Whether you’re an inbound marketing professional working at an agency, freelancing or directing the online efforts of a company, if you haven’t experienced social media and inbound marketing burnout yet – you will! Over the last six years I’ve averaged one vacation every two years. That seems to be the point where “unplugging” for one week becomes necessary. I blame the invention of the iPhone for extending my work day and contributing to inbound marketing burnout. As my responsibility and workload has increased over the years I’ve noticed my burnout clock is getting shorter too. As a result, I’ve come up with the below steps to help me cope with the inevitability of social media and inbound marketing burnout.
- Automation - The more work you can automate (without it being a detriment to your social media persona or brand) the better. The less time you spend in front of a monitor or phone the longer you can go avoiding burnout.
- Establish Mobile-Free Zones – I call this the “No iPhone Zone.” These are places I don’t allow myself to touch my iPhone. Some of these places can include the car, house, restaurants, gym, church, etc. It doesn’t matter where these zones are. Just make sure you establish some.
- Establish Internet-Free/Mobile-Free Time – Pick certain hours of the day and weekend where under no circumstances do you touch the internet or your phone. I’ve found this particularly useful in extending my inbound marketing burnout clock.
- Quit Caffeine – Put those Redbulls down! Constant consumption of caffeine will make you burn out quick. I’ve been in this business long enough to have seen dozens of inbound marketing professionals put down hundreds of gallons of energy drinks.
- Go to Bed Early Occasionally – Every once in a while I drop everything I think I’m supposed to do in an evening and go to bed at 9 o’clock. Try it. It feels great!
- Make a Workout Schedule – By working out throughout the week for an hour a day you’ll find your burnout clock extended. Besides, it might do you some good since you're probably sitting in front of a computer all day. Hint, hint. . .
- Take a Mini Vacation – I recently started taking advantage of the holidays that fall near a weekend. By taking one day off in conjunction with the holiday and weekend you’ll find you have plenty of time to get away for a quick unplugged vacation. I recommend camping somewhere far away from 3G.
- Take a Vacation – Stop trying to be superman or superwoman. You can’t stay “plugged-in” 365 days a year and do your job well. Getting completely away from the internet for a week is like being born again. If possible, make sure you go to a foreign country where the internet isn’t so readily available and using your cell phone would drain the kids’ college fund.
I hope this list helps. Social media and inbound marketing burnout is inevitable - there's no avoiding this fact. If you haven't experienced it yet I recommend you bookmark this post for future reference. It will come in handy when social media and inbound marketing burnout smacks you in the face like a ton of bricks. . . :)
Image Credit: Scott McLeod
FREE Webinar: Building Leads with Facebook
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 @ 1PM EDT, 10AM PST
Join our guests Troy Rumfelt, President, and Mike Gingerich, Marketing Director for TabSite, a Facebook application by Digital Hill Multimedia, to learn how to build leads with Facebook.
