Let's go back in time and visit Past Em.

She's sitting at her desk, surrounded by half-written social media posts, half-formed content ideas, and the feeling that everything is too much.

She regularly spends hours planning content so that she "doesn't have to think of a new idea every day," only to be bored by those ideas once it comes time to film and create. So she scraps the whole content plan, only to spend hours again a week later starting the cycle all over again.

"Batch your content!" cry the experts. "Film all your content for the week in one day!"

And Past Em listens. She tries. She tries Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, pen and paper. And every time, the content management system falls apart. Why??

ADHD creativity thrives on novelty and meaning. Rigid batching is kind of the antithesis of that. Eventually, I came to find the balance between content planning and satisfying ADHD's need for spontaneity. But it took a lot of trial and error, and even more self-love and grace. Because part of the issue was the shame spiral I'd get thrown into every time I fell off track. Add in classic neurodivergent all-or-nothing thinking, and we have Past Em throwing the whole system away.

Let's introduce a little flexibility. Think of your content management system as a cauldron. It's where the magic happens. Every post is an ingredient, and we need to stir in both strategy and soul, heating it up (momentum) and cooling it down (rest) with the right timing. The strategy supports the magic, it doesn't replace it.

My cauldron lives in Notion. I throw ideas into it, sometimes I give them time to simmer. Then I come back and categorize, refine, and see how I can stir things up: reuse ideas and repurpose posts. Filming or creating mostly happens in the moment, unless I have a burst of energy and feel like I can knock a few out in one go.

Part of this process is letting go of perfection. Posts made off the cuff are likely to be a little rough around the edges, and that's okay. Getting your message across and getting what you create out into the world is the point. Accept the messiness, give yourself grace, and Future You will be satisfied with the content magic you create.

Want to dive a little deeper? Check out my Content Cauldron workshop and Notion template. We chat strategy, magic, and ADHD.