It’s challenging at the best of times. Keeping up to date with your blog and social media sharing.
But if, like me, you suffer at this time of year from the low energy and lack of motivation that comes with Seasonal Affective Disorder (aka Seasonal Annual Depression), keeping your communication channels open can be a real struggle.
Tiny Content to Share Daily
Inspired by Austin Kleon’s list of small things to share every day from his book Show Your Work, I’ve created an amplified list of tiny content you can post with minimum effort. This way you'll keep your creative blog and social media channels alive until your energy returns in Spring!
Pick whatever feels like the easiest and most appealing to you to do at the time. That way you’ll minimize the lethargy and resistance that is part and parcel of SAD. 1. Research and Reference
When we have SAD, we tend to want to spend a lot of time on the couch so it’s inevitable that we’ll do plenty of net surfing. The good news is you can use this time to do double duty as blog or social media content. Share:
2. Sketches and Drawings
One of the symptoms of SAD is reduced creativity - which is pretty hard for those of us whose primary ‘raison d’être is creating.
Even if you’re not in the mood for drawing you can:
3. Plans and Diagrams
While in theory, we’re supposed to have our year all planned out by Jan 1st, in practice I do a lot of my planning during these low energy months. There’s all sorts of potential sharing material:
4. Interviews
When you’re stuck for a blog topic, interviewing someone else can be a life-saver. People love talking about themselves and it’s a great excuse to connect more meaningfully with someone who inspires you and find out more about them.
5. Photographs
Instagram (THE platform for artists lately), Facebook and your blog all benefit from regular photo updates.
I normally love applying all sorts of filters to my photos, but during SAD times, even a #nofilter will still get likes. The great thing about photos is that even if you don’t feel like going out in the cold, you can still share photos of:
6. Video and Demos
We’re not at our most social during bouts of SAD so we’re unlikely to be in the mood for talking to the camera.
That doesn’t mean you can’t still share video though. What about a:
7. Audio
Audio lends itself very nicely to more introspective moods - after all you’re talking directly into someone’s ear! Try:
8. Pinboards and Collections
I don’t know about you, but finding and organising art reference materials is one of the ways I can create some long-term benefit during SAD months.
You can squeeze some sharing mileage out of this kind of activity very easily:
9. Inspiration
Your inspiration might not be stored on boards. Perhaps you bring home plants or stones you find outdoors, get inspired by a particular music score or a cross-fertilising visit to see theatre or other creative work outside your genre.
Whatever your inspiration, it might inspire others to see or hear about it! Share:
10. Journals and Scrapbooks
We tend to feel introspective during SAD time so we’re probably doing plenty of journalling.
Why not share a:
11. Drafts, Notes and Prototypes
Not everything we create will make the grade and a lot of hard creative work never gets seen beyond the four walls of our workspace.
While a particular idea may lead to a dead end, there’s usually a few golden nuggets within it that are worth keeping. Share these on your blog or social media in the form of:
12. Stories
A story doesn’t have to be long and it doesn’t even have to be written. And the ways for telling them are infinite:
So if you’re struggling to keep up with your social media and blog commitments due to Seasonal Affective Disorder - or for any other reason, and at any time of the year - I hope this list helps you to find some exciting and non-taxing ways to keep populating your streams with interesting content. Got some more ideas? Share them in the comments! Related Post: Proven strategies for New Year’s resolutions {especially for hibernating, SAD bears} © Author: Cherry Jeffs Liked this post? Word of mouth is the main way for indie creators to get known.
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