Social Media: Not 24/7, Not even for Me

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/cvillemegan/status/120107323485196288″]

Poor Megan! I really felt bad when I read this tweet, because I am the last person to encourage anyone to be a workaholic!

I believe in balance; I believe in unplugging (yes I do!) and most of all, I believe in planning ahead.

I don’t work much on the weekends. Sometimes I sneak a little bit in, mostly reading and writing blog posts, but for the most part, I relax. I bake pies. I spend in-person time with friends and family. I shop. I go to the gym for inordinate amounts of time.

So it makes me sad that I left the impression with all that I do, that I must work seven days a week, when that just isn’t the case. I do stay connected using my smartphone, but even that gets set aside for large chunks of time over the weekend and even in the evening. I try to plan ahead. My goal is to publish a new blog post five times a week. That means if it’s not done by Friday, I may be writing on the weekend. If not, then Monday morning has an extra heap of work. I am a solo practitioner (with freelance team members to support client work). The marketing, management and engagement of this company rests on my shoulders, so I use scheduling, management tools and experience to help me stay ahead of it, without getting overwhelmed.

I write every day, even if that content isn’t published on the same day. I put everything on my Outlook calendar which syncs up with my Google calendar so my family is informed of my commitments. I even schedule time to work on certain projects, to help stay organized. Lately, my time at the gym is going on the calendar, too. If it’s planned, it’s much more likely to happen.

So no, Megan, you don’t need to work on the weekends, but you do need to schedule everything, to plan ahead and to use technology to support the work you do, by keeping your appearance online consistent and constant. Now go take some time off and tell your boss I said so.