Written by: Kristen Kubik, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You know that feeling when you stare at your phone or stare at your computer and you’re feeling just empty? You feel like you just have nothing left to say? You’ve just said it all! There’s nothing left! Maybe you just feel like you’ve gone through your list of ideas, or you’ve “finished” your content calendar and you’re left wondering, “What’s next?”
As business owners and entrepreneurs, there are endless rules to content creation and social media. You’re supposed to make sure you post a certain amount of certain things on certain days on certain platforms for certain people… and blah, blah, blah, blah. All of these pressures constantly put on us can make us feel like we’re running out of content - or even worse, put us into a content burnout.
So, how do we fight content burnout?
One: Stop Scrolling
The number one way we can combat content burnout is to stop scrolling. It’s so easy nowadays to get caught up in social media, email, text messages, and everything else on our phones. We all know that phone addiction is a real thing, and social media addiction is an even bigger problem. The need for instant gratification is messing with our heads more and more nowadays; because we live for the likes, the engagement, and the “perfect” photos… and if we don’t get them, then we think something’s wrong with us.
But even further, the more we scroll, the more we’re comparing ourselves to others. The more we scroll, the more we’re filling our heads with other people’s content. And if we’re spending all of our time filling our heads with other people’s content, how can we create? How can we allow the spark of our creativity to ignite and flourish into a full-on flame if we’re smothering it with other people’s content?
Here’s the thing: We can’t. We have to give the spark air, because fires need air to grow. We have to let our minds breathe. And in order to do that, the first step is to stop scrolling.
Two: Take Time For Yourself
How do we break through the noise around us? We have to take time for ourselves. We have to take time to connect. We have to have quiet time in order to allow the creativity in.
Hear me out! I’m not talking a long time, hours and hours… because not everyone has that kind of time to spend. We all also have lives - some have kids, some have other responsibilities, some are business owners, some are career-driven people, and so on. Just a simple five to ten minutes a day is all it takes to get your mind quiet and connect with yourself. This can be as simple as just breathing quietly in the shower, or laying in bed quietly right when you wake up - before you grab your phone, before you jump up out of bed to start your day, or even just right before bed - at the end of the day when you’re finally quieting down from all of the day’s events.
One of the best things to do is to just sit outside, especially at sunset. You get to enjoy the little bit of sunshine left, right as the dark is appearing, and you also soak in the natural sounds and feelings that come with just sitting and being. The more you do these things, the more you’re able to connect with yourself and your creativity to be able to allow the ideas to flow into you. And the more the ideas are able to freely flow into you, the easier it becomes to create and write the content you need and wants to write from the heart rather than forcing it.
Three: Be Intentional When You Get On Social Media
Circling back to number one, we get so lost so easily in mindless scrolling that the addiction is an addiction without us realizing it. We get lost in our scroll, and before we know it, we’ve lost hours of our day.
So, how do we get a grip on this? Be intentional when getting on social media - or even our phones or computers in general. What does that mean? If you’re opening social media, already have a plan of what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’re getting it done. Then just do it and be done! (Easier said than done, right? I’ve been there, so you’re not alone!)
My favorite tip is to pre-write my posts in the notepad of my phone or in the Google Keep app, so I can access the post from my phone or my computer. By doing this, you can intentionally get on whichever platform you post to, quickly copy and paste, then upload and continue without getting sucked into the mindless scroll. Whenever you’re able to take intentional actions, you’re more productive and not smothering the spark of creativity with other people’s content.
Implementing one of these things or combining all of these things takes away the feeling of running out of content. You’re able to access the flow of the content creation. And when you’re able to access the flow of the content creation, you’re able to create in a better, healthier way - rather than forcing yourself to write something just to write it; because, at the end of the day, your audience can feel when you’re posting just to post or posting in a way that doesn’t feel normal or true to who you are.
Kristen Kubik, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Kristen Kubik is a recovering corporate people pleaser who decided that sleeping until 10am and wearing leggings to the office was a much better idea than staying miserable in the 9 to 5 world. Utilizing her talents as a graphic designer, she opened her branding agency in 2016, which later evolved into business mentoring, helping entrepreneurs and career-driven women simplify the steps to their goals and strengthen the connection to their intuition and self-love. Kristen is a multi-passionate entrepreneur who thrives on empowering others to reach their business and mindset aspirations by focusing on embracing their uniqueness. She is also the host of the "As Told Unfiltered" podcast, which is a deep dive into the realness of being an entrepreneur.
