For the last few days, I've been in a funk.
In a recent newsletter, I shared that I'm rarely ahead of publishing. Usually, what you're reading here was written a matter of days before it sends (it's Saturday morning as I write this). My friend Amanda responded in disbelief, telling me I needed to get further ahead.
She's not wrong! Most weeks, I feel the pressure of a looming deadline. This is entirely self-imposed, because I could:
- Create larger batches of content and get ahead
- Keep the same pace and pause publishing for two weeks
- Give myself some grace for missing a deadline here or there
And yet...I typically fail to do all three. It also turns out that funks aren't solved by adding the pressure of looming deadlines.
Negative emotional spaces are tricky for creators like you and me because content transfers emotion. Whatever you're feeling while you create seeps into the content that you make.
This can be a really good thing, even if that emotion is negative, because we're attracted to strong emotion. If you're fired up about something, creating from THAT emotional space can galvanize support behind you.
But that requires alignment between the emotion you're feeling and the content's message. If you've had a bad day, but you try to create a piece about how much you love the new back massager you just bought, we'll feel an emotional inconsistency.
This is the challenge I don't hear people talking about. If you're feeling down, but you're not trying to also make your audience feel down, it's tough to create.
Ash Ambirge once told me that "sales is a transfer of enthusiasm." That means selling requires enthusiasm. If you're not feeling enthusiastic, it's difficult to communicate in a way that sells. And I'm not just talking about paid products here – everything you create is a product.
This newsletter is a product. Each podcast episode I create is a product.
Without enthusiasm...those products aren't very compelling.
So when you're in a funk, not only is creating difficult, but it may also fall flat. And if you haven't separated your self-esteem from the performance of your content...you see how this becomes a vicious cycle.
A few things that may help:
- When you're in the zone, stay in the zone. Keep going if you're on a roll and creating from a place of enthusiasm! Get ahead.
- Batch the process. Going from idea to finished product in one session requires context switching (idea → draft → revision → publish). Try separate sessions dedicated to ideation, drafting, and revision.
- Notice environments that put you into the zone. Location, time, and music play a huge factor for me. I get into my best headspace for writing in the morning, at a coffee shop, listening to this Above & Beyond Essential Mix.
- Journal your way out. The fastest way I've found to identify the source of a funk (and then solve the funk) is journaling. Just answer the question, "What am I feeling?"
- When you're not in the zone, give yourself some grace. Beating yourself up for your emotional state doesn't put you into a better emotional state.
If you've felt this tension before, you're not alone. And as much as I'd like to believe you can write your way out of any funk, some days are harder than others.
