Content Anxiety Syndrome (CAS) is a relatively new player on the block of mental health disorders.
It’s a term I made up to describe what too many amazing people experience in today’s #hustleculture
The relentless pressure to create and post content.
- For business.
- For personal branding.
- For being relevant.
- For SEO.
- For backlinks.
Since coming online in 2008, I’ve had deep conversations with many professionals about content. The role it plays in our digital lives. The role it plays in our personal lives.
A perennial question about content comes up again and again:
Which is best, Quality vs Quantity?
The debate is evergreen.
The anxiety is real.
The Pressure to Create Content Is Real
Other FAQs I’ve heard about content creation include:
- How much content do I need to create?
- When I create content, how often do I post what I make?
- Who’s watching?
- Who’s liking my stuff?
- Does anyone care?
Over the years I’ve asked myself these questions.
Over the years I’ve battled CAS with the best of them to the point of burnout.
And I love to create!
But the pressure I put on myself for far too long to “keep up” with… what, exactly? had me tied me up in knots. Gave me headaches. Took me away from friends and family. Kept me in front of my laptop way too long. Had me on edge with the constant fear that I wasn’t doing enough.
If you didn't know I was writing about content creation in that last paragraph, you might think I just described having an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
In some ways, I did.
Artificial Expectations
Content Anxiety Syndrome plagues too many good people who fall for artificial promises and expectations about what creating content can do for them.
With its harrowing #hustle pressure.
Creating content isn't bad. The reality is, we are all “content creators” now to one degree or another.
With our lives online as well as off, content is a piece of this puzzle. As a writer, I am geared towards creating content. Artists who play in other media create content as well. So do thought leaders, athletes, scientists, and SMEs.
Sometimes what we create is solely for ourselves.
Sometimes we choose to share what we create. It's easier than ever these days to do that with access to publishing platforms online. More of us choose to share what we create, putting our work “out there” for anyone to find.
But if the content conversation generates anxiety, it's time to ask different questions. Instead of following the masses, more of us need to ask what the pressure to create and post content is costing us.
Is it giving us results we seek?
Are we buying into an agenda we didn't create but feel the need to follow?
Are we merely looking for the next dopamine hit to our ego?
Is Content Still King?
We can thank Bill Gates for coining the phrase "content is king" back in 1996.
And why not? He saw where the world was heading with the advent of the Internet. Think of the stake he had in promoting this idea. That line has served him very well.
But 26 years later, is content still king?
Can we honestly say that constantly creating and posting content helps us become healthier, wealthier, thinner, happier?
Or is it only pouring rocket fuel on our growing anxiety about how much and what kind of content we believe we need to create?
Perhaps we'd be better served by a different question:
What's the context of the content we create and consume?
Could contextual thinking mitigate the nasty side effects of creating and sharing content?
Why are we creating so much content, anyway?
Perspective Is Key
One way of managing -- even eliminating Content Anxiety Syndrome altogether -- is taking a step back and thinking about what we're doing.
Perspective is key.
Once I relaxed about my relationship with creating content, choosing to focus on what rings true for me and not on producing volumes of social filler simply for the sake of “posting…”
My anxiety dissipated. I felt lighter. Less on edge. More at peace with the whole content process.
I didn't need medication or a detox center.
I needed to think differently about the situation.
We all have to remember that one day, content platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok may go away. (Remember Vine?)
Even if they stick around, they will most definitely change. (Twitter, anyone?)
Without a place to share content, would we feel as compelled to create so much of it?
I doubt it.
Leaving Content Anxiety Syndrome Behind for Good
If you've felt anxious about creating and sharing content, you're not alone. I know all too well the insidious voice inside my head telling me I need to do more, more, more when that's simply not true.
I have made peace with what, when, and where I create.
I know why I'm creating content in the first place.
You can do the same.
Be clear about the context of your content.
Be sure about its purpose.
It’s okay if you don’t create or post content all day every day.
Enjoy what you make.
Share it if it makes sense.
Pretty soon Content Anxiety Syndrome will be a thing of the past, never to come round again.
