We are all so busy these days. It is no surprise that so many people think they don’t have time for Twitter. We often hear people talk about how social media, specifically Twitter, is a big sink hole of time.
There are many companies that have yet to develop a Twitter presence for this exact reason. They don’t want their employees getting sucked into social media all day, which from an ROI standpoint, seems very unproductive. However, in my opinion, it is much better to learn some time saving tips and become part of the magic than to miss out on all the potential opportunities to meet some wonderful people and build some great relationships.
It is true that it is very easy to lose track of time on Twitter. As a matter of fact, my dream day would be to wake up in the morning and tweet with my friends all day long without having to worry about time, but unfortunately real life does not afford me that luxury very often. I’m still trying to find a career that will just let me tweet all day long, but as of yet, I haven’t found one. I am plugged into Twitter almost all the time and I send a lot of tweets. Over the past year, I have found a few time saving tips that I thought I would share with you. These things allow me to stay connected, but still be very productive during the day.
Change Your Twitter Perspective
Many people view Twitter as either something that is on or off. You are either on Twitter and sending tweets, or you are not. I hear people talking about blocking off chunks of time during the day specifically to tweet (that has not worked for me). I want to encourage you to change the way you are looking at it.
Instead of viewing Twitter as a separate entity, view it as an extension of your life. It is a much easier use of time to drop in and out of Twitter for a few minutes each hour than trying to do it all in a twenty minute chunk of time in the morning. By keeping Twitter open and minimized at your desk, you can be much more effective on Twitter and at the same time, manage the time you are spending by using it as a reward after you complete each task you are working on.
Use The Twitter Tools Available
There are so many fabulous Twitter tools available that are designed to save you time. If you are serious about using Twitter and want to be effective with your time, it is important that you become familiar with these tools. I will share my two favorites below (TweetDeck and Saved Searches), but if you want to learn about more these tools, check this out: 150+ Ultimate Round-Up of Helpful Twitter Articles
TweetDeck
TweetDeck is my favorite Twitter tool because it will cut your time in half. Once you start filtering your tweets, you are going to feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders and you will save so much time! The new version of TweetDeck is super sweet because now we have so much API you could go nuts! If you don’t know what API is, you are in for a huge treat. You can read about the new version of TweetDeck and get the download link here: TweetDeck v0.33 | New Features
Saved Searches
Saved searches are a very cool feature that allows you to keep current on certain topics. You can create a search on your Twitter home page for any keyword or hashtag. Then, there is a little green button that reads, “save your search.” If you click that, your search will be saved right there on your page for you to access whenever you like. It is kind of like tweevesdropping on people’s conversations which allows you to stay up to date. Thanks @nik_nik for this illustration below.
Don’t Read Everything
This seems so simple yet can be a powerful Twitter time management tool. Do not read everything. I see tweets everyday that have interesting looking links, and I immediately “favorite” them. I favorite dozens of tweets each day. Then, when I have time to sit down and actually read them, I unfavorite them one by one. There are also other ways you can use your Twitter favorites as an effective tool. You can read more about that here: Learn How To Blog Like A Pro
This is one reason why I think strong images in your posts are so important. Many people will glance at them, but not read them immediately. If you have strong images that give them a jolt of visual stimulation when they see it for that few seconds, many times, that will be all it takes to encourage an RT from them.
Don’t Get Overwhelmed and Have Fun!
One reason why people eat up a lot of their time on Twitter is because they feel obligated to respond to tweets immediately. You see it on Twitter when someone sends a tweet that says something like, “Sorry, I had to take a phone call.” Of course it is important to build relationships by responding to tweets in a timely way, but more importantly than that is to remember that Twitter is a happy place to have fun!
Once you start feeling obligated, it is no longer fun and you can get burned out easily. You can read more about avoiding Twitter burnout here: How To Be Active On Twitter Without Getting Burned Out Just remember, to maximize your time, your effectiveness and your fun on Twitter, you have to Twitter on your own terms.
I hope these tips will help you enjoy your Twitter experience even more! If you have some additional tips of your own, please share them with us below so we can all learn from each other!
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