Social Media, Time, Fun, and You.

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Time. It frustrates us. It races against us sometimes, while other times we don’t know what to do with it!

We all want to be experts on managing it. I started thinking a lot about time yesterday when I saw this on a park bench: “Life is short. Hurry to be kind.”

And then there are the minutes and hours that get soaked up in social media. Admit it; you get carried away in conversation and subject matter and poke around longer on there than you mean too, right?

Set some ground rules. Yeah, I know it’s hard; it’s so fun to hang out with your friends! However, if you’re there to create awareness for your brand, you have to stick to it and place some limitations on your “fun” time.

You know what’s next; some ideas.

• Set a time and a number of minutes to “sweep” your social networks each day and adhere to it. You may want to do more than one sweep at different times of the day so that you catch more of your friends.

• Use lists on Facebook and Twitter and circles on Google+ so you can focus on those you really want to hear from.

• Take a day off from social media fun time once in a while.

• Respond to your friend’s posts instead of posting your own stuff. I’ve noticed that some of my friends post and never comment on my stuff. And I’ve said this before: It’s not about you. I don’t know what a good ratio is, but I probably comment on 50 friend’s posts for each one I post fresh. Would I like to share more? Sure, however, I focus on posting the most interesting items that will invite friendly conversation and/or a chuckle or two.

• If you’re overwhelmed, tell your friends you won’t be around. I have done this and people seem to like knowing that, especially if you regularly comment on their posts. Then they know you’re okay; just busy! After all, you do have work to do.

Remember, YOU set the parameters. Maybe type them up and stick them on your wall where you’ll see them. The important thing is that you need to have the control and not let time take over.

This is T in the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Here's P, Q, R, and S

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As I was writing this, the song “Time is on My Side” by the Rolling Stones came on; no kidding! So here’s that tune for you.