I spent a lot of time this week thinking about how to open up more space on my calendar. I keep finding myself sitting at my desk on Friday with a to-do list that's longer than I'd like. And not just the overall, never-ending to-do list of being a creator; I'm talking about things like THIS newsletter. Or an upcoming podcast episode. Or the YouTube videos that are still sitting at 75% completion.
Content creation is the most important lever in the business. Why am I always scrambling to find time to do it?
I noticed that the things I'm trying to reduce on my calendar are all calls with other people:
Coaching calls
Team calls
Interviews
Community calls
Partner calls
Live teaching
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: an insight so obvious that I felt simultaneous relief, disbelief, and shame. I'm trying to find time to createbecause I don't set aside any time for it!
Instead, I fit content creation around other pre-existing commitments (and it's hardto get into creative flow in the 30 minutes between calls). This sets up a cycle where I'm inevitably forced to create on nights and weekends—the same time I'm trying to clear for family, social, or personal time.
It's no wonder I feel like I'm not doing my best work, or sometimes resent the work itself: I've literally put my content creation efforts in conflict with the balance I'm trying to find in my life!
I want to spend less time working... but I'm not prioritizing the most important work itself. This made sense when I was working a 9-to-5 or doing consulting to pay the bills. But that's not my reality now. Now, content creation is the most important work that I do. And yet, I haven't updated my schedule to reflect that.
The solution is pretty simple! I'm going back to theming my days, but choosing themes that are more aligned with content creation than consulting. I need days for pre-production, production, and post-production (without interrupting them with relational work like calls). Relational work can live in its own workdays.
Content creation is real work. It may be the real work. And yet I was still treating it like a side hustle.
This looks obvious in hindsight, but I was so close to it that I missed it (for years)!
Maybe it helps unlock something for you too.
SPONSORED
The YouTube strategy team behind 2 billion views is taking on new clients
Here’s a pattern we see constantly with creators: the content is genuinely good, the value is there, and yet the channel still won’t move.
Maybe a video occasionally takes off, but you have no idea why, or how to repeat it and so the next upload drops back to normal.
They’ve worked directly with creators like Ali Abdaal, Will Tennyson and Kallaway, generating 2B+ views and $10M+ in client revenue.
Take Nathan, a mortgage broker who had been making solid videos for years but was stuck below 1,000 views per upload. 1of10 helped turn his channel from broad mortgage content into a clear acquisition channel for his business. They identified the questions potential customers cared about, built videos around them, and sharpened his titles and thumbnails to get the right people clicking.
Within three months, he was regularly averaging 10,000–50,000+ views per video, and YouTube was bringing hundreds of qualified buyer leads into his mortgage business.
Nathan’s result is exceptional, but that process is the system 1of10 builds with clients: ongoing support from a real YouTube expert, including dedicated Slack access, regular calls, and a focus on what actually moves the needle: ideas, titles, thumbnails, and positioning.
They're selective about who they work with. But if you're serious about YouTube growth, they offer a free discovery call to explore whether it's a fit. Even if it doesn't make sense to work together, you'll walk away with real feedback on your channel.
#310: Brad Hoos — What 50,000 influencer campaigns tell us about what brands really care about
Brad Hoos is the CEO of The Outloud Group, one of the top influencer marketing agencies in the United States. His clients include AG1, Chomps, KitchenAid, and Whirlpool, and he’s managed campaigns across tens of thousands of creator partnerships. I found Brad while researching for his book proposal on trust, trying to track down the agency behind AG1’s dominance in podcast advertising.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why the creators who say no the most often are actually the most valuable to brands
The difference between brand voice and brand advocacy, and why getting this wrong kills campaigns
What Outloud learned running AG1’s campaigns across tens of thousands of creators
The data across 50,000 campaigns showing no meaningful correlation between CPM and performance
By the end of this episode, you will think differently about how brands choose creators and how creators should position themselves for long-term partnership success.
