Enterprise Nation

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans," wrote John Lennon. But, increasingly, for home business owners, it's what's squeezed between e-mails, blog posts and Twitter updates. Writing for productivity blog, Lifehacker, social media junkie, Steve Rubel, shares his tips on how to be social online without losing your entire workday. Here's a summary of his advice.

(For a bit of background, you might want to read some of my previous articles on Twitter, Facebook and RSS.)

Social media, Steve writes, is the equivalent of digital food. "It's nourishing, tasty and, for many of us, necessary." Consume too much, he warns, and you can get sidetracked and create larger consequences. (Does that mean putting on weight?!) The trick is to manage your online activity so that it adds value to your life and doesn't devour your attention.

His first tip? Set a North Star.
Define where social media fits in your life. Does it serve a business purpose, a personal or spiritual need? It might just be a way to kill time. In any case, it's important to know what you want to get out of the social sphere, so you can devote the right amount of time in a focused way. "Set a North Star," Steve writes, "that keeps you moving toward a destination and view the social web as an essential part of the journey."

Apply the Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of the value comes from 20% of the content. "Weed out the noise," Steve writes, "hone in on the signal and have systems that archive information so it's easy to find later."

Schedule Time to be Social
Keep your productive and social hours separate, suggests Steve, and aligned with your priorities and peak productive times. We've mentioned it before, but consider closing your mail and RSS reader when you really need to keep your head down and focused.

• Get Productive with Social Media (and Stay Sane) [Lifehacker]

Photo credit: Flickr user mark raheja.

San Sharma is a creative thinker, blogger and designer, as well as a writer on popular culture, technology and business.

• www.sansharma.com

Do you find yourself distracted by social websites, like Facebook? Do you use them to further your business? And how do you keep them from devouring your attention? Let us know what you think in the comments below.