Putting It on Pause During the Holidays
By Jessica Alex
The holidays are here, and maybe you’re feeling like you need a break and are absolutely tired of social media 😩. But this is your business and brand we’re talking about, so the pressure of completely shutting down might seem nerve-racking.
So, what should you do? I remember seeing a post on Instagram a while ago that said something to the effect of, “If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of your business.”
I remember reading that and thinking, This is so true. This is why self-care needs to be taken seriously by entrepreneurs, and why I am glad to see Instagram users like Allie Mason champion self-care for entrepreneurs.
Our health and well-being are pivotal parts of our overall success. Being mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy can help us to think more clearly and operate more optimally. Think about it: don’t you work and feel better when you are well-rested? (And for those of you who don’t remember the last time you felt well-rested, then this blog post is especially for you.)
Now, all this may sound fine and dandy, but perhaps you’re a solopreneur who has your hands in every part of your business, including running your own social media page, and so you can’t see a way to completely disappear off of social media without everything falling apart — *she faints.* 🤦🏾♀️
Well, here are just a few ideas to help you navigate your holiday shutdown:
Give a heads-up if you do completely shut down 📢
A little social media cleanse never hurt anybody, but make sure to let people know (for instance, in a post) that you will be out of the office between certain dates. One of my clients has decided to do this, and I have seen other brands do this as well. Being transparent and keeping your audience and customers in the loop are imperative.
Automate 🗓
Automation can be a great tool, if used wisely. If you don’t want to have zero posts for an entire week while you are off, you can use automation and preschedule your posts. The downfall to this is that when people comment on your post, if you are completely offline, you won’t be there to leave an authentic response. One workaround to this is to follow the previous tip and let your followers know that you will respond to comments when you are back. Transparency is key, so if you feel that the posts you have scheduled cannot wait until you are back and you believe it will offer value or entertainment to your audience until you are back, then make sure they know and expect you to not respond to comments and Direct Messages (DMs).
Maybe don’t shut down, but do a slowdown, instead 🐢
Instead of completely leaving your social media in the dust (if you’re just not ready for that yet), you can slow down instead of shutting down. For instance, if you post daily, then during the holiday break post two to three times for the week, instead. Or if you don’t want to post on your feed at all, you can post interactive Stories and post a video in your Stories, for instance, talking about slowing down for the holidays — or hosting one Live for the entire week. These options obviously mean that you are still on social media, but the time that you are actively on should significantly decrease, compared to your normal activity — or else it will defeat the purpose. Set clear guidelines and boundaries for yourself, including setting a timer, if you need to. ⏲
Although it’s important to continue to show up for your brand, it doesn’t mean until the point that you burn out. Take the time you need to rest and reset. It could be a day or two, or a week. Whatever time you need to take to get back to your best self is completely up to you. And when you are well-rested, you can come back and be even better than you were before.
