I know that social media is such a powerful these days, both personally and professionally, but I’m just not getting into it. I was a huge user of Facebook in it’s early days, when I was at University and traveling, as I had more time. Nowadays, I only check if I have notifications, but I’ve got to admit, I do enjoy watching videos or reading articles on a variety of topics. That’s what Facebook is for me these days.
Now on the professional side of things, I know as an international teacher, I NEED to be on social media to stay connected to these fabulous inspirational teachers that are doing so much for Physical Education, but I just can’t get into it. I have a Facebook, twitter, instagram and a linkedin account for the teaching side of things, but I just don’t get on them enough to interact with others. I am baffled how other practitioners do it. Many times when I have been on Facebook/twitter, I find some interesting conversations, but find I am too late to contribute and therefore I am asking for tips/strategies to be better at this.
One of the best things I did was turn off all my notifications (advised by Jarrod in his podcast) to get your life back and not to be controlled. This has helped a lot and now I’m on social media when I have the time, instead of ALL the time, each time I get a notification. I am so busy during my working days that any free time, I am preparing for lessons. I get home, go to the gym, make food and have about an hour (usually watching TV) before I go to bed.
Now, I do dedicate one of my working days (during free periods) to work on my website, which has helped me move forward slowly but surely. I then spend 2-3 hours on one day of the weekend working on my personal projects or having a look at the social media platforms but I know it’s not enough. What do other practitioners do to stay connected? How much time do you dedicate? Is it a fixed time or do you just go on whenever? Any help would be appreciated.
(Photo taken from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anti-social-media-robert-hotchin)