The Social Media Strategists Workout

New

The Social Media Strategists Workout

By Tac Anderson ⋅ January 14, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Filed Under Life, Social media, Work

I’m pretty active on social media. (That was my annual submission to the understatement of the year award.) I’m an over sharer on pretty much any social network I join, but I have leveled off over the last year. I’ve settled into a comfortable rhythm and am happy with my routine. When talking to coworkers or clients one the most common questions I get is around how I manage my level of activity and work and a family and all the other stuff. There are two answers to this question and I’m only going to answer one of them today.

The first answer (the one I’ll answer) is developing a routine. We all have routines for the way we work and developing new ones is tough but the way we work today will not be the way we work in 5 years and if you can’t adjust now, you’re screwed.
The second answer is to use the right tools and that’s a topic for multiple posts and I’ll address that in the weeks to come.

But for today I want to leave you with what I’m calling The Social Media Strategist Workout. I was going to create graphs and charts and a worksheet that you could fill out but the truth is everyone needs to find a routine that works with their schedule and my routine won’t work for you (because most people I know don’t keep the hours that I do). But hopefully this will help serve as a jumping off point for your own routine. Of which I’d love to read. Please feel free to leave your routine in the comments or post it on your own blog and I’ll link to it from here. This is not a hard and fast schedule but it’s pretty consistent. As a bonus I even put in my real workout schedule because I learned the hard way this year that we’re not getting younger and we need to take care of our bodies.

The Social Media Strategist Workout

5:00am - 5:30am Wake up, roll over and grab my phone. Lay in bed reading my RSS feeds using the MobileRSS app or the NewsRob app, depending on which phone I grabbed. I also share out a good amount of posts on Twitter. Glancing at emails to make sure there’s no fires.
Frequency: 5 days a week

5:30am - 6:00am Roll out of bed and open either the 100 pushups and 100 squats apps or the 200 situps and 20 chinups app. (At this point this is more aspirational since it’s a New Years resolution.)
Frequency: 3 days alternating. 6 days a week total.

6:00am - 6:30am Shower, dress, etc.
Frequency: 7 days a week

6:40am - 7:00am Commute, listen to new music, @KEXP or audio book. (Don’t check RSS, Twitter or email while driving!)
Frequency: 5 days a week.

7:00am - 8:00am Arrive at work and Blog
Frequency: 5 days a week although I may only publish 3 posts (sometimes less) a week.

8:00am - 9:00am Read through new blogs, Twitter and Quora, checking email more frequently.

9:00am - 5:00pm Because I live on the West coast most peole don’t get in the office until 9:00 so this is when work really begins. From 9-5 I’m in meetings, replying to emails, working on Power Point decks and white boarding ideas but Feedly and Tweetdeck are open all day in the background.

5:00pm - 7:00pm Often times working late because I work at an agency and I hate taking work home with me. If I’m not working late I try and hit the gym on the way home. On Thursday’s I play indoor soccer.

7:00pm - 9:00pm Hanging out with the family, eat dinner and getting the kids in bed.

9:00pm - 10:00pm Back in bed and usually watching Hulu or Netflix with Jen. We have a rule that we’re only allowed to watch one show a night.

10:00pm - 11:00pm This is the time that I write in a journal (I keep secrets from my computer) and read or do other stuff that’s none of your business.

11:00pm - 5:00am Sleep.

This is what works for me. What works for you?

Photo credit By Balakov

About Tac

Social media anthropologist. Communications strategist. Business model junkie. Chief blogger here at New Comm Biz.

Visit Tac Anderson's Website | Follow Tac Anderson on Twitter

http://topsy.com/www.newcommbiz.com/the-social-media-strategists-workout/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 Tweets that mention The Social Media Strategists Workout | New Comm Biz — Topsy.com

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tac Anderson. Tac Anderson said: The Social Media Strategists Workout http://bit.ly/gVPA3A (new post) [...]
http://twitter.com/EricBurgess Eric Burgess

I really need to work on being this disciplined.

How did you come to this place of getting into a routine like this? Did it happen over time? Did you get in trouble with your wife?
http://www.socialnicole.com/ Nicole Harrison

This is a great post! I just tweeted it with the line: So you think you want to work in social media…your schedule looks a lot like my schedule - up at 5am and looking at the phone, reading, blogging and emailing all before 9am…every single day. It is an amazing pace to keep up and you have to love the work. I think your schedule speaks volumes to how specialized the field is and what it takes. Thanks for sharing…

Nicole Harrison
@socialnicole
http://www.socialnicole.com
http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

I don’t really think of it as being disciplined. I just think of it as the things I have to do if I want to do everything I want. I would definitely say it’s happened over time. As I keep coming up with new things I want to do but don’t want to stop doing the things I am already doing I have to find new ways to work them into my schedule. Like when I wanted to get more rigorous about working out (because my Dr was threatening to put me on blood pressure medicine) but I didn’t want to give up on blogging, I had to find time to do both which meant being more efficient with my time.
http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

I agree, there’s no way we could keep this pace up if we didn’t love what we do.

Thanks for the comment Nicole.
http://www.twitter.com/Shih_Wei Veronica Sopher

It only takes you 30 minutes to shower and dress? Lucky.

Thanks for sharing your routine with us, Tac. How do you resist the temptation to jump into emails as soon as you arrive at the office? THAT takes discipline, IMO.
http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

I hate email. Work email usually represents the part of work that’s “work” so it’s pretty easy for me to put off. And yes getting ready only takes me 30 minutes. Being a guy rules
http://flavors.me/40deuce 40deuce

Sounds a lot like my day except I don’t have kids or family, so that gets replaced by more work, and my hours are different (sleep from 2am-7am).
It’s grueling, so it’s a good thing I love it.

Cheers,
Sheldon, community manager for Sysomos (http;//sysomos.com)
http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

When the family is out of town visiting relatives my schedule looks more like yours. I’m not a morning person by nature, I’m a night owl. I do miss the productivity that the silent night hours bring. Thanks for stopping by, I’m a big fan of Sysomos, we use the service at work.
http://flavors.me/40deuce 40deuce

To be honest, I sometimes do better work first thing in the morning than late at night, but it’s the waking up part that really gets me =)
http://topsy.com/trackback?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newcommbiz.com%2Fthe-social-media-strategists-workout%2F%23comment-130124477&utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 Tweets that mention The Social Media Strategists Workout | New Comm Biz — Topsy.com

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tac Anderson, Vanessa Williams. Vanessa Williams said: So you want to be a social media guru? @tacanderson gives a window into his daily routine (looks similar to mine!) http://bit.ly/eti5kB [...]
http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

7-9 am is by far my most productive time of the day. Getting in before everyone else and the fire drills start is huge.
http://talkdigitalmarketing.co.uk/?p=379 Social Media Marketing: Strategy to Commerce » talkdigitalmarketing.co.uk

[...] a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a “workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, [...]
http://www.giavienb.com/social-media-marketing-strategy-to-commerce.html Social Media Marketing: Strategy to Commerce | Marketing online, Internet marketing, Seo, Sem, Conferences, PR

[...] a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a “workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, [...]
http://creativefuelstudios.com/the-talent/jim-gray/ Jim Gray

wake up, turn on the coffee pot, scan the Blackberry…my coach has been helpful in letting go of the urge to update and add followers. It’s been tough since I was unemployed when I started test-driving social media and had nothing but time. Now with a company and meetings and stuff to do…i’m still easily distracted.
http://www.poshpink.co.uk/2011/01/29/establishing-a-sustainable-social-media-marketing-strategy/ Establishing A Sustainable Social Media Marketing Strategy « Posh Pink

[...] a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a “workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, [...]
http://joy-n-glory.com/establishing-a-sustainable-social-media-marketing-strategy/ Establishing A Sustainable Social Media Marketing Strategy | Software Download

[...] a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a “workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, [...]
http://www.unrulyguides.com/2011/01/writer-author-social-media-marketing/ First Steps: Social Media Marketing for the Writer — Unruly Guides ePublishing

[...] The Social Media Strategists Workout by Tac Anderson [...]
http://socialblade.com/show/2011/01/31/hyper-workouts-keep-you-out-of-prison-episode-71/ Hyper Workouts Keep You Out Of Prison (Episode 71)

[...] 1) The Social Media Strategists Workout I’m pretty active on social media. (That was my annual submission to the understatement of the year award.) I’m an over sharer on pretty much any social network I join, but I have leveled off over the last year. I’ve settled into a comfortable rhythm and am happy with my routine. When talking to coworkers or clients one the most common questions I get is around how I manage my level of activity and work and a family and all the other stuff. There are two answers to this question and I’m only going to answer one of them today. [via newcommbiz] [...]
http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

Great points Jim and that’s exactly why I wrote this post: 3 Steps You Can Take Today To Prevent Social Media Overload http://bit.ly/hEl1s0
http://webula.bget.ru/?p=370 » Social Media Marketing: Strategy to Commerce SEO moneymaking

[...] a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a “workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, [...]
http://www.jit.com/2011/02/09/social-media-marketing-strategy-to-commerce/ Social Media Marketing: Strategy to Commerce | JIT

[...] move on to other opportunities.From a personal process perspective, take a look at Tac Anderson’s daily routine as a social media strategist, which he calls a“workout”. In addition to planned activities and tactics, there’s [...]
http://www.newcommbiz.com/the-social-media-strategists-power-tools-consumption/ The Social Media Strategists Power Tools [Consumption] | New Comm Biz

[...] month I gave you The Social Media Strategist Workout, which is the routine I follow to manage my social media activity throughout the day. In answering [...]
Donnacarolchr

Great post Nice one thanks.
_________
Donna.
http://www.trainwithmeonline.com/programs.asp
Workout Routines

website translatorsite translatorautomatic translationmachine translation

Search

New