7 Work-Life Balance Tips for Social Media Managers

Hello there, fellow Social Media Manager! Do you feel like you have a good work-life balance situation or are you always feeling “on” instead? As good as social media can be, there are a few “traps” we social media managers tend to fall into from time to time. It can at times be very challenging to fully switch off, so what’s left for building a great work-life balance? 

Today we will give you 7 useful work-life balance tips to help you build a better routine, enjoy both your life and your work and most importantly – feel the joy of being a Social Media Manager. 

So, let’s start achieving a healthy work-life balance and set boundaries at work. Please keep in mind that you may need to try a few more tactics or customise those to suit your lifestyle better. 

1️. Create a plan for your day. 

Having a plan for your day can help you prioritise all tasks and you will know exactly what needs to be done. Furthermore, even a basic, rough plan can help if you ever feel stressed or overloaded as you will easily know what you can move to the next day. Avoid putting a whole pile of tasks for your day as this may cause more harm than good. Trust us – we have been there. Ideally, if a task takes you around 40mins to an hour, you should have between 3 – 6 tasks for the day.

2. Take a break. 

Being a social media manager requires creativity, a sharp, witty mind and love for what you do. Some days however the creative muse can disappear which is when it’s time to take a break. You cannot force yourself to think of a topic if you just simply have way too much on your plate. This is where taking a break and clearing your mind will help you put your thought together. 

3. Limit Social Media to One Device.

Social media managers tend to think they need to be connected via their phones all the time. This is not true nor is it healthy. In order to ensure you have a good work-life balance, you should choose a single device for your social media work. You should only have a secondary device in the rare case of emergencies. This is a must. Why are we saying this? It’s really easy to fall into the habit of constantly checking work-related information if you have your work in your pocket, a.k.a. your personal phone for example. This shows that you are committed, but it will also make you feel like you never get a break, even when you are on holiday. It’s great that you want to be dedicated at work, we are as well. This however does not mean that you should worry about whether or not your last post is getting engagement while you’re sitting in the dentist’s chair. What you need to do when you are not at work is to disengage.

4. Avoid checking work-related communication outside of working hours.

Have you ever sat at dinner when suddenly you get an email notification on your phone? You open it and see a work-related email that you cannot stop thinking about the whole night? Not a great feeling or practice. This correlates with the point above – you should keep all work-related tools on one device and you should also avoid going through work communication when you are not at work. This causes stress, makes a person feel like they are always on and therefore you have no work-life balance whatsoever. It’s very simple – if you want to be more productive and motivated, you should know when to take a well-deserved break. 

5. Stop Setting Unrealistic Expectations.

We know that people like quick responses to private messages. Do you think they expect them? Yes, but not in the way you think. Did you know that about 42% of social media users expect some sort of response within five minutes to an hour; 25% expect a same-day response, and more than 33% expect to hear from you within a couple of days? Okay, but what does this mean to you as a social media manager? 

Put simply, this means that you should keep an eye on your social messages throughout your workday only. Furthermore, you can put up an automated response letting your customers know someone will get back to them within normal business hours.

6. Plan your content ahead. 

There is nothing better than knowing you have enough planned content and you can pay attention to creating something extraordinary, trendy and out of the box. This is why you need to plan ahead, create yourself a content calendar and ensure you use it to make your life easier. 

7. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

High-achieving professionals tend to take everything on themselves. This is because they do not want to “bother” others by asking for help. This shouldn’t be the case. Everyone needs help and this is why in most cases you work in a team. Asking for help is never a bad thing. Furthermore, it builds the benefits of mutual relationships for all involved, as well as a feeling of team spirit and mutual respect. So, go on, ask away – we are here to help! 

This is it, folks! We hope our work-life balance tips will be as beneficial for you as they are for us. We, at 24SevenSocial, know how important it is to thrive at your workplace while also having a great lifestyle. It is possible. Let us know if you found our tips useful. Don’t forget to follow us for more actionable advice.