Behind the Scenes!

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King

The other day, someone asked me, “So what do you actually do all day?”

Fair question. From the outside, being a full-time creator looks like posting a few times a week and calling it a day.

But here’s the thing… what you see online is just the tip of the iceberg. The real work happens in the hours between posts, in the routines that hold everything together, and honestly, in the chaos when things inevitably fall apart.

So today, I’m pulling back the curtain.

This is my typical week – the good, the messy, and the “how did I forget to eat lunch again?” moments. If you’ve ever wondered what a creator routine actually looks like behind the scenes, or if you’re building your own and need a reality check, this one’s for you.

What My Weekly Schedule Actually Looks Like

I’ll be honest…. my schedule has evolved more times than I can count. I’ve tried the “wake up at 5 AM” thing, the “batch everything on Monday” approach, and even the “let’s just go with the flow” method. Spoiler: that last one didn’t work.

Here’s what I’ve settled into, at least for now:

Monday & Tuesday: Deep Work Days

These are my content creation days. I block out 4-6 hour chunks for writing, filming, or designing…. whatever needs my full attention. No meetings, no calls, minimal Slack. Just me, my laptop, and whatever I’m building that week.

I use Notion to track my content calendar and Forest to stay off my phone. The Pomodoro technique keeps me moving…. 50 minutes of work, 10-minute breaks. It’s not sexy, but it works.

Wednesday: Input Day

This is when I refill the tank. I read, watch videos, listen to podcasts, take notes. I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t create endlessly without consuming intentionally. Wednesday is my permission slip to be a student again.

I also use this day to engage with my community – replying to comments, DMs, emails. It’s not passive scrolling; it’s active listening.

Thursday & Friday: Production & Admin

Editing, scheduling, responding to emails, updating systems, invoicing, planning next week. The unglamorous stuff that keeps the machine running. Thursday is usually editing-heavy. Friday is catch-up and tie-up-loose-ends day.

I use Descript for video editing, Buffer for scheduling, and a simple Google Sheet for finances. Nothing fancy — just tools that don’t get in my way.

Weekends: Flex Time

Sometimes I rest. Sometimes I work on passion projects that aren’t tied to deadlines. Sometimes I do absolutely nothing and feel guilty about it until I remember that rest is productive too.

Now to the most important question!

Are these set in stone?

No!

I rearrange these based on how my month looks. If everything is fine, I just follow the same plan. Else I rearrange things to make it more effective for myself.

Where the Magic (and Mess) Happens

My content gets created in three places: my home office, a local coffee shop, and don’t judge me…. my car during my kid’s school pickup and drops (of course when I am driving alone to the school to either pick her up or, after dropping her to school).

The office is for deep work. The coffee shop is for when I need ambient noise to write. The car is for voice notes, quick edits, and capturing ideas before they vanish.

In fact, some of my best ideas come when I’m not trying to create. Walking the dog, cooking dinner, mid-shower. I keep a notes app pinned on my phone because creativity doesn’t follow a schedule.

The Day That Usually Falls Apart

Let me break it down: Wednesday is supposed to be my input day, but it’s also the day everything tries to go wrong.

Meetings get scheduled. There could be system issues. A post underperforms and I spiral into “should I pivot my entire strategy?” mode. By 3 PM, I’ve abandoned the plan and I’m stress-scrolling Twitter, convincing myself it’s “research.”

Here’s how I recover:

I stop. Take a walk. Reset the next day with a single, non-negotiable task. I’ve learned that one ruined day doesn’t mean a ruined week. Progress isn’t linear, and neither is content creation.

I also give myself permission to shift things around. If Wednesday implodes, I move my input work to Saturday morning. Flexibility is part of the creator routine. Rigid schedules break, but adaptable ones bend.

Productivity Hacks I Tried (and Failed At)

Let’s talk about the experiments that didn’t survive contact with reality.

Time blocking every 30 minutes. Too rigid. Life happened, my schedule exploded, and I felt like a failure by 10 AM.

Working from 5 AM to noon. Great in theory. In practice, I was exhausted by Wednesday and binge-watching Netflix by Thursday evening.

Saying yes to every opportunity. This one almost broke me. I thought more meant better. It didn’t. It just meant burnout.

Trying to batch a month’s content for multiple platforms in one weekend. I lasted four hours before my brain turned to mush. Content batching works, but not like that.

Batching on weekend can work but if you are managing multiple pieces of content for different medium, then it might be a disaster.. You have to spread out your schedule and frame it.

What do I mean by framing?

• you cannot plan a months worth of podcast episodes in one weekend, but you can surely do 2 episode
• you can plan out 2 weeks of your social media content or, at least one week of content
• you cannot write 14 blogs posts in one weekend (I publish 14 blogs posts a month). But you can definitely do 3-4.

You can put together a schedule that works and not one that burns you out.

So, to answer that question, what works?

Start small.

Build systems that fit your energy, not someone else’s highlight reel. And when something stops working, don’t force it. Adapt.

The Tools and Systems That Stuck

After all the trial and error, here’s what’s still standing:

• Notion for content planning and project tracking
• Google Calendar for time blocking (loosely)
• Descript for editing video and podcasts
• Typefully for scheduling social posts
• Notion for capturing ideas on the go

Nothing revolutionary. Just reliable tools that don’t add friction to my workflow.

The One Book That Changed My Approach

If you take one thing from this post, let it be this: read Deep Work by Cal Newport.

It completely shifted how I think about time, attention, and what actually moves the needle. Newport argues that the ability to focus without distraction is becoming rare and therefore, incredibly valuable. As a creator, your deep work sessions are where the real magic happens. Everything else is just maintenance.

I revisit it every few months when I feel scattered. It’s a reminder that quality beats quantity, and that protecting your focus is non-negotiable.

What I’ve Learned About Time Management and Balance

Here’s the thing about work-life balance as a creator: it’s not a clean 50/50 split. Some weeks, work takes over. Other weeks, life demands more. The balance isn’t daily… it’s over time.

I’ve learned to check in weekly. Am I creating or just reacting? Am I resting or just numbing out? Am I growing or spinning my wheels?

And I’ve learned that saying no is a skill. Every yes to something is a no to something else. Protect your time like it’s your most valuable asset, because it is.

The Real Picture

That’s the picture. Not polished, not perfect, but real.

Being a full-time creator isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about showing up, iterating, and giving yourself grace when things fall apart. It’s about building a weekly schedule that supports your energy, not drains it. It’s about remembering that behind every piece of content is a person trying to balance productivity with being human.

Over to you now – what does your creator routine look like? What’s working, and what’s falling apart?

Drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what’s real for you too.

Recommended Newsletters

Here are few newsletters that I would recommend that you sign up to if you are interested in learning the art of running a side-hustle:

• Write, Build, Scale
• Why we buy
• The Book Bub
• The Stacked Marketer
• The Growth Bulletin
• Unconventional Productivity for Online Business Owners
• Side Hustle Weekly
• The Affiliate Guy
• How Brands win
• For the Interested
• Send and Grow

Sign up to these and follow them. You will get a lot of information and content for your blog posts, podcasts and even social media posts.

I will share more such ideas in my future newsletters.

I put in about 18 hours every month to create this newsletter, starting from researching to writing and editing it.

So, If you enjoyed reading this Newsletter, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could recommend it to others. You can send them to https://thegrowthcreator.com to subscribe to it for FREE!

What am I reading?

I absolutely love books and I read a lot.

In fact, I don’t just read a lot, but I also take notes on every book that I read.

I have pages and pages of information in my Notion Second Brain, so that I can find them and use them when ever I need.

I have added some of the newest books that I have been reading, to the Amazon store, so you might want to check it out.

Want to know more about the books I read. You can check it out here!

That’s it for this week!

Do let me know your thoughts, feedback, and opinions about this newsletter.

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