You, unplugged: Taking a break from social media

How to set boundaries — for yourself and others — once business hours are over

The traditional 9-to-5 has given way to 24/7.

See whether a few of these situations ring true:

So your job requires that you communicate through social media all day long. Is there any way to escape it when you go home?

Steve Cody, co-founder and managing director of Peppercom, says it’s difficult for social communicators to take a break.

“Most people use Facebook or MySpace for recreational purposes, but when you work in social media, it’s your job,” Cody says. “You have to use the medium and master it. When you master it, you have to be intensely focused.”

For communicators who are in charge of a company’s social media strategy, Cody warns that time has to be carefully managed. If you’re constantly using social media after hours, you could suffer from creative fatigue, Cody says.

“If you get wrapped up in every nanosecond, you definitely limit your strategic or big-thinking picture-seeing,” Cody says. “You need to push back and find ways to decompress.”

Is this really possible? How do you go about doing it? Some suggestions:

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