Getting Things Done
I’m always on a quest to use my time more efficiently when I’m online managing my social media marketing. In my latest productivity research, I came across the Getting Things Done (GTD) method.
The GTD method is a program to help you organize your to-do lists, decide which items are your priorities and how to fit this into your schedule. It’s a simple process to make it easy to see what needs to get done and how to decide what to work on next.
On the site, GTD’s developer David Allen takes you through his GTD system and shows you how to break your work down into five basic steps.
After reading through the process, I can easily see how these easy steps can stop all the stuff from your to-do list from swirling around in our head and help you turn them into a more effective work schedule.
And the whole thing works with your work style.
There are no specific apps to download, forms to fill out or groups to join. You do what works for your busy schedule and find your own way to get the steps done.
As my workload gets bigger with more clients and creating new online products, I’m constantly finding my calendar jam packed with more and more on my to-do list. And that just makes it even harder to get all the social media posting, connecting and engaging to fit into my day.
I was totally excited when I read through this website! It was so cool to learn some new ideas to help my overloaded schedule. And I love finding new ways to get more done in my day.
{ I’m such an organization nerd! }
The Five Steps that Change Chaos to Order
After spending way too much time on the GTD website than I should have, I started to think about how to use this method to help solopreneurs organize their social media marketing efforts.
Let me show how to translate this productivity method to organize your social media plans and to choose where to spend your valuable time and attention.
Step 1: Capture
Capture basically means to collect everything in one place. Find a place to keep your daily to-do list, your social post ideas, links you want to share and even the dates when you’re doing your updates.
You can put this in a notebook, a planner, an app … whatever works for your world. And it needs to be something that you have easy access to when you need it.
If you put off writing down your post ideas until you get back to the office to use your notebook, then that’s not going to work.
I save all my social media notes in Evernote – the app is in my laptop, on my tablet and in my phone. When I find a link I want to share, I can download it right at that moment.
Your capture step needs to be that easy.
Step 2: Clarify
This step is asking you to ‘process what your notes mean.’
Be specific when you write or type your notes. Don’t just write ‘update Twitter posts’ but break it down into actionable steps like “research posts to share on Twitter, schedule posts into Hootsuite.”
The more specific you are, the more you’ll know how long it will take you for each action item on your list. Knowing how much time it takes for each item is helpful as you plan out your schedule for the day as well as the rest of the week.
Step 3: Organize
You’re not just organizing your to-do list. The idea is to break your action items into different social site categories and work on one platform at a time.
This process is not about social multi-tasking because you think you’ll get more done. That’s when your focus gets divided and honestly, it’ll take you more time to get your tasks done than if you would have concentrated on one social program at a time.
Let’s say you’re in Pinterest to get the links of some resource articles you’ve been collecting on one of your boards for your Facebook fan page updates. Don’t click over to the Pinterest home feed even if it’s just for what you think is one minute.
Get your links, stay in Facebook, do your updates and get the work done.
When you review your list, give each item a priority. I shared with you in my Social Media MITs (most important tasks) post about how to find your top social site. This is how you’ll find which social sites should be higher on your list.
These are the social programs will help you reach your goals. If you’ve been paying attention to your tracking then you know that these sites bring the most traffic, which means more people will come to your site to see your stuff for sale.
Now you have your action items and your priority list, it’s time to schedule these into your calendar. Set your reminders in place so you can focus on your to-do list and what you have to get done.
Step 4: Reflect
Review your list several times a day. And then ask yourself, “Do you have the time or energy to get those things done?”
Do several check-ins with your list throughout the week and make adjustments. Sometimes things out of your control happen like a sick child or your progress on a project is taking longer than you planned. Anything unplanned can easily throw a wrench into your well-planned schedule.
When that happens to me, I re-prioritize my list. I ask myself, “What absolutely, positively has to get done?” And those things get shifted to the top of my list.
Step 5: Engage
Simply put – get the work done. You know what to do, what’s next on your priority list and the specific action you need to take.
Stop collecting ideas, scheduling in reminders and reviewing your calendar. It’s time to get it done.
The basic steps of GTD are a great way to make sure you get everything out of head or scattered on random sheets of paper into an organized system that gives you a detailed plan to get things done.
And you can take these ideas into the rest of the items on your to-do list! I’ve been working through the process and I can tell you that it really works for everything that you have to take care of every day.
Give the GTD method a try for your social media marketing (even if you just try it out for one month!). I think you’ll find that you’re spending less time worrying about what to do next and more time working on the more important things you should be doing to help you grow your business.
If you’re looking for more tips to give you simple easy to follow social management plans to incorporate social media into your weekly schedule, download my new 30 Minute Social Sessions workbook!
The 30 Minute Social Sessions Workbook includes:
- 30 Minute Social Sessions for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Real-world results of doing the 30 Minute Social Sessions.
- Each session will give you steps you can do once or twice a week for 30 minutes to help you get your message heard by the people who want to buy your stuff.
- How to use and track your Google Analytics to see which social site is generating the most traffic to your website.
- Printable tracking charts you can use every month so you can see a pattern of what’s working and what’s not.