3 Ways Social Media Managers Can Prevent Burnout During the Holidays

While others are ushering in the good cheer and long breaks during the holiday season, it can be one of the busiest seasons for social media managers. From customer service management, seasonal campaigns, and Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, November and December can quickly lead to burn out. But I have good news, you don’t have to work 80 hours the week before vacation, and you can enjoy your break without having to work every day! It may sound like a Christmas miracle, but with intentionality, you can have a restful break and maintain your social ROIs.

Batch Content

I can’t stress the importance of batching content enough! Block out a couple hours each day leading up to holiday breaks to focus on creating content all the way through January. Set aside one block of time just for writing social posts, another for designing or taking photos for the posts, and yet another to schedule your posts. Your creativity will be focused on that one important task you need to accomplish without getting distracted. If you have ideas for the creative aspect as you write content, make a note.

Schedule Your Posts

While social media managers are always on their phones posting videos, responding to comments, and sharing Instagram Stories, even the best of us need a break from the blue screen. Schedule every Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram post possible. For Instagram, you can use Later, Hootsuite, or Buffer.

Schedule times that you will check your social accounts when you’re on vacation—as much as you may want to, you can’t completely turn off from being a social media manager! Your customers are still shopping, leaving reviews, and expect responses from your business. Schedule just 10 or 15 minutes of time in the beginning and end of your days during your holiday break to check your social accounts. Put it on your calendar just like any other meeting or time block.

Plan Ahead

There’s nothing like coming back from a relaxing Christmas break to realize January is around the corner, and you have nothing prepared! Instead of quitting your job and moving to Bali, plan ahead for the full month of January or at least the first couple of weeks to help your sanity and social strategy. Create and schedule content for January, establish your strategy, and even put reminders on your calendar for specific campaigns or focuses. You don’t need a fancy program to schedule out your social campaigns, just pull up an Excel sheet and map out November, December, and January posts and advertising campaigns.

Get creative with how you manage the responsibilities of your job during your holiday break. Turn off your social notifications and stick to your time blocks to check your social accounts. Depending on your team’s capacity and understanding of social media, split up your social media management check-ins for at least one full day on break, and ask your team to reach out in case of an emergency.

This original version of this article occurred for The Branch blog in November 2018