep up and keep sane, keep writing, and maintain a family life. I’ve had to cut back quite a bit and dropped several commitments, as a result of which, I feel I can breathe again. I also strictly time limit my social media activity now. I feel bad because it does mean that I miss on out things sometimes, like celebrating people’s launches or successes, but I do what I can and that’s got to be enough ~ for my sake, my family’s sake and my writing’s sake.
See, I feel bad even typing this as it sounds incredibly selfish but I think everyone here will know exactly what I mean. So my answer is: strict timetabling, and then let go of the guilt somehow. Does that make sense? XX Loveya to bits and hang in there. 🙂
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I really need to get a handle on this too, Vikki. With me it’s all or nothing – and I haven’t been on Twitter now for weeks! I’m scared to go and look – probably lost all my followers because I’m so boring … I blog, and I look at FB, but I’ve not idea how to be ‘an author’ on FB without worrying that I’m annoying – or boring – and it’s so easy to get caught up in other people’s stuff then that you don’t get anything else done and have achieved precisely nothing!!!
I’m going to come up with some kind of plan this week (I’ve been saying this for months, but I really am) whereby I allot a specific amount of time for FB or/and Twitter and a plan of what I want to do on these sites, and then stick to it. No, I am. Really 🙂 xxx
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All this online stuff can really keep one from doing some well, writing! I unplugged for a while, Vikki for personal reasons and now I’m beginning to blog again from time to time. I find coffee houses are great for getting some “serious” writing done. Maybe the secret is a schedule and really, really sticking to it. A day for blogging, one for catching up and commenting and the other for writing!
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Best poster ever!
Being on-line can be a drug. At the very least it’s time consuming and keeps real life from happening. Great for bad weather of when forced to sit still.
The communities are also very welcoming and interesting. Important to find a balance. (I see so many talented writers spending so much of their energy/time/effort on blogs, when their books should be getting every little drop. Strict schedules might be a help)
So no FaceBook or Twitter. Blogging is of a demand for me. I try to keep the writing as what’s important and check in on blogs I like …and feel guilty I do’t read more often. But can’t waste nice weather…and eventually time/weather will come when I have no choice but to sit still.
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When I’d let go of the frustration at not having internet I really enjoyed my break from social media (it’s been back up for a week now and I’m still only just dipping my toe back in) and NaNo’s coming too – which is scary. I’m going to try allocating a time limit and being more focused about exactly which social media sites I use. There’s so many out there and I’ve found if you spread yourself to thin then you don’t really make friends with anyone as you’re not around in one place enough.
And I did find this free e-book yesterday for Time Management for Creative people here, http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2007/12/03/time-management-for-creative-people-free-e-book/ Of Course, I haven’t had time to start reading it just yet 🙂
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I now use the app Freedom for my writing time 🙂
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Glad that I’m not alone trying to avoid letting Social Media rule my life. Each day have to ration my time on Facebook and just leave it open while checking emails & blogs I follow. Delete many of them on first glance but always visit special ones – like yours Vikki. Unfortunately on some days the writing still suffers but then there are other distractions/procrastination to waylay me.
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I find I like to write a bit, facebook a bit, write a bit, blog a bit… If I just write it all gets a bit intense. I feel like I need to lift my head up every now and again and social media is good for that. Sometimes I do find I’ve wasted too much time, particularly before I start writing, in checking FB etc but I don’t yet have an answer as to how to stop doing that!
Glad to hear you are getting back to normal.
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Don’t really have it down to a science yet. SoMe can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the nature of the posts. I’ve been assisted by having a smart(-er than me) phone where I can check email and FB at breaks during the day. It cuts time from what I used to spend on SoMe. When I go away, I might not even check in. And that’s cool. I’ll never catch up if I try to review everything I’ve missed (!) I am a bit of a perfectionist, so it’s hard for me not to “do it proper” but I really don’t have the time 😉
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Intrigued to learn about the hypnotherapy!
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I am soooooo having a hard time with this. Even my email stresses me out lately. Too much and all of it seems to take too much time. I need to figure out something soon to find a happy medium. It doesn’t help that my computer is majorly sloooow. One thing I have started to do is on the blog reader thing that shows the blogs I follow, if there’s a topic I totally cannot relate to…I just skip it and move on to the next.
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Great post. I agree with most of the above comments. Still trying to find that happy medium w/social media- eats away so much time. I prefer blogging and reading blogs over using fb, twitter, google, etc. Key is to get myself in chair to write 1st,then do social after or on certain days per week which I had been doing, now have to discipline self to get back into that mode.
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Vikki, I’ve been doing that with all social media. I almost wish I could suspend my blog for a few months. But this is the best way for us to stay connected. I’ve solved my email and computer horrors and am glad to finally be back. Go for the gold !!!
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My upcoming Halloween party is effectively keeping me away from social media. And writing. Oh well, the party is tomorrow and then I’ll be getting back into the swing of things. I honestly wonder if there is a full-proof method at controlling social media instead of letting it control us.
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I usually only go on facebook at the weekends, unless someone has sent me a message that I need to respond to. What I normally do is check my email on my phone for notifications and then decide if these can wait. Blogs — well, I’m behind at the moment, as am trying to finish my read through and edit of the novel by the end of the month, and I might just make it. Really trying for this next Wednesday, as this is deadline time as far as my son doing a read through of the novel, as he’s going to write one of his own for NaNoWriMo.
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I gave up Facebook for lack of privacy issues and that it was taking too much time. I only go on very occasionally when force to by a link. The first month was ok, after that it was very easy as I was doing so much other stuff. I had more time for go out and do things like campaigning and my evenings are more social than they used to be. I tried to work out which social media sites were essential and got rid of some Twitter sites. I also started new ones which were more important and theraputic for me, such as a travel one. I only read your blog so I am not swamped with them like I used to be. I do use Twitter a lot more, but for campaigning, it is worth the time spent.
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I was writing this in bed so some words are missed out and jumbled, sorry, haha, in case it gets picked up by the writery set.
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