Running a small business while juggling family life, school drop-offs, carving out time for personal care and hobbies, and remembering to drink water? SAME.

Social media can feel like just one more thing on your already overflowing plate. It’s supposed to help grow your business and make marketing easier, not take over your evenings, weekends, and every spare second in between.

But if you’ve ever stared at your screen thinking, ‘what am I even supposed to post today?!’, just know you’re not alone. I do this for a living, and there are still days where I feel totally tapped out.

Here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be this overwhelming.

You don’t need to post every single day (seriously, those days are DONE) or constantly chase new trends just to stay relevant. With a few simple systems, you can show up online in a way that feels good, builds community, and still leaves room for your actual life, whether that’s running your business, being a present parent, or just taking a moment to yourself to breathe.

So in this post, I’m sharing 5 social media time-saving systems I use in my own business and teach to clients all the time. These are the exact steps that help me stay visible and sane, as a business owner, a mom, and someone who loves connecting with her community but also needs a break from her phone sometimes (don’t we all?!).

Let’s dive in!

1. Weekly Content Planning Sessions

If you’re waking up every morning thinking, “Ugh what do I post today?”, you’re already behind and wasting precious brainpower. Instead, grab your fave bevvy (mine’s a starby’s refresher, always), block off 30–60 mins once a week, and map out your content.

I’ve been known to plan 6 months of content in a single afternoon while bingeing my latest audiobook. (Want me to teach you how? Send me a message!)

Here’s how I do it:

I use my own content planner (it’s filled with highlighter scribbles, ideas for posts and personal notes, and I love it)
I look ahead at what’s coming up in my business (launches, blogs, community events)
Then I plug in 3–5 post ideas based on what’s actually happening in real life
I always fill in the gaps with evergreen stuff like tips, testimonials, or a quick “Hey here’s what I’m loving this week” post

Assign a simple theme to each day of the week so you’re not reinventing the wheel.

2. Batch Your Content Like a Pro

Batching is a GAME-CHANGER. I’m telling you, nothing saves me more time.

Instead of scrambling every day, pick an afternoon and film a couple reels, snap a bunch of photos (yes, change outfits between!), and write out captions while you’re in the zone. Once you’re in that creative headspace, everything just flows faster.

Oh! And batching doesn’t just mean content, it means engagement too! I’ll set a timer for 15 minutes and go comment on other local biz posts, reply to DMs, or share a post to my Stories. Done and done.

3. Create Content Buckets & Templates

You know how I always talk about creating content that feels like you? This is how we do it.

Figure out 4–6 “buckets” that your content usually falls into. These are your go-tos. Mine are:

Tips & how-tos (like this!)
Behind-the-scenes
Client shoutouts
Offers/promos
Personal stuff (like being a mom with a flexible schedule or my love of summer adventures)

Once you know your buckets, it’s so much easier to come up with ideas. Plus, I use Canva templates for a lot of my posts. Makes it fast AND keeps everything looking polished and on brand.

4. Use a Scheduling Tool (and actually use it)

This is one of those “work smarter not harder” things. Once your content is ready, schedule it. I love Meta Business Suite (it's free!), but there’s also Later, Planoly, Buffer, whatever works best for you.

Batch a few days (or the whole week!) so you’re not scrambling every morning while making lunches or finding missing shoes.

And yes, even if your posts are scheduled, make a little space to be social on social media. That’s where the real connection happens.

*Stay on top of your marketing by planning themes in advance. Image: The Social Media Content Planner by KA Social Media.*

5. Build a 10-Minute Engagement Routine

Listen, you do not need to spend hours scrolling. I’ve got an active daughter, a business, a husband who works shifts, and a generally full plate. I don’t have time for endless doomscrolling, and neither do you.

Here’s my 10-minute routine:

Reply to your recent comments
Check your DMs
Like and comment on 3–5 other biz accounts (support your local crew!)
Watch 10-20 Stories and drop a quick reaction
Share one client or customer post to your own Story and tag them!
Set a timer and get in and out. Done.

Real Talk:

You don’t need to spend 4 hours a day making content. You just need systems that work for you. Start with ONE. Get comfy. Then add another.

Consistency > perfection. Every single time.

And if you’re sitting there thinking, “This sounds amazing but I need help figuring out how this works for my business?”, I’ve got you.

Let’s Make Your Life Easier:

✅ Grab your free prompts lists: I’ve got downloads on my site just waiting for you

📘 Want the full system? Get your copy of The Social Media Content Planner (the exact tool I use every week!)

Need a custom strategy? Book a call and let’s build your own easy-peasy content plan that fits your brain, your biz, and your bandwidth

➡️ Book your discovery call now!

We’ve got this friend! Let’s make content feel fun again!

5 Social Media Time-Saving Systems Every Small Business Needs