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If you’re anything like me,  you know how easy it is to get socially distracted by sites like Facebook or Twitter. But when you’re running a business, you really don’t have time to spend playing the latest Zynga games or visiting with family and friends during your work hours. Here are some ways you can avoid becoming socially distracted while still getting the networking benefits from these sites.

Keep a daily and weekly schedule of tasks you need to do. If you’re not using a daily schedule to manage your time and business tasks, you’re likely cutting your effectiveness in half. It’s a simple procedure. Just sit down and make a list of everything you need to do, then assign a time to do it. When you start out, you may want to overestimate how long a task will take if you’re not sure. That way you won’t feel pressured by deadlines you can’t seem to meet.

Pre-schedule posts using Hootsuite. No longer just for Twitter, Hootsuite now allows you to update several of your social networks including Facebook, LinkedIn and Ping.fm in one simple step. By setting up posts in advance, you can spend 30 minutes or so a week getting everything lined up, then not worry about it again until next week.

Set a time limit. Give yourself 15 minutes two or three times a day to interact socially and check out what’s going on at Twitter and Facebook. Give yourself permission to stand around the virtual water cooler and chat a bit before getting back to work. If you’re not disciplined enough to log out when your time is up, schedule another important task immediately following. That will help you get back on track more easily.

One of the main reasons I, personally, get socially distracted is that I enjoy seeing what my friends and family members are doing, reading their tweets and posts, seeing what they have to share, etc. And the best way for me to stay motivated to work is to allow myself the luxury of a couple social breaks during the day so I don’t feel as isolated and alone. It makes it much easier to get back to work when my break is over!

What about you?  How do you manage your time so you can avoid becoming socially distracted?