What it's like being a content creator

And my love/hate relationship with social media.

This is my first instalment of Ask Meghan, a Q&A here on my Substack where I’ll be answering questions I receive from time to time that I feel are interesting to elaborate on. It’s nice being able to answer questions in a longer format! (If you have a question for me that you’d like me to expand on here, leave me a comment or shoot me an email or DM on Instagram).

In my last Substack post, I talked about my tendency to overthink a lot, and I got a great question about that trait as it relates to being a content creator. In this post I’ll be delving into what it’s like being a creator and all the highs and lows that go along with it.

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Ask Meghan

“I’m wondering, how on earth do you stay consistent with your online presence across platforms while having that trait [of overthinking]? For years I’ve been frozen, unable to fully start and keep going at it because of that. Here I am, almost a decade of analysis paralysis and rabbit hole hyper-fixations on so many topics, but yet I’m in the same spot…”

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I totally know how this feels, and I think a lot of people dive into things way easier than those of us who think so deeply.

It's funny because while I have managed to be overall consistent across my social platforms in the many years that I’ve created content, in my own experiences of doing so, I have often actually felt quite inconsistent compared to other creators. There have been many times where I’ve gone radio silent for days or weeks for numerous reasons. It’s not uncommon for me to get stuck in a rut or experience a lack of motivation or creative drive or withered inspiration (I also stay home with my toddler most days which means I have less time for editing and have had to reduce my workload and such). But my tendency to overthink the content I create probably trumps all of it: I can spend hours fixating on captions, scripts, photos or video clips, sometimes leading to re-filming objectively good footage, or scrapping my efforts altogether. This is where my perfectionism can really kick into high gear, and it’s tough!

There are tons of ideas I've had that have been left to collect dust because I've never built up the courage to act on them or been able to decide how to move forward with them (because of—you guessed it—overthinking. Womp womp).

All of this said, I do still continue to show up as best I can. Let’s talk about this!

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The art of showing up

Reminder: it doesn’t have to be so serious

Despite my chronic tendency to overthink, I always eventually take action (even if it’s caused me to fall a bit behind). I've been working on this though for a while now to push myself through those moments of analysis paralysis, and just “doing it anyway” which has been liberating. It’s kind of satisfying too—to challenge myself to push through it—because I know in doing so it helps to stop the habit of anxious overthinking in its tracks, and rewires my brain to just do it instead.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being a content creator for so many years, it’s that you just gotta keep at it and keep showing up, even if it’s imperfectly.

The truth is, every time I click publish on a new YouTube video or hit ‘share’ for a new Instagram post, I get a little anxious. I think putting yourself out there publicly is bound to tug at your vulnerability strings, regardless of who you are. Even if you’re not sharing anything overtly personal, just the act alone of putting your thoughts or ideas or something creative out into the world can be nerve-wracking.

My mind is often whirling with an array of thoughts when I’m editing a video or preparing to post. What if people misunderstand me? What if people don’t like it? What if I look or sound stupid? What if it doesn’t get many views/likes/engagement? Or a more helpful (yet occasionally barricading) one I have sometimes is, what is the point of this? If I ever feel lost when conjuring up video or post ideas, remembering what I’m trying to achieve in the first place can help me shape things in more purposeful ways.

Regardless, despite all the nerves (and imposter syndrome rearing its head), I still ultimately continue to show up and create content. I’m usually reminded that my worries are just made up in my head or not that big of a deal anyway.

I heard something recently that I really resonated with, about how us creative people tend to take our ideas or projects so seriously. We put them on a pedestal and they become the most important thing ever, and then we put so much pressure on ourselves and they become intimidating. We either procrastinate or we expend so much energy fixating on tiny details. Remind yourself that it’s not that deep. It can be important and meaningful to you, but it doesn’t need to be so painfully serious in your mind.

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My love-hate relationship with social media

Boundary Setting & the Comparison Trap

The thing is, I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I’m a creative person and I thrive on having a lot of variety in my day-to-day. For the most part, it works quite well for me doing it for work! But, like most things, it has a few downsides.

Being a creator has a way of getting you into a habit of seeing everything you do as content to be shared. It can bleed into odd hours of your day (or night) and become a much larger piece of your life beyond a typical 9-5 situation, especially when your digital brand is a reflection of you and your life. I’ve been really intentional about setting boundaries for myself so that I don’t let it completely swallow me whole. I’ve taken digital breaks before and I’ll sometimes be quieter online so I can live my life away from my phone. It’s refreshing to go about my day without thinking about content to create and can help give me a renewed sense of inspiration later.

I think part of it too is that the way I flow as a creator very much involves quietly marinating in my life and learnings before sharing them. However, if I retreat too far into a hole and haven’t posted in a while, it’s harder to get back into the swing of it. Consistency does actually help maintain a steady momentum. I guess I’m sort of inconsistently consistent in this way.

Having a running list of content ideas mitigates the pressure of coming up with brand shiny new ideas all the time, though. I have years and years worth of ideas that I’m always adding to when something pops into my mind (I use Notion for all of my content planning and digital note-taking). I can easily tap into and fiddle with the concepts that feel most relevant to me. This is a great way to keep content going.

Aside from the content creation side of things, there’s also the absolute beast that is comparison. Comparing our lives to others online affects us all—but it’s even worse when you compound that against comparing yourself to other creators, too, not to mention wallowing in the murky waters of post metrics.

Social media apps are a space where people can erase the complexities and messes of real life and fuel a picture-perfect digital persona, making us all feel like we’re never quite good enough in real life. Of course vulnerability and “real life” content exists online too, but, I know for myself and many others, posting is usually done on our best days coupled with a whole lot of editing. It’s not a space for seeing the whole of anyone, regardless of how “real” or “authentic” or vulnerable someone seems to be.

I like to think that what I share is, in fact, true to who I am. But there’s no way around it: no matter what I share, it’ll never be the whole picture because I don’t want to share the whole picture (nor is it even possible to accurately depict the entirety of oneself). The way life looks online is always going to be different from how it is in the flesh. For me as a creator, bringing the two spaces together of transparency and privacy into a harmonic middle ground that feels authentic and good is not an easy feat. There are a lot of factors at play that shape the way in which we use social media and there is always going to be some fabric of protection we place over ourselves to prevent the internet from seeing us in every light.

I believe that having boundaries online and not sharing every little thing is important, it’s just a matter of accepting that it’s OK not to share it all, trying to be real in areas where you feel comfortable, avoiding over-perfecting your image, and recognizing that the facade of other creators exists so as not to compare yourself to it.

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Fostering a better relationship with social media

Redefining my worth & connecting with my values

I’m the least anxious I’ve perhaps ever been as a creator these days compared to years past. Part of that is because over the last couple years I’ve slowly integrated a new approach to my work (like trying not to take it so seriously in my mind) and also adjusting my content a bit (which I talked all about here.)

I used to feel like so much of my worth was encapsulated inside of my social platforms and that I needed to “keep up” on them in various ways otherwise I’d fail or miss out. Not to say that I don’t consider SEO or ways of placating pesky algorithms, but these days I’m able to appreciate all of the things that I do in my life and respect the ways in which I’m best able to do them. I have a lot more peace about the way I choose to interact with social media which has helped take the pressure off and make it more enjoyable.

Reconnecting with my values and realigning my messaging and content with what feels right and true for me has also impacted how I show up and how I feel when I show up. It’s given me a renewed sense of excitement and purpose, has made me worry less about doing things a certain or perfect way, and instead have more fun exploring what kind of content feels most enjoyable for me to create.

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Thanks for reading! Leave me a comment below if any of this resonates with you, and feel free to share it or re-stack it if you found it helpful. :-)