I am always on top of client work, but when it comes to my own content… I’m less disciplined. I am weeks ahead on my LinkedIn posts. My blog posts… not so much. Those are just-in-time processing.
I started to think about why that was the case. I mean they’re basically the same thing, just structured a little differently and one is a little longer than the other. And therein lay the truth behind why it was so much easier for me to write the LinkedIn posts than the blog posts.
I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one who shares these feelings about their content, so let’s see if you agree and talk about how we can overcome this together.
Time Pressure
I always feel like writing my blog takes way more time than a basic LinkedIn post. While it definitely takes longer, it’s hardly a grueling effort. Between outlining, writing, and editing, my own personal blogs take maybe an hour (this is a different story for client blogs I write). But this feels like an eternity compared to the LinkedIn posts that I write.
Because I have this narrative in my mind that a blog post takes so much longer to write, I am less prone to act immediately on an inspiration. I jot it down in my notes and then wait until “I have time” to start the blog process. For my LinkedIn posts, however, if I have an idea, I’ll usually just write it on the spot.
Because I put off the blog to work it into my schedule, I then put time pressure on myself. This stifles creativity and just makes the process less fun. Instead of creating to create, I’m creating to stay on schedule and work it in with other deadlines.
Maybe 2025 will be the year I work ahead and don’t worry about this, and I challenge you to do the same.
Just Do the Thing
Because my LinkedIn posts are shorter, I don’t feel like I need a big, grand idea. I get a spark of inspiration and I run with it. I usually start writing it in semi-real-time (depending on where I’m at) and see how it takes shape. If it doesn’t pan out, I’m usually able to pivot pretty easily into another post on a related topic.
For my blogs though, I start to analyze the spark of inspiration. Will it have enough content? Will it fit into my typical blog structure? What’s the moral of the blog? Instead, if I just sat down to do the same thing with the blogs that I do with my LinkedIn content, I would still be able to pivot if necessary or run with the spark of inspiration. How do I know this? Because when I’m short on time and need to write my blog, I pivot ideas all the time to produce a solid outline.
There’s power in acting on our inspirations, even if it’s just an outline. Frequently, my blog outlines end up having the bulk of my content. When we get started instead of analyzing our ideas, we’re able to get into a flow.
Small Ideas Add Up
Following that same thought process, we often don’t need a huge idea to get started. The content we produce is just a series of small ideas put together.
My LinkedIn posts are generally one bite-sized idea. My blog post is a few small ideas related together in one theme. In no piece of content of any substantial length do we just crank out one never-ending section of an idea.
We can make our longer content more manageable by chunking it down into small ideas and tying them all together. We build up the amount of work or creativity needed in our head which makes us procrastinate, which leads us into a time crunch that starts the cycle all over again.
Writing your own content is the ultimate test of self-discipline. Writing a book takes that to another level. If you’d love the support of someone taking care of writing your book for you, so you don’t get stuck in a procrastination cycle and can focus on your inspiration and creativity, let’s chat! I can create an environment to foster that creativity while keeping you on track.
Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as providing, or intending to provide professional financial, legal, psychological, or other professional advice. It is simply meant to share my experiences with those who may find them relatable and helpful.