Quick Tip: How to Develop a Social Networking Schedule (Without Losing Your Mind)

As important as it is, social networking can be overwhelming and time consuming. Once it becomes a necessary task, as it should be for all authors and businesses, it can easily develop into a black hole of unproductivity. Here are a few steps to ensure that doesn't happen or, rather, fix it if it already has:

1. Sign up with a social media assistant like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Buffer. This will make posting and scheduling easier and will add an extra step between productive networking and mindless browsing.
2. Subscribe to various e-newsletters with your preferred sharing content like Galley Cat or Publishers Weekly. You can even setup a separate email account just to receive e-newsletters to keep them organized.
3. Set a time, or group of times, each day where you will setup and schedule your posts. Mornings are the best time to schedule your posts throughout the rest of the day.
4. Set a time, or group of times, each day where you will interact (like, share, retweet) with others. This should either be separate or directly after step 3. Afternoon is usually the best time for interaction.
5. Most importantly, give yourself a time limit on everything. Everything! Social networking is too distracting if you don't. Whether you use the clock, a kitchen timer, a smartphone, or the angle of the sun in the sky, it doesn't matter: time it.

Social networking can become a bad habit if you don't keep track of it. Follow these simple steps and you may find yourself at least a little bit more productive.

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—Kirk Cunningham, principal consultant at Cunning Relations 

& head publicist at Jolly Fish Press.