Creating Content in Dark Times
How to beat this race of algorithms?
Hello Creators,
In times where we are battling personal loss and grieving, creators don’t have any choice but to create constantly is becoming tougher than ever.
How trends play a role in the burnout problem?
It is yet another day with the news flashing statistics that scare you while you scroll Instagram, watching trends that other creators are hopping on and you open your notes app to plan out your next content. When you are a creator, there’s always a fear of not doing enough or being left behind in the race of creating trending content or sharing your take on the “hot topic” but this fear has been coupled up with unavoidable grief and anxiousness of the pandemic.
How can you create trendy content in these dire times? How can you inspire and motivate others when your mind and heart are racing? And if you hide the fear in an attempt to be relatable enough, where does it go? How can you focus on being in the content game while you’re surrounded by the news which makes you anxious?
"Because once you're in the content game, you cannot not do it," says Pawan Rochwani in a conversation with Economic Times. If you are not consistent with your content, the algorithm can push you back in this race because the algorithm pushes the content based on the statistics it has, it does not care about you but only the numbers. So even if many creators are feeling anxious because of the current situation, they have to keep creating to sustain in the creator economy.
So what can you do in this situation that suits your mental health?
Honestly, if you don't acknowledge your stress and anxiety, it will blow up on you even worse and it will take you down. It is not easy, especially when you have 10 different things to do in your schedule and act creatively but doing it will make your life easier and bearable in these dark times.
Acknowledging and Accepting Your Emotions
When you are finding it more difficult than usual to create content, it is a red light, an indication that your mind is not at its best at the moment. Instead of pushing and hustling harder, accept your emotions and take steps to understand them.
Label your emotions: when you name a feeling — by saying to yourself “I’m anxious” — you can begin to address it. You can learn how anxiety informs your behavior and your decisions and what causes it to surge, which will equip you to manage it. Take your time to wallow in your emotions but do not procrastinate on facing what you are feeling.
Recognize that you’re doing the best you can, that your emotions are normal, and that the healthiest thing you can do is to allow yourself to experience them.
Taking Actions to Manage Your Anxiety
Once you know what you are feeling, it is time to take small steps towards managing it which does not hinder your creativity.
Structure your day according to what you are feeling today: when you plan out your day and create your schedule, do not overschedule or overestimate your productivity; instead, focus on the critical work and leave time to take care of yourself.
Take small steps: when you feel anxious, a small task can easily become overwhelming. Shifting your mind frame to act and making you worry about everything that needs to be done. When that happens, pick up the task at hand and bring your mind back to the present. Sometimes you have to turn off the future for a little while and just manage through the present.
Limiting Anxiety’s Impact on Your Creativity
Once you have a better sense of your anxiety and how you can manage it, it’s time to turn to how it affects your creativity. Let’s say that you are writing a blog for your website but all you end up doing is just staring at the blinking cursor on the screen with raging thoughts in your mind. You feel incompetent and start second-guessing what you are doing. In situations like these, talk to your fellow creators or writers and take their opinion about your writing.
Another way is to take breaks more often when your mind feels numb and while you are on your break, do things that you otherwise wouldn't. This will help you in distracting your mind from the uncertainty and focusing on gathering inspiration without any intention of doing so.
And if nothing else works out, remember that we are there for you as a community. We understand how difficult it is and we are here to help. You can reach out to us on our social media handle @platfromforartists anytime.
Have faith in yourself, take care, we will sail this through together!
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