Do you remember the Stop the Insanity weight loss program from Susan Powter? In the 90’s, you couldn’t turn on television without hearing her infomercial with that famous catch phrase, “Stop the Insanity!”

Do you ever feel the need to scream, STOP the Social Media Insanity? Websites, Blogs, RSS feeds, Emails, Email newsletters, Facbook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, FourSquare, Yelp, and on, and on, and on! Do you get overwhelmed as you try to keep up with reading information, posting or joining various social platforms for yourself or your business? If so, I have a few suggestions that may help you stop your own insanity.

Tips for dealing with social media insanity:

Take a deep breath and decide which platform(s) are right for you!

No one can be everywhere or be on every single social platform. There are too many platforms and cloning isn’t perfected, so if you try to do them all, you will burnout. Quickly. Approach social media just as you do any decision for you or your business; how does this serve me or my clients/customers. If your niche market or demographic hangs out on Facebook, then spend time building your following or Facebook Business Page. If your prospects spend time on Twitter, then build your Twitter brand. If email newsletters work for your business, produce the best newsletter possible! If you want better search results and enjoy the platform, spend time building your circles on Google+. Remember, no social platform, no matter how good it is, should take the place of your own website. Spend the time to get your site right and use these social outposts to drive traffic to your site.

Develop a schedule and stick to it!

One of the best pieces of advice I have for individuals and businesses is this: develop a schedule. Use a legal pad, an online calendar or create an editorial/social media calendar and stick to it! This will save you hours of frustration and make it much easier to develop or produce content. It’s more calming to know you what you need to write about or post for the next week or month than getting up everyday and trying to decide. Voice of experience talking here, so listen! My dear friend Julia Rosien published an exceptional post about this on her Social North site: Editorial Calendar – Social Media Strategy Must Do.

Evaluate, update and move on!

Maybe you have had a presence on Facebook since it was The Facebook. Does that outpost still align with your personal or professional goals? If not, then move on. I think far too often we get used to being on these platforms but forget to regularly evaluate whether a platform still works for us or aligns with our overall goals. Try out other networks if you want, but do so if those networks align with your market and your goals. Just because “everyone” is on a specific social network doesn’t mean you or your business needs to be there. It is really okay to move on if something isn’t working for you.

Unplug frequently!

It would be impossible for me to over emphasize this tip. I stay connected a lot, typically 16-18 hours per day. But I purposely schedule times or even weekends/weeks that I unplug. Maybe not completely every single time, but I do schedule downtime. I schedule what works for me, yyou should too. Turn the phones off for a weekend. Leave them at home and take a walk. Eat dinner in peace. When you go on vacation, actually go on vacation. Schedule things ahead of time, work with a Virtual Assistant or make arrangements to have someone cover for you. The world will not end if you don’t post, tweet, checkin or share a photo for a few days. Try it, I dare you! By unplugging, you are guarding your own precious time. Read more about guarding your time in a related post, It’s About Time.

Those are a few of my tips to stop social media insanity. What are some of yours? Please share them in the comments section below. Click on the buttons at the top of this page to connect with me on your favorite social platform.