I have an ambivalent relationship with the term ‘time management’ which I think dates back to when I was a secondary school teacher struggling under the demands of my job.
I met with a line manager and one of the pieces of advice she gave me - no word of a lie - was to put toothpaste on my toothbrush at night, ready for the morning.
Anything about the overwhelming workload, or scarcity of resources, or impossible expectations. Nope.
Toothpaste.
The underlying accusation of much of ‘time management’ discourse seems to be that if we’re struggling it’s because of a personal failing and this is something I want no part of, so when I was thinking about naming this workshop I initially didn’t want to use the phrase.
It is however, a phrase that writers and authors have used when they’re talking about their issues with Instagram, so I decided I could better use my time (see what I did there;-) recording the workshop rather than obsessing over what it should be called.
This means that in the workshop itself I talk about Time Management, but on reflection I’ve decided that time PROTECTION is more accurate.
What I talk about is more than applying routines and tick lists (although this is a small part of it), it’s also about intentionality and consciousness of where we’re spending our time, and identifying whether the decisions we’re making are helping or hindering us in our use of Instagram to find more readers.
What to expect from the Managing/ Protecting Your Time On Instagram workshop
When I work closely with writers and authors who want to use Instagram to promote their books they often say a versions of ‘Instagram takes too much time’, but when I dig into what is happening for them there is usually something else at play that we can then spend time unpacking and addressing individually.
Obviously, in a one hour pre-recorded workshop, I can’t promise to address every challenge involving time vs Instagram but you can expect 60 minutes of questions and reflections that invite you to consider whether your time vs Instagram problem is actually one (or a combination of) of three things:
Is your time problem actually a skill or strategy gap?
Is your time problem actually an expectation problem?
Is your time problem actually a behaviour problem?
You’re free to pause the video when you’d like to write notes, or keep watching all the way through.
I hope you find it useful and if there’s anything in particular that lands for you, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
If you haven’t yet watched it, you might also be interested in the first in this duo of FREE workshops, Write Your Own Instagram Manifesto, which you can watch here:
Additional notes
Books referred to:
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
The Phone Fix: The Brain-Focused Guide to Building Healthy Digital Habits and Breaking Bad Ones by Dr Faye Begeti
I mention Susan Cahill’s Instagram account as an example of dialling activity up and down depending on the place you’re at in the publication cycle
I also mention this free-to-read piece about different ‘modes’ of using Instagram
For more tailored advice and guidance, please consider becoming a member of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM by upgrading your subscription.
In the membership you’ll enjoy access to:
a weekly chat about your posting plans where you can ask questions about what you have planned
monthly LIVE Ask Me Anything clinics
guest speakers who’re walking the talk of book promotion
plus a range of other exclusive content such as post ideas and how-to guides.
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