#1: Repetition and simplicity are your friends.
I love this tip because it's great for you as the creator and great for the person on the other side of the screen absorbing your material.
Learning can be hard. And social media is already alot. In order to really make an impact on someone and help them learn whatever it is you're teaching, they need to see it multiple times in different formats and bigger concepts need to be simplified.
Also, not everyone sees every single piece of content you make. Also, not everyone pays attention to every single piece of content you make. They're not being rude, they're just being human.
Do yourself a solid by making your content ideas last longer and farther by repeating yourself and keeping things simple. This doesn't mean you can't talk about big concepts or teach about a lot. It means chunk the material, present it in different ways, and allow time & space for people to absorb, respond, and engage.
#2 There's no one right way to do almost anything.
We are inundated online with hacks, strategies, tools, apps, planners, calendars galore that are supposedly the "best" way to optimize our life, make bank, and reach the height of efficiency and productivity.
In case no one told you.... you don't have to do any of those things.
Content batching? Don't have to do it.
Waking up at the same time every day? If it works for you, great.
Wearing jeans to look trendy? Who is still wearing jeans????
Perfectionism has found its way into every corner of our lives. If you really want to go down the rabbit hole with how destructive and pervasive perfectionism is, check out Monique Melton's Shine Brighter class on perfectionism and white supremacy. (@moemotivate on IG)
My advice to you with your content creation process is to slow down and take a beat before you do something (say open an app, create a piece of content, edit, using hashtags, etc). Take this pause to check in with yourself. Is what you're about to do or use actually helpful or supportive for you? Or are you doing it because you think you have to? I invite you to release any parts of you content creation process that feel forced, overwhelming, or draining and allow in what feels supportive, helpful, and energizing. Even if it doesn't look like the "perfect" way we're "supposed" to do it.
#3: Almost everything is morally neutral.
Building off the previous tip, since we're letting go of the idea that there is one right way to do something (say, create content), we're also going to work with this understanding that almost everything in our life is morally neutral.
For those who want to go down this rabbit hole, check out KC Davis on TikTok @domesticblisters or on IG @strugglecare.
Morally neutral means it is neither good nor bad.
Making your bed? Morally neutral.
Batching content ahead of time? Morally neutral.
Editing your photos? Morally neutral.
Under the guise of perfectionism, we've "learned" that there is some "ideal" we're striving for so by that standard there are "right" and "wrong" ways of living our lives. And we aren't adhering to the "standard" we must be "wrong."
I don't batch my content ahead of time. That does not make me a bad content creator.
I invite you to see strategies, tools, apps, processes as neither good nor bad.
They are tools in your tool box and if they help you complete the project in a way that feels good to you, great, use them. If not, know that you aren't a "bad" content creator for choosing something else.
#4: Rest is a right. Selfcare is a lifestyle.
Under capitalism, we learn that our worth is centered in our labor, our output, our efficiency. This means the more we get done, the "better" we are.
This leads to so many of the problems we have now regarding burnout, hustle culture, exhaustion, unhappiness, inequity, and more.
Capitalism doesn't like this, but rest is actually something we as humans deserve. It is something we have a right to.
So, invoking your right to rest means you are standing up for your wellbeing. It means you are saying no to oppression. Check out @TheNapMinistry on IG for their work in advocating for the right to rest.
Your content creation process deserves selfcare. True selfcare is a lifestyle, so says the Queen of Pentacles from the Mermaid Tarot Deck :)
The less we focus on doing it "right" and the more we focus on us feeling sustained, the better.
For me this looks like forgoing a streamlined brand so that I have more flexibility in the creative process. I don't batch my content because that stresses me out more than it helps anything.
Consider some changes you could make to your content creation process that would make it more fun, more relaxing, simpler, and therefore more likely to actually get done?
#5: A choice doesn't have to be for life.
Like clockwork, anytime I start some new routine, strategy, or process, my brain immediately wants me to consider how I'll be able to replicate it.
:If we spend this Sunday evening creating some videos for TikTok, will we be able to do this every Sunday night for the rest of our life??!!!" Perfectionism loves consistency--that's what we've been told is the "right" way to do things. So if I can't replicate this choice, then it's "bad" right?
You are allowed to change your mind.
You are allowed to have a schedule that fluctuates.
You are allowed to do things completely differently from week to week, day to day.
You are allowed to try something once and never do it again.
It doesn't make you a bad creative. It makes you a human.
And you're allowed to be a human.