I just got back from a much needed, well-deserved, 10-day vacation with my family. As a social media professional, this was no easy task because social media is a machine that runs 24/7, whether you're sitting in front of your screen or not.
So how did I manage to unplug for that long and not have our social media sites or our clients go dark as well?
I planned for it.
Schedule Your Posts - For the two weeks leading up to my trip, I made a list of all the social media sites that I had to be concerned with, the frequency that we publish on those sites, and any important posts that were time-sensitive. Then I doubled down on my work week and started scheduling posts for the time I was going to be gone. Scheduling posts is not the ideal way to run your day-to-day social media strategy, but it's an important one when you know you're going to be away from your office for more than a day.
Have Another Staff Member Help - You're not asking them to do everything for you because you've already done the majority of the work; however, it's really important that someone knows what's going on with your sites and/or accounts in case something goes awry, or (like I was) you're completely off the internet grid. Make sure they either have login information to each account or are administrators on the sites before you leave, as well as any special instructions they may need.
Spot Check While Away - Since we were out of the country for this trip, I literally had zero access to the internet (and it was blissful, let me tell you!), so this one was a little bit harder this time. On a “normal” trip where I have access to wifi, I set aside 30 minutes a day (usually first thing in the morning) to do a quick check-in on my accounts—just to be sure that nothing pressing needs to be handled. If it does, I either handle it myself or let someone (who has already been briefed on everything) in the office know.
Tell People You're Going on Vacation - If you're normally only a call away from your clients like I am, you should let them know that you're going to be gone and when they can expect you back in the office. This does a couple of things—first, they know that even though you're gone, their accounts are still going to be active and up-to-date, and second, that if something unexpected does come up in their business, they know who they can get in touch with.
Everyone deserves time off, but especially those of us who are connected to the internet and tethered to their devices all day and night. With a little bit of planning and scheduling, it's a nice feeling to be able to go away and reconnect with the world that's really important to you—your friends and family!