Why productivity hacks aren't fixing your overwhelm (the October REPORT)

plus, 5 content mindset reframes in a voicenote pep-talk.

Oct 24, 2024

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⏪ Last time, a workshop to freshen up your Content Idea Bank. That’s here. 🪄

⏩ Today, a curated report of content I found worthy of a dog-eared page corner over the past month. It’s like a contentzine from your favorite pen pal…me! ◡̈

🗓️ Mark your calendar…

🗺️ November 8, 11 a.m. PST (see your time zone here) | ✨ [LIVE Event] Annual Content Roadmap Retreat ✨ to create your roadmap for 2025—the foundation for your content planning all year. (This event is a gift to paid members of the club as a thank you for your support in this space! Join us!)

Calendar tells me it was Boss’s Day this month and since I’m the only person boss here at The Content Brief, I can say YOU are the head honcho of your newsletter, too.

I wouldn't trade this “gig” for anything: It's an honor to obsess over ways to serve you in this space.

The biggest leadership lesson I've learned as a creator through the years?

SO much of it is about mindset.

Whether it’s fear of running out of ideas, doubting the value of your writing or feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of possibilities, your mindset plays a critical role in how effectively you can develop and sustain a content strategy.

You are showing up to lead the conversation in your space. You steer the ship on that. 🫡🛳️

And I meant it when I said I obsess over serving you as you navigate the trenches.

With that in mind, I’m dropping a voicenote below with five mindset reframes that might help you. Save it as a mini pep-talk anytime you need it. ✨

Now, here’s what you can expect in this REPORT—

🛎️ Voicenote from me: 5 content mindset reframes
🙇‍♀️ The Portfolio Career Layering Method
🕵️ Why productivity hacks aren't fixing your overwhelm
🌟 20+ newsletter operators share the best advice they ever received
👏 Practical ways to reconnect with the humans behind the numbers
🍁 Fall-vibes inspired finds of the month

I could never say it enough, but I am SO grateful for you. Thanks for being here. 🫶

🛎️ Recognizing

5 content mindset reframes from moi—save it as a mini pep-talk anytime you need it.

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Have your own mindset reframe to add? Drop a comment below and let’s share in our collective craft wisdom!

🙇‍♀️ Embracing

Ever feel like you're wrestling with multiple creative projects? Struggling to maintain focus?

Anna Mackenzie

’s piece on "Portfolio Career Layering" offers a method for building a rich, multifaceted career by focusing on one lane before expanding. It's not about dropping your other passions but strategically building them up one solid foundation at a time. (And I’d argue same goes for content!)

🔗 You can build multiple things but not all at once

🕵️ Pursuing

Executive coach

Natalie Rothfels

brings a fresh perspective on why productivity hacks aren't fixing your overwhelm in this guest post for

Lenny Rachitsky

. Before adding another app to your toolkit, try acknowledging the different "parts" of yourself—like that overachieving voice pushing you to do more, the people-pleaser saying yes to everything, and the inner critic making you feel bad about both. Making peace with these competing inner voices might actually be the change you need. Whatever your overwhelm scale, this one hits different than the typical productivity advice.

🔗 Why no productivity hack will solve your overwhelm

🌟 Optimizing

Want to know what keeps successful newsletter writers up at night? Spoiler: It's not their email open rates. This goldmine of advice comes straight from 20+ newsletter operators sharing the best advice they’ve received, and it's delightfully honest. Their top wisdom? Treat your newsletter like a real letter to actual humans (not a megaphone), don't sweat the unsubscribes, and remember it's totally normal if it feels lonely at first.

🔗 The Best Piece of Advice I Ever Got About Newsletters

👏 Refreshing

If you ever catch yourself stressing about metrics, here’s a challenge: Focus on genuinely addressing people's needs.

Tara McMullin

suggests people are exceedingly complex systems, “and yet, in everything from software to electoral politics, marketing to organizational psychology, we often squeeze 'people' into the conditions of a simple system.” That leaves us running on marketing autopilot but there are practical ways to reconnect with the humans behind the numbers.

🔗 An Ode to Exceedingly Complex Systems