Only 20 Minutes of Social Media a Day for Writers?

At the writer’s conference that I mentioned in my previous blog post, the conference guru led a session about social media and blogging. He suggested that we writers spend only 20 minutes a day on social media.

I’m curious to know what your reaction is to this. Because for me, his statement triggered an eye-popping, gag-choke-laugh reflex that has never quite happened before. Social media is what I depend on when:

I need a writer’s break. Short breaks help with productivity; they are as important as eating, sleeping, and watching Outlander.

I am having a mini-writer’s-block. This happens about 20 times a day, so there goes the 20 minutes of social media time right there.

I need some inspiration. After you get past my onion layers of sarcasm and cynicism, there is a gal who appreciates a good dose of #inspiration and #motivation.

I need a laugh. A couple of days ago, I discovered some Twitter handles related to P.G. Wodehouse, and my life is now complete. See @inimitablepgw, ‏@DailyPlum ‏and  @wodehouseoffice.

I want to see what other writers are doing. Just trying to keep up with the writer-Jones’s. Holler!

I need a brain break. All this geniussness that I put on paper makes my brain hurt sometimes. (Wait, geniusness isn’t a word?)

I am in between scenes. Sometimes I just need to clean the mental slate after I end a scene, especially if I’ll be switching from one character’s POV to another.

I want to goof off. Okay, that’s the same as the first bullet point above. However, goofing off is less proactive than a writer’s break and leads to writer’s guilt. *sad face*

I am curious about what’s trending. How else will I know when it’s National Taco Day or National Ice Cream Sandwich Day? I am very patriotic, you know.

I want to look at images instead of words. When the words on your screen or paper start to look like writer’s mush, sometimes you just want to look at pretty pictures and puppy memes.

Well, maybe the conference guru has a point. Perhaps I should curb my behavior a little bit. Set a timer? Maybe even one that is tied to electroshock probes?

Photo by Kyra P on Unsplash. Caption with it is my own.