I believe content creation should be fun, and you should be able to get a real reward out of it too, whether it is tangible (financial, assets or otherwise) or spiritual (you've helped someone put into words their experiences, or connected people who are seeking/offering services etc)
By blogging like I have been doing since April 2020, I'm creating my own content. This is because I'm sharing my perspectives and experiences, working to add value to the legal, autistic and neurodiverse communities, amplifying the voices of other diverse individuals in the legal community (be they neurodiverse or not - I don't believe in an "us and them" approach), and working to empower others to do the same with their own experiences. We all have unique stories and there will always be people who can take something away from those stories, and I believe the best thing we can do with knowledge and perspective is share it.
By doing this, I'm proud to have been able to educate and inform my followers, share my perspectives and experiences, increase awareness of my personal brand, and create a community around me of people who are interested in what I have to say and who want to share my content around their networks and communities too.
Though I've been pondering this question .........
Are we as content creators burdened by the expectation of our audiences?
The expectation to be active all the time, to always add value, to always put out content, to always be there, to always have a certain outlook etc.
Prior to publishing this blog here, I haven't created my own content for my site for a couple of months. This is for a number of reasons:
I've been continuing with my training - from mid-August to September, I've been transitioning out of the Corporate team and into the Residential Property team at my firm. I agreed to do what I could to complete the Corporate work I've been working on for months before fully moving across.
I'm moving so that I can continue with my training and development and t get some new experience in a new area that I might enjoy.
Not only that, but whenever I get a quiet moment I've been working with my colleagues in my firm's sister company and the Employment law team on a brand new project that we're hoping to be able to offer to clients very soon.
Add this to the fact that the fee earning work we do brings in money to my firm, which means:
we can carry on providing services to clients,
we can invest in creating and offering additional services,
we can invest in additional features to the firm to make lawyers' lives at work easier (ie tech additions, subscriptions to platforms),
we are all safe in the knowledge that we have a job, and
we all get paid our salary and can continue to live!
Since this is what I'm getting paid to do, its understandable that this will be high up on my priorities list, if not near the top!
I've been working on other projects - since starting this project up, others have been interested in me as a person, a professional, and someone who can add value or another perspective to something they are working on.
I've been invited to contribute blogs and interviews for resource platforms, appear on panels for a Uni Society and another young content platform to share my experiences of working as a paralegal, and I've appeared on a couple of podcasts sharing my route to qualification as a lawyer and my experiences of working remotely (search My Features).
I've also recently presented to a friend/mentor's firm on the value that neurodiverse workers can bring to an employer and what the employer should do to support and include and welcome these neurodiverse employees (see here), and my next project is another blog to be featured on a resource platform's monthly newsletter that goes out to law firms and recruiters.
It is always nice to hear that others believe I can add something to their own platforms or to anything they're hosting or creating, and of course I want to put as much effort in as possible to do the very best I can for them and for their audiences. Its only fair, right! But it means I've struggled for headspace to create my own content here for a little while. I can't do everything, no matter how much I want to!
I've needed a bit of a break - lately, due to a combination of work duties, being fed up with the COVID-19 situation, slowly getting back into seeing people but find that its exhausting (anyone else been feeling this too? Please tell me its not just me ha!), and working on the other projects mentioned above, I've found myself tired and needing a break, otherwise I'll burn out.
Doing everything that I've been doing will be worth it, I'm absolutely sure of it, and I'm excited to share what we've been able to create very soon! But I can't neglect myself and my health, so a break has been needed to slow down a bit.
Wondering if there is more to my neurodivergence than autism - recently I've been finding it a bit more difficult to keep my brain focused on a couple of things here and there. It could either be because I'm tired (see above), or after researching around to educate myself further on the other conditions under neurodiversity, perhaps this could be a trait of ADHD.
I've learned that its not uncommon for autistics to present some ADHD traits. ADHD isn't just restricted to the overly-stereotyped hyperactivity and restlessness, though it tends to be the case that those who present this get diagnosed sooner than those who present as more inattentive, forgetful or disengaged.
Now I don't have any formal diagnosis or have been seen by a professional, so this is just me being aware of some of the characteristics that I've noticed recently and making an observational comment that these characteristics may be presentations of ADHD.
Nevertheless, it is important for one's own self-awareness that we are aware of what we do in our day to day life, whether it is active or subconscious and we have to look deeper.
I've been trying to find inspiration for what to cover - I don't think this is full-on writers' block, but it might be because I haven't been able to find a topic or two that I feel I'm able to write about eloquently enough to publish.
Whilst this isn't mandatory requirement, I find that it helps to find something that I'm a) able to speak about in detail and be able to eloquently share my thoughts, and b) that others haven't already spoken about in a much more eloquent and knowledgeable manner than me. And the last thing I want to do is regurgitate old things just because I can, because I wouldn't be of any value to my audience.
All things considered, I've enjoyed having a break and taking a load off my back, and I don't feel like I'm under any kind of expectation to constantly create. I'd like to think that I have an audience that understands that and who are able to appreciate that I'm human and I have my own things to worry about, both personally and professionally, and who are able to take some value from my efforts and learn a bit more from my experiences whenever I share them.
I don't feel guilty because I know what I bring to my communities when I am able to create, and that there will always be others who are able to add value and experiences and knowledge to the legal, autistic and neurodiverse communities. These communities won't be left wanting just because one person takes a break for a little while.
Becoming burdened by the expectations that are on you, whether its by you or by your audience, also runs the risk of the content you create not being of the high quality that you know you can produce, but instead may become rushed and not high quality .......... like the last few episodes of Game of Thrones! (don't come after me, you know its true!).
Or what if there is a growing section of your audience who want to see more of a particular style or topic or genre of content from you, but that genre doesn't align with your values or beliefs, or perhaps you don't yet know enough about that topic to be able to produce high-quality content around it, and the pressure to create around that genre isn't of the same high quality as the rest of your content?
Or maybe its something completely different?
Whatever the reason, its a valid one. And since we don't know deep down what's happening with the person on the other side of the screen, my vote is to let them look after themselves first because they're not at their best personally or professionally if they're overloaded or overwhelmed.
So from all of this comes a follow on question, what do we do if we are burdened by that expectation?
I have a few thoughts on this.....
Define what "sustainable content creation" is to you
Being able to create consistently without burning out is essential if content creation is a venture you want to pour effort into, whether as a hobby, side hustle, or the way you make your living.
Being able to do it in a sustainable way means you don't burn out, lose motivation, get demoralised, or decide "forget it!" when there will inevitably be challenging points in the journey, points where you're struggling for inspiration, or points where you're having writers' block.
I came across this short essay from Daniel Miessler that offers suggestions on how to sustainably create content for your audience - Sustainable Content Creation - Daniel Miessler.
Amongst other points he makes in the essay, you'll see that making content mostly for yourself is essential since you can't fake what you're interested in or passionate about. That authenticity is what attracts people to your creations and your brand, and if you create on a topic that you know you're interested in, then it becomes a pleasure to create and your audience will notice this in your creating.
This "evergreen content" will always be refreshing and interesting because its real and its new as well.
Its also nice to receive nice comments, but if you base your worth on other people's comments instead of how you see yourself when creating, then you run the risk of creating an unhappy relationship with something you love. And that's not a position you ever want to be in.
Allow yourself downtime
Especially if content creation is a side hustle, you're allowed to take time for yourself to do whatever you want. You are human and the most important thing is that you are healthy and well. If you are not well, then you can't work, you can't create, and you can't enjoy who and what you have in your life.
If you're taking a break, do you blog or vlog about it?
Isn't the point of taking a break to have time away from something? Especially if its around work, isn't the point that you work to live, rather than live to work? Without breaks, you create an unhappy relationship with your work, you start to dread coming in on a Monday, you don't want to take on new tasks or work, and you isolate yourself because you don't feel like you want to be there.
The same can be true with creating content, right? The wrong kind of relationship with it can mean you get sick of creating.
If you want to make content around the benefits of taking a break, then by all means. Its an important topic and by talking about it, you can encourage others to do the same and look after themselves, and you can validate the notion that breaks are needed if we are going to be at our best. But doing it whilst on a break defeats the purpose of taking the break, doesn't it?
Pre-create a handful of posts and post whenever ready
If you have the chance to do this, it may help to keep a bank of content back and ready for sharing (whether that's by you or scheduled for posting by a bot/algorithm). It will require a lot of effort to build up a bank, though. But if you can put the time aside to do that, then this could be an option?
Is creating content how you make your living, or is it a side hustle or hobby?
If this is something that you do on the side, then it makes sense that what you do for a living comes first because that's how you put food on the table, pay the bills etc.
If this is how you make your living, then surely you would treat it like you would a normal day job, right? In a normal day job, you have an annual leave allowance that you use to break from your work so that you are working in order to live rather than the other way around.
Its important that you keep doing whatever it is you do to maintain a healthy relationship with the content that you create, and that content is authentically yours too. And I believe the best way to ensure that your content remains authentic is to look after yourself, look after your mental and physical health and wellbeing, and be happy with what you're doing in and around it also, whether its work or other projects.
If you need to take a break, then take a break!
If you want to invite someone in to create something because you feel they could add something, or to take the stress off you a bit, then do it!
If you want to do another project, then get involved in it. It might be fun!
But ultimately, make sure that what you're doing is right for you. Because that's what matters at the end of the day!
Be safe and be well! :)
P
Credit: Cover image photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash