Does Twitter Waste Your Time?

Twitter can be an incredible asset to your business, just like email can be.  But (just like email), it can also be a huge time-waster and can suck hours out of your day without you even noticing.  You get on Twitter and then the next time you look up it’s an hour later, or more!

Self-control is important for Everybody, but If you are self-employed, it becomes even more important!   Wasting time is wasting money. 

Wasting time on Twitter is like sitting around the water cooler and chatting with coworkers about last night’s episode of your favorite TV show- it might be fun, and it passes the time, but it wasted time that could have been used to make money.

Here are some tips on how to keep your Twitter time under control:

1.  Schedule a time for Twitter.  Just like you can spend hours online checking emails and just surfing the ‘Net, getting on Twitter 10 – 20 times a day doesn’t help you get what you need to done.  Schedule two or three Twitter times per day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon and once in the evening – and then stick to it.  Your Twitter followers can survive without knowing your entire itinerary for the day.

2.  Decide the purpose for your visit before getting on Twitter.  Are you sending a Tweet about your latest blog post?  Are you trying to find other Twitts to network with?  Are you looking to @ people and “Talk”. Deciding what you want to do before you log on is a big time saver.

3.  Jot down notes during the day for your Twitter time.  It doesn’t have to be anything long or fancy.  A sticky note will do.  Just keep track of your thoughts so when you get on Twitter you can accomplish what you want and then leave the site.

4.  Do not tweet about every single thing you do.  No one cares if you are going to the store.  They don’t agonize over the fact that your hamster ate too much.  Keep your tweets limited to important stuff. (Remember to always give value in your tweets that way people look forward to them and “assume” they will be important and valuable.)

5.  Only concentrate on what is happening Now on Twitter.  If you are following a lot of people their Tweets will do on ot the next page rather quickly, so don’t worry about what you missed.  Stay focused on the New Tweets and what is going on while you are there at that moment.

If you take control of your Twitter time, you can take control of how well it works for you.  Be strong.