How to stop social media taking over your life

Social media is a powerful business tool. But like any tool, it only works well when you are the one in charge of it.

The average person spends around two hours a day on social media. If you are providing social media management as a service to your clients, that figure will be considerably higher. Which means getting a proper handle on how you use it is not optional. It is essential.

Here is the honest truth: most of us let social media control us, rather than the other way round. Without actively monitoring your time and regularly reviewing your accounts, it quickly becomes a drain on your day and your focus. That is time you are not getting back.

If you are ready to take back control, here is where to start.

Are you even on the right platforms?

Before anything else, ask yourself whether the platforms you are on are still working for you. Not every platform suits every business, and what made sense two years ago may no longer be where your ideal clients are spending their time. Get into the habit of reviewing this regularly. If a platform is not helping you connect with the right people, it is just noise.

Tidy up your feed

Once you know you are on the right platforms, the next step is making sure you are only seeing what is actually useful. Set aside some dedicated time to go through who you are following, who you are friends with, and which pages are sending you notifications. All of that feeds into what lands in your timeline every day.

Worth knowing: you can stay connected with someone without following their posts. Simply unfollowing, without unfriending, keeps the relationship intact without the clutter.

Cut down your friend and following lists

It is worth going through your contacts and removing accounts that are no longer serving a purpose. Look out for:

• Fake or spam accounts
• People who have not engaged in a long time
• Inactive or closed accounts
• MLM accounts that do nothing but push products at you
• Follow-for-follow accounts with no genuine interest in what you do

Also take a hard look at who you are following. If an account has no place in your strategy or your day-to-day, remove it.

Review your groups

Groups can be genuinely valuable, but only when you are actively participating in them. If you are a member of groups you never look at, they are just adding to the noise. Go through your list and keep only those you are genuinely engaged in or that serve a clear purpose for your business. Get rid of the rest without guilt.

Use lists to your advantage

Most platforms offer a way to segment who you follow into lists or groups. It takes a bit of time to set up initially, but it makes keeping track of the people and accounts that actually matter far more manageable. You can keep these lists private, so there is no need to overthink it. Categorise in whatever way makes sense for how you work.

The bottom line

Social media, used well, is a genuine asset to your marketing and business development. Used poorly, it will swallow your time and leave you feeling behind before your day has even started.

You do not need to be on every platform. You do not need to follow everyone. And you do not need to tolerate a feed full of content that adds nothing to your work or your life.

Tighten it up. Take back control. Then use it with intention.

Do you regularly audit your social media accounts, or is it something that has crept down the to-do list? What is one thing from this post you can action this week? Share your thoughts in the comments below.