Thoughts on getting distracted
Why I'm giving some serious thought to where my attention goes, what I've learned about posting on Instagram and interesting reading for your week.
In an antenatal class I took while pregnant there was an exercise where you had a set of cards listing things you might do daily, weekly or monthly. Daily tasks (as you may imagine) ranged from having a shower, to going to the gym, reading and so on.
The point of the exercise was to make you realise how little time you would have once your baby arrives. I think you had to whittle down from about 15 things per day, to around two or three. Which led to some serious debates on whether a daily shower was deemed more essential than, say, eating a hot meal, or doing a load of washing.
This sounds quite dramatic of course but for anyone who has become a parent it’s pretty relatable right 😅 in those early months you have to hone your priorities completely and sadly, a lot of things have to go.
I got really good at this after my daughter was born. I could work in 15-minute pockets, I no longer seemed to sweat the small stuff and I prioritised the company of good friends, fresh air and good food far more than scrolling on social media, or energy-draining tasks or people.
Yet as parenting got easier, I’ve realised that the level of distractions in my life crept back up.
I find myself scrolling more aimlessly, not really gaining anything, and flicking endlessly between Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, the BBC, without rhyme or reason.
Even when it comes to work I’ve found my attention more divided than it’s been for a long time. I’ve tried to do more marketing channels, I’ve split my focus in terms of audiences which means I’ve needed two strategies running concurrently, and I’ve taken on a mix of smaller contracts (which all come with their own share of admin) rather than sticking to 2-3 core clients.
Some of which, has been out of necessity, and some which has been just from a pure slip in focus.
But as I approach the arrival of baby number two it’s made me really stop and consider what I’m giving my energy to and the thing I keep coming back to, is a need to simplify.
To become really specific and intentional again about what gets my energy. To focus on the tasks, marketing activities and areas which are going to make the biggest difference to my day-to-day life. Because I’m a big believer that how we spend our days is how we spend our life. And also, that where your thoughts go your attention follows.
If I’m honest, my thoughts have been a little scattered and I think it shows.
So as we enter the Spring (finally!!) I’m going to be giving a lot more thought to the ruthless prioritisation of:
What I want to focus on in this next stage of life/motherhood/career
The people and thoughts that I want to give my energy to
What type of work I want to focus on
What marketing activities and streams I need to serve in order to reach that type of work
A spring cleaning if you like, of work, home and life priorities.
Do you resonate with slipping off the attention bandwagon? If so I’d love to hear from you - hit reply and let me know.
Yours - without distraction -
Beth
This is interesting 👀
I’ve experimented with a bunch of stuff on Instagram, from posting 28 days in a row, to following Instagram’s own (slightly crazy) advice about posting timings and schedules, and lately (you may have guessed) I’ve been experimenting with content types.
Posting Reels vs Carousels vs Stories on my work page. You know what I’ve learned? That Reels really are the best way to reach new audiences (case in point below).
My estimate is that your reel is firstly shown to a subset of your existing audience (followers) and if it does well (likes, views, saves and particularly comments) THEN it gets shared with people who don’t know you via the Reels tab. The better it does, the more people it gets shared with and so on.
With Carousels, it seems to me that these mainly get shown to your existing audience (with fairly good reach). And Stories? Well, for me at least, stories seem to go nowhere far. I’m lucky if they get in front of 10% of my audience, although whether that’s down to algorithm prioritisation or just less people using stories who can say.
So while there’s nothing groundbreaking here, the latest strategy I’m working to is Reels = reach new followers & Carousels = reach my followers and that’s the pattern I’m going to continue to leverage.
Links you may enjoy
Enjoyed this read on a marketing leader’s learnings in her first year as CMO. The takeaway for me? It’s a lot more about relationship-building and knowing the strengths of the team, than it is about marketing!
Have you heard the term “vibecession"? No me either, but I can certainly relate. Interesting read here from finance editor at LinkedIn News UK, who uses it to describe an economy “that looks healthy on paper but doesn't feel right to many” where roughly half of adults across the world are stressed about their personal finances.
I’ve long believed that forums and “dark social” is a channel for brands to consider i.e. if people are talking about your product in a tech forum on Reddit (positively) that’s going to quickly become a great source of customer acquisition. And, if you missed it, the Google x Reddit partnership only seems to be getting stronger since they signed a deal to let Google utilise Reddit’s content to train its AI tool Gemini. Moral of the story? No you can’t control how people talk about your brand on forums but yes you should stay aware of it.
Thanks for reading ❤️
Hi I’m Beth 👋 a freelance marketer who helps manage and execute marketing for startups and growing businesses 🚀.
I also offer mentoring for freelance and in-house marketers looking for fulfilling, financially rewarding careers.
You can find out more about what I do on My website or Built by Content.