delegation Archives :: From the Desk of Janet BarclayFrom the Desk of Janet Barclay

There are literally hundreds of social media sites with many different purposes, and you could easily devote your entire week to exploring new sites, maintaining your connections, and updating your profiles! Unfortunately, although effective social networking can and does lead to business opportunities, you can’t make a living at it, so it’s important to use your online time effectively.

Here are five tips to help you do just that.

1. Identify the sites that offer the most value for your business

If you use Facebook mainly to play games and reconnect with old friends, limit your visits to non-work times. You can still share your blog posts, post your business events, and link to your website, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that the time you spend on Facebook is helping you grow your business.

2. Connect with people in your target market

It’s great to network with other people in your industry – you can probably learn a lot from each other – but keep in mind that this should not be your main focus. If your goal is to find new clients, you need to connect directly with people in your target market, or with people who can introduce you to potential clients.

3. Choose your contacts wisely

Remember that networking isn’t about numbers; it’s about relationships. Don’t feel you have to accept every connection request you receive, especially from people who don’t explain why they want to connect with you. If you’re afraid of closing the door on a potentially valuable relationship, initiate a conversation. If the person does not respond, they’re not really interested in getting to know you, and you don’t need them on your contact list.

4. Create a schedule for your social networking

Unlike live networking events which may conflict with your best working hours, online networking can be done at any time of the day or night. Schedule specific times to visit high value sites. For some people, it may be 15 to 30 minutes at the end of each day; others may prefer to block half a day every week. The important thing is that you don’t allow it to cut into your billable hours.

5. Hire a virtual assistant to help you stay on top of things

Although you can’t really outsource relationship building, there are many ways a VA can reduce the time you spend on social media, including setting up your profiles, locating appropriate people for you to connect with, and logging into your accounts on a regular basis to deal with routine items and let you know about those that require your attention.

If you’ve avoided social media because you think it will be too time-consuming, you may be missing out on a valuable marketing tool. When you strategically select your sites and contacts and use your time wisely, you will be pleasantly surprised to see what can happen!

Today’s Question: How do you keep yourself on track when using social media?

Getting every detail right Some people refer to themselves as “perfectionists” as if it were something to brag about. Although there is much benefit in the pursuit of excellence, striving for perfection often leads to procrastination, missed deadlines, and low productivity.

For one thing, when you set unrealistically high goals for yourself, you may delay starting a project until you have enough time to “do it right,” and then end up having to rush through it just before the deadline.

Perhaps you continue working on something after it’s technically finished, always finding “one more thing” that can be improved upon, instead of recognizing when it’s “good enough” and moving on to the next job. This causes you to spend more time and energy on a project than it actually merits, at the expense of other activities.

As a perfectionist, you might have difficulty with delegation, fearing that no one else can do the job to your exacting standards. As a result, you are often overworked. If and when you do bring yourself to delegate, you don’t gain as much time as you could, because you spend a lot of time checking and redoing the other person’s work.

Perfectionism can lead to stress, which can hinder your productivity even further, and even cause burnout and illness, which will bring things to a screeching halt. Before it reaches that point, consider adopting one or more of the following strategies.

Break large projects down into smaller tasks. Focusing on only one task at a time will help you to feel less overwhelmed and free your mind to be more productive.
Be realistic about what you can achieve, and list only high priority items on your to-do list. By lowering your expectations, you won’t lose valuable time agonizing over what you “should have” done.
Schedule time to work on specific tasks. This will help you to remain aware of the other activities you need to fit into your day, so you don’t feel you have “all the time in the world” to spend perfecting certain jobs. If it’s difficult for you to set time limits, ask for help from a business or life coach, or a colleague.
Consider the long-term benefits of delegating routine tasks. Although you may initially have to invest time in training and supervision, it will eventually pay off, leaving you more time to spend on higher value activities.

For many people, perfectionism is a serious problem which affects not only their productivity, but their self-esteem, relationships, and other areas of life. If you are experiencing this, you may wish to read one of the books listed below or even seek professional counselling.

When Good Enough Is Never Enough by Steven J. Hendlin, Ph.D. – Available from Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Too Perfect by Allan E. Mallinger, M.D. and Jeannette DeWyze – Available from Amazon.com or Amazon.ca
Everything I Know About Perfectionism I Learned From My Breasts by Debbie Jordan Kravitz – Available from Amazon.com

Do you struggle with perfectionism? What strategies work well for you?