8 Ways Social Media Can Make You Productive (if you do it right)

Facebook open on a Macbook next to macarons, nailpolish and a mobile phone

Do you spend a lot of time on social media? Possibly so much, that you don’t even want to know the real amount? In that case, you might be wondering how to become more productive. And could there even be a way for social media to make you more productive? That would kill two birds with one stone.

The answer is yes, you can use social media to make yourself more productive. But that only works, if you are strict with yourself and pay attention to how you are using different social media platforms. I have listed 8 different ways in which you can use social media to your advantage. Some of these are great little adds to your daily routine, some take a bit more effort and some can only be used every once in a while.

It all comes down to the big picture, how you use social media in general. Are you there to learn and grow, or are you there to waste your time?

1. Search for powerful motivation

Possibly the best way in which social media can make you productive is through motivation. You can start your mornings by watching motivational videos on Youtube and your day is guaranteed to be better. But there are also many other ways in which you can harness social media to motivate you and make sure you keep your head in the game at all times.

One thing you have to remember is that you control what you see on social media. If you like a lot of pictures of donuts on Instagram, Instagram will show you more pictures of donuts. If you on the other hand decide to follow motivational accounts and to like posts with motivational quotes or productivity tips, you will see more of them.

Do you think you’re more likely to get things done if what you see are things related to food or things related to productivity? The answer is obvious and that’s something you can use to your advantage. Make conscious decisions to make your social media accounts motivational and you will have a much easier time staying on track.

Read next: 12 Tips for Morning Motivation

2. Look for entertainment in a productive form

Social media is great for many things, the most obvious one being entertainment. Taking some time to unwind by watching Youtube videos is just fine every now and then. But why not make that time count?

Consider changing the way you relax. There are endless ways to use social media to your advantage by mixing study and pleasure. Do you maybe want to learn more about the world around us and not have such a hard time talking about politics? Crash Course has you covered. Watching good-quality educational videos is both entertaining and useful.

Come up with ways to make your breaks count by connecting them to something you should do anyway. You can start by watching some useful TED Talks.

3. Search for content in your target language

Are you learning a new language? If not, you might want to start. Learning a new language takes a lot of time and effort, and that’s why it’s best to implement bits of the language in your daily life. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use social media.

If you for example like watching travel vlogs on Youtube, but you also want to learn Spanish, why not look for travel vlogs by Spanish speakers? It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but before you know it, you’ve already learned a lot of vocabulary, and listening to Spanish feels much easier.

You can also start reading the news in Italian or look for French gossip forums to spend your time on. Try to find new ways in which you can switch English to your target language and language learning will become much faster.

Female workspace with coffee, nail polish and colorful papers

4. Use apps that keep you focused

Do you have a hard time staying productive and keeping off the sites you know are not good for you? In that case, you can benefit from apps and browser extensions that hold you accountable and make sure you don’t slip.

I recommend StayFree for Android users who want to be able to track their time and block distractive apps. Flipd is a good, simple app for both Android and iPhone users who want to make sure that when it’s time to work, they literally can’t do anything unproductive.

Spend time finding the apps that are right for you. There are a lot of productivity apps out there, but not all of them are right for you. Think about what are your goals and your weak points, and test out several different apps to find the right one for you. Before you know it, using an app to block out distractions when it’s time to work is like second nature to you.

5. Network

Anyone who has big career plans or at least plans to make new friends should network. I know, networking can sound a bit daunting and maybe something you feel you’re not very good at. But you have to start somewhere. And you never know when you’re going to meet someone important. It could be today. But for that to happen, you have to make a conscious effort to network.

Networking doesn’t have to mean something very formal and difficult. It can just as well mean sending a message to someone you once did an internship with or taking part in discussions on LinkedIn. The more you interact with people, the more likely you are to find people you can connect with.

Ask yourself what kind of people you want to get to know and where you can find these people. Then you can take action and start taking part in discussions and sending messages to people you find interesting. Don’t be afraid to send direct messages to people. If you have something nice to say about their work or a question to ask, they’ll be more than happy to hear from you.

6. Get rid of or block everything unnecessary

I think we all follow a few Instagram accounts that are of no real use to us. And sometimes you simply fall down that Youtube rabbit hole where you first search for a video on how to change a bike tire and then all of a sudden you notice you’ve been watching a documentary about Vietnamese street food for the past half an hour. That happens.

But if you plan your social media strategy well, this won’t happen too often. Social media is designed to keep you scrolling and clicking for new content without even realizing it yourself. There’s a reason Youtube shows a long list of recommendations next to every video you watch and why apps such as Instagram and Tiktok have video feeds that you can scroll through endlessly.

What you need to do, is to block, disable and hide everything that might distract you. It’s also important that you constantly keep in mind how social media apps try to keep you on their platforms all day and don’t let yourself succumb to their tricks.

You can use browser extensions such as Unhook (for Chrome) to hide Youtube recommendations, comments, and anything that might distract you and make you spend more time than you intended on the platform. Make sure to also unfollow all accounts that you know don’t benefit you on all the apps you use. This will instantly make you more productive.

Marble desk with a coffee cup and notes

7. Look for tips and advice

What better way to make your time on social media productive than to dedicate some time to learning some great tips and tricks? Whatever you have in your mind and whatever problem you may have, someone on the internet has the answer.

If you are an avid health nut or you want to figure out how to create better Pinterest pins, why not spend some of your online time learning about the topics that matter to you? Quora and Reddit are great resources for those with lots of questions.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling through news articles and Facebook posts that you’re not even interested in, take the time to learn something new.

8. Listen to educational podcasts

We all love listening to podcasts, right? I remember the time when only a handful of people did that and it was a bit hard to find anything really good to listen to. Thankfully, times have changed. Now you can easily find several podcasts that cover the topic you’re interested in.

This is also something you can use to your advantage to be more productive. There are bound to be things you want to learn about. If you want to create a blog (or become better at blogging), there are plenty of really helpful blogging podcasts to listen to. Do you want to know more about investing or politics? Plenty of people have got you covered.

If you would most of all benefit from motivation, you can check out these podcasts. If someone telling you how to stop doubting yourself and just go after your dreams doesn’t make you more productive, what does?

Conclusion

Are you ready to make the time you spend on social media more productive and feel better about yourself? I know you are! Tell me in the comments what is the first step you are going to take to change the way you use social media!

If you are serious about your goals and how you spend your time, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter to get super motivational emails straight to your inbox every two weeks. If you sign up now, you’ll get a free copy of my ebook ‘A Simple Guide to a Productive Life’!

Featured image by AntonMatyukha/Depositphotos.com

2 Comments

    1. Those can be really useful! I’ve tried quite a few of them in the past, it takes time to find ones that fit your needs. But I definitely recommend taking the time to find the right ones for you!

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