The Content Engine

For a while, content was my life, and not in a good way.

Every day started from zero. What do I post, is it any good, why does this take four hours? That's not a strategy. It's a slow way to burn out. More discipline didn't fix it. A small system did, one that makes the decisions for me so posting takes less out of me. This is that system.

Start with the four things a piece needs

Before I make anything, I check the idea for four things. If it has them, it's worth my time. If it doesn't, no amount of editing will save it:

• Tension: a question or something unresolved that makes you want to keep watching.
• Stakes: why it matters, who it's for and what changes if they get it.
• A turn: the moment it goes somewhere you didn't expect. Without one, there's no reason to finish.
• A takeaway: the one thing they remember after they close the app.

Most of the time, "I don't know what to post" really means "this idea doesn't have all four yet". Fix the idea, not the caption.

Plan the week: a few ideas, not thirty

Once a week I pick three or four ideas that pass the test above. That's the whole plan. For years I treated every day as a new decision. Deciding is the expensive part, so I do it once a week and spend the rest of the week making.

Batch by task, not by post

Then I group the same kind of work together. All the writing in one sitting, all the filming in another, all the editing in a third. Switching between making and polishing a dozen times a day is what wears you out, more than the work itself. When I batch, the same hours get a lot more done.

Turn one idea into ten

One good idea is rarely one post. A single story can become a long video, a short, a thread, a clip, a quote and a reply to a comment. Same idea, cut differently for each place it goes. You don't need ten ideas a week. You need one good one and the patience to use it ten ways.

Post on a rhythm, then let go

Pick a simple schedule you can keep. Posting steadily beats posting in bursts. Then comes the hard part: letting go of the numbers. Some posts do well and some don't, and you usually can't tell which in advance. The effort is your job. The result is up to Allah. Do the work properly and leave the rest.