---
title: 'Ditch The Creator Burnout and Plan Content That Helps You Grow'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=SYwpgQN8Kaw'
video_id: 'SYwpgQN8Kaw'
date: 2026-06-18
duration_sec: 1112
---

# Ditch The Creator Burnout and Plan Content That Helps You Grow

> Source: [Ditch The Creator Burnout and Plan Content That Helps You Grow](https://youtube.com/watch?v=SYwpgQN8Kaw)

## Summary

Michelle Gifford, a marketing agency owner with 7 years of experience helping creators grow to over a million, shares her complete content planning system to avoid burnout. She recommends a 12-post system for 2 weeks, focusing on strategy, analytics, and repetition, and uses Airtable for organization.

### Key Points

- **The Problem with Batching** [[0:00]] — Batching a month's worth of content is burning you out. It's the wrong strategy.
- **Introduction** [[0:16]] — Michelle Gifford, a marketing agency owner, helps creators grow to over a million. She shares her complete content planning system.
- **Planning in Advance** [[0:46]] — Recommend having a general idea for the month, but only dial in for the next 2 weeks. Use a 12-post system (2 weeks, 6 posts a week).
- **Building a Strategy** [[1:34]] — Set aside an hour. Ask four questions: goals, analytics, what to repeat, and what to test.
- **Using Analytics** [[2:04]] — Analytics tell you what's working. Look at what's causing growth and double down on that content.
- **Repeating What Works** [[2:29]] — If something is working on Instagram, do it again. Lean in.
- **Testing New Content** [[3:33]] — Always leave room to test different formats, types, or topics.
- **Planning with Airtable** [[4:33]] — Use Airtable to plan. Fill out the next 2 weeks. Create a tab for each piece of content with hook, description, and script.
- **Custom GPT** [[5:44]] — Use Michelle AI to help with hooks, captions, and scripts.
- **Storage System** [[6:50]] — Create folders in your phone. Use a B-roll folder, a talking head folder, or organize by date/pillar.
- **Batching Content** [[12:41]] — Batch filming and editing at different times. Film a bunch at once, then edit a bunch at once.
- **Productive Scrolling** [[14:09]] — Use a saved folder system on Instagram. Save inspiration for later.
- **Scorecard** [[15:45]] — Keep a scorecard from the book Traction. Track analytics every week at the same day and time.

## Transcript

If you're trying to batch a month's
worth of content and it's burning you
out, stop. After running a marketing
agency for the last 7 years where I have
helped creators grow to over a million,
I can tell you it's the wrong strategy
and here's what actually works.
Hey, I'm Michelle Gifford. I help you
grow your personal brand online,
especially with social media. And while
I love the creative part of all the
things, there is so much strategy that
we need to learn and embrace in order to
do this long-term. So, in this video I'm
going to run through exactly how I plan
my content, how I organize every video
so nothing gets lost, how I batch, and
how I track what's actually working.
Because if you skip the last part,
you're flying completely blind. Okay,
you're going to want to save this one
because this is my complete content
planning system all in one place. First,
let's talk about how much you should be
planning in advance. I recommend having
a general idea of what you're going to
post for the month, but really only dial
in to what you're going to be posting
for the next 2 weeks. Because Instagram
moves so quickly and just because the
creative process is what it is, planning
out for 30 days and then filming for 30
days can feel super overwhelming and so
no one ever does it and then it just
doesn't work out. So, if we can commit
to 2 weeks at a time, you're always
ahead enough so, you know, if something
comes up with your family or your kids
or whatever, that you have some things
in the bank, you kind of know what's
coming, but you don't have to have a
whole content day because most people
just don't work like that. So, I call
this my 12-post system. It's 2 weeks,
six posts a week, and this is how I plan
it for me and as well as my clients. The
first step is to build a strategy. So, I
will set aside an hour of my time.
Right? You don't give yourself too long
and also you do have to schedule it. I
will ask four questions. What are my
goals for this month? What am I actually
trying to accomplish? Is it emails? Is
it growth? Is it am I launching a
product? What are the goals for this
month? Because every decision after that
is going to get filtered through that.
The second thing I ask is what do my
analytics say? So, our analytics are
telling us something. They are letting
us know what's working and what's not
working. And so, when we look at our
analytics, we can see like what are the
things that are actually causing us to
grow. What pieces of content get us new
followers? So, if our goal is to get new
followers, we can find those pieces of
content and then double down on that
content. Then, I'll look at like what
did perform well last month? What is not
performing well? Why do we think it
didn't perform well? Is there something
that we need to change? But, analytics
gives us information help us us better
content going forward. We can't be
scared of it. Number three, what do I
repeat? If something is working on
Instagram, do it again. Lean in. Now,
I'm not saying that you need to do like
an exact replica, but if you're looking
at your piece of content and you every
time you do a green screen breaking down
a difficult current event and that
brings you a ton of followers, keep
doing it till it's not working anymore.
And if you have something that hasn't
brought you a million followers yet, but
you have something that your audience
loves and you like creating it and
something that is building your
credibility and you think it has
potential to take off and really go
viral at some point or at least be that
consistent nurturing piece, then keep
doing it. So, for example, I have a get
ready with me style video where I'm
doing my hair and I'm breaking down what
I am seeing in the social media industry
and I'm breaking down as I'm talking.
Now, those are not my most or highest
viewed content right now, but the
credibility that it adds to my channel
is huge and I am getting a lot of
positive responses from it. So, I'm
going to repeat that. It's not that it's
like going viral, but it is something
that is doing exactly what I want it to
do. And then, the fourth thing I ask is
what am I testing out? So, we are going
to repeat things that work, but we also
need to always have room to test things
out that we want to, either different
formats or different types of content or
different topics. And we have to leave
room for that. And when we're analyzing
that, I think about does this have
potential still? Because you can post
once and it not take off, but if you
post and post and post something over
and over again, then it suddenly takes
off and it completely changes your
Instagram. So, for example, I have a
post that I post every Monday and it's
my trends post where I do a roundup of
all the trends that are happening on
Instagram. Now, I did that for almost 3
months before it really got traction. I
was doing okay. I'd get some followers
here and some likes and shares there,
but about 3 months into that is when it
really started taking off and I knew
that it had great potential to bring in
people because I could see the signs. I
could see things building, but it took a
few months for that. So, with Instagram,
we got to allow for that. We have to
think about all of these different
things that are happening and where we
want people to go. Once I've done that
analysis, I will bring up my calendar
and I will make every post decision
around three things. One is the type of
content, the topic, and the format. So,
types is the container. How are we
delivering this? So, it's like is it a
reel? Is it a carousel? Is it a single
image? Pretty simple. Topics come from
your content pillars. So, as you're
creating when I build a brand strategy
for a client, one of the things we do is
we build brand messaging like around
what are we trying to accomplish here
and how do we speak to our specific
audience? And from there, we can pull
out like the three to five places of
value that we can add to our audience.
Then we can pull out three to five
topics that are valuable to our audience
and that we want to talk about on our
Instagram and really own. These are our
pillars. These are the pillar types of
content. So, mine for example are
Instagram news and updates, Instagram
strategy, quick posting tips, women
empowerment, and marketing breakdowns.
And then, from those pillars, I have sub
pillars that I have a running list of
different topics that I can talk about
under each pillar. I recommend doing
this. This is something that's super
valuable to have and to think through
once and then you can use that
information as you go forward. Now, if
you are like, "Ooh, how do I do this?"
Then, you need my custom GPT, this
Michelle AI, and I've trained it on all
of my frameworks and teachings that I've
been teaching and helping people grow
with, and you get access to it, and
it'll help you build out your brand
messaging and your pillars and
everything that you need to start
posting. Then, we have format. Now,
format is basically a Reels decision,
and so you're trying So, that's like,
how are you presenting the information?
Is it a green screen, a talking head? Is
it a quick tutorial or quick win? Is it
storytelling? Is it B-roll? Is it a
voiceover? Is it a POV style? A
listicle? A before and after? Is it a
this or that comparison? And those are
the basic formats that you can choose
from. So, if you have your pillar
topics, right? And then a list of
subtopics under each pillar, and then
you have all of these different formats,
then you can choose the format that fits
best for you. When I'm trying to choose
which format, like, is it a green
screen? Is it a listicle? I think about,
what do I like to create? What do people
like to consume? And what makes the most
sense with the piece of content that I'm
trying to create. So, now I'm going to
look at my calendar. The way that I do
this is through Airtable. Airtable is a
project management system, and I use
this for me and my clients. My favorite
thing about Airtable is that you can
look at things in different views. You
can have a view where you look at the
calendar, and that's where I start
planning this, and then you can have a
task view where it's like, okay, what
tasks do I have? And then you can look
at projects and where is every project
on the line to completion. So, now that
I have the topics that I want to talk
about and the type of content I'm going
to create, I'm going to go into my
calendar in Airtable, and I'm going to
fill out the next 2 weeks. And I will
just create a piece of content. I will
create like a tab for each piece of
content. I'll put the hook. I'll put
like what I want to talk about in it,
like, a brief description, and then I'll
also write the script, if there's a
script to write. And then I'll link to
any inspiration reel that I have, so
that what I want to do in this phase is
do all of the heavy like creative work,
so that when I'm ready, I can just go in
and film, and I don't have to think
about anything. I've already thought
about the details here, and then when
it's time to film stuff, I have
everything laid out ready for me to
film. So, I will put in as much
information as I can in here, and again,
this is where I would use some AI.
Biggest piece of advice is to get
Michelle AI because it can help you with
your hooks and your captions, and you
can voice message exactly what you want
to say in the script, and then it'll
polish up the script for you and write
that out. So, it really saves a ton of
time, and it's doing it with my process,
so that it's also strategic. You can do
this in a lot of different programs, but
I really like airtable because when I'm
working on a project, I can put it in
the different phase of completion, so
that I know what I have to do to film
and where my each piece of content is in
the process. So, we use this a ton with
clients. We run an agency, so it'll be a
little bit different for your personal
use, but if you run an agency, this is a
really great way to do it. But, if
you're a solo creator, you can
definitely simplify this process. The
point here is that every card has a home
at every stage of your preparation, and
then nothing falls through the cracks,
and you aren't left with like, "Oh,
wait, what where is this piece of
content? Like, what am I supposed to do
here?" So, that process of planning and
it out should take you 1 to 2 hours.
Now, maybe the first time it takes you
more, but as you do this more and more,
it becomes easier and it becomes more
streamlined. And also, because I'm going
to teach you some things coming up, it's
going to make it so much faster and
better. Because we're going to talk
about phone storage, we're talking about
like researching when you're on
Instagram about the type of content you
want to create. Those things We're
coming Stick with me, we're doing all of
it. All right, let's talk about storage.
I get these questions all the time,
like, "How do you actually store your
content?" Take a breath with me cuz
you're not going to like this answer.
You're going to have to do some work. If
you don't have a storage system right
now, then you just have to start a
storage system. I'm going to break down
how I do it and how I recommend doing
it, and then I want you to customize it
for yourself. One recommendation is that
you have two phones. One phone is your
personal phone and one phone is for your
content creation and then it makes it a
lot more simple because your content
isn't mixed up with your family pictures
cuz that can be really hard. If you do
have a separate phone and you do just
create content on the separate phone,
then you can have like an assistant or
whatever as part of your iCloud and they
can help you keep it organized, right?
Because they have access to it. But most
people don't have two phones. I'm just
saying that that's a good idea if you
can. So, the key here is that you're
going to need to create folders. So, in
my pictures on my phone, I have a bunch
of different folders and this folder
system is what keeps things organized
and it's where I can find everything
really quickly. So, the first and like
the most one of the most important
folders you can have is a b-roll folder
and this is where you just put all of
your b-roll in it and then you have
access whenever you want to just post
something quick and easy, you have this
b-roll that you can just go grab and the
good thing about it is it becomes a bank
and the more you put in it, the more you
can use to create more content. Another
one is I have a talking head video one.
I put all of my content in there. So, so
as you're thinking about how you want to
organize it, I do it by format like
b-roll or talking head. But another way
to create your folders is by date or by
pillar. So, like the topic that you're
talking about. Most of my clients use
iCloud and so they'll just share their
iCloud folder with me and my team. But
if you don't have that, you can do it in
Dropbox or whatever storage platform you
have, but you just have to be religious
with how you organize your content. This
isn't something that's going to just
magically happen. And so, if you're in
Dropbox, I do it by year and then month
and then individual file, okay? So, and
then for naming those individual files,
whatever the pillar is and then a brief
description of what the content's about.
This makes it really searchable when you
go to find like what you want to do. So,
this is if you're using like Dropbox or
something like that. Whatever folder
system you want to use or wherever
you're going to store things, I just
want you to choose it and stick with it.
And you have to be really consistent
with when you're creating this content
that you are constantly putting it where
it needs to go. This isn't magically
going to happen. I have seen AI with
like video from video from your video
camera, like it organize it and name it
and all those things. I haven't been
able to do that yet. So, I know that
there's some AI coming, but what I want
you to do is just start right here.
Start where you are. Do not worry right
now about going back and renaming and
re-saving all of your content because
you will not do that. I wouldn't do
that. That makes me tired. Think about
how am I going to do this? When am I
going to do this? Is it after every time
I video? Is it after every video?
Whatever. And then just commit to doing
it going forward. Just know this isn't
extra. This isn't silly. This is
actually part of the business process.
If you talk to any creator who is a
serious creator in making money as a
serious creator or like making money as
their business because they're a
personal brand, you got to know that
they're taking their content very
seriously. Like this is not an
afterthought. This is like, "Hey, we're
doing it." And figuring out how to save
that content is huge. Now, we're going
to batch our content. This is
non-negotiable. You have to put on your
calendar that you're going to create out
content and block out some time because
this isn't something that you're going
to be able to just like fit it and this
is something that when you get in that
creative space, you can do it after you
wash and blow-dried your hair, you got
your makeup on or whatever, right? Where
you feel camera ready. And you can do it
all at once. If you don't put this in
your calendar, then it's not going to
happen. And then you're going to be
really frustrated when your content's
not working. Well, you didn't make it a
priority. So, make it a priority. So,
when I think about batching, I recommend
batching like my filming at one time and
my editing and preparing for publishing
at a different time because when I am
creating and filming, it's a really
different energy. It's a really
different mind space that you're in. And
then editing, well, that can be squeezed
in at different times, right? You don't
always look the way you want to when
you're ready to film. And so, carving
out that space to film and then making a
space for you to edit and get it ready
for publish, but do them at different
times. So, film a bunch at once and then
edit a bunch at once. And because you
did all the planning in the steps
before, you can just pull up your
Airtable or spreadsheet or Trello board
or however you do it, and you have all
of your content ready to go and to film.
And you don't have to waste most of your
time. You don't have to waste a couple
hours on Instagram scrolling because
you've already done that, right? You've
already done the research, it's ready to
go. Now, I know I just said, "Okay,
we've already scrolled through
Instagram." This is a little trick I do
to keep my content research productive.
One of the biggest things because I know
how this happens, right? You're like,
"Okay, I'm going to block off 2 hours to
film." And then you block off 2 hours,
you spend the first hour looking and
scrolling through Instagram. And then
you find a couple things that you want
to do, and then you don't really filter
them through your goals or analytics or
anything like that. And then you just
hurry and film, and then you hurry and
get them ready to post, and then you're
like, "I don't know why it didn't work."
And it's like, "Well, you didn't look at
things through the lens of strategy."
And we've got to do that. And so, when I
am just scrolling through Instagram
because I do it professionally, you
know, scroll for things to see what's
going on. I also do it personally. And
so, as I'm scrolling, I have a saved
folder system. So, when I see a piece of
content that I like, that I want to
create something like it. I'm not going
to copy it, but it is an inspiration. I
can use it to inspire a piece of
content. I will save it in that folder.
So, I have a B-roll one, I have an
inspiration one, I have one that's about
like Instagram strategy and so forth.
Then when I'm scrolling, I can just put
things in those different folders so
that when I'm ready to like actually
spell out the calendar and write the
scripts and things like that, I have all
of that content in one place. I can go
look at it and be like, "Oh, this is the
one I was thinking of. I'm going to do
something like this, and then I can link
it in the calendar so that when I go
batch, I can look at that reel and say,
"Oh, this is what I was thinking, and
this is how I want to create it." So,
then you're not just scrolling on
Instagram, but you're actively looking
for things that are going to fit you and
your business. And this is the only time
you should be scrolling for inspiration,
not when you're filming, not when you're
scheduling, not when you're writing a
script. Now, let's talk about the last
piece, and this might be one of the most
important parts, but it is our
scorecard. We keep a scorecard for me as
well as for my clients. It comes from
the book Traction, the EOS system. I'll
leave a link to that book below, but you
create a scorecard and you add your
analytics every week at the same day and
same time, and you are tracking the
numbers of the things that matter most.
We will do things for Instagram, we'll
do like shares or saves or like most
accounts reached, percentage of
non-follower reached, our store our
highest story views. And so, we keep
track of all these so that we can see
what is actually happening from a
week-to-week basis. Because what I see
all the time is people panic when they
have a bad week. But if you're able to
track data across week from week, then
yeah, you're going to have low times,
but you also can be like, "Oh, I can see
why this is happening." And I get it all
the time, you're scared of your numbers,
you're scared of analytics because if a
reel doesn't perform, then it means
something about you, and that's just not
true. We have to separate us from the
outcome of the performance of a piece of
content. If a piece of content doesn't
do well, it doesn't mean that you're not
good. It doesn't mean that you don't
know how to run a business. It doesn't
mean any of that, but it does give us
information about that piece of content.
So, maybe you tried a green screen video
and you didn't have a great hook at the
beginning. You didn't have compelling
videos on the green screen, but we can
then go and look at the numbers and say
like, "Why is it showing up like this?
How can we do better next time?" It's
like, "Oh, we need a better hook." Okay,
that doesn't make you a bad person, that
just makes you a good strategist because
you are thinking about, "Oh, I can see
why that didn't perform well and now I'm
going to do better going forward." So,
you are a business. Numbers matter.
Numbers tell us things. So, you've got
to get over it. Start right now and go
to your analytics and start looking
around. What are the trends that you're
seeing? What are the patterns? What can
you learn right now so that you can
start implementing that? Because you
might see some things that are
surprising. That maybe the reels that
you thought were doing well, it's
actually the carousels that are bringing
in more followers. But, how would you
know that unless you look at your
analytics and unless you track them on a
scorecard. So, having that scorecard and
then having that once a week scorecard
check-in where you put in your numbers
and look at what's happened and where
you're going just keeps you grounded and
it keeps you grounded in your goals. So,
that's a system, okay? You plan the
month loosely and then you plan two
weeks in detail, filter every post you
type and format, build your filing
system starting today, right now, film
your content and batch edit your
content, save inspiration during
downtime, check your numbers every week.
You want to put some brand in 2026, you
have to actually create content. Systems
that will let you do that without
burning out. Okay, do you have other
questions? Will you let me know below?
You can get my Airtable template. You
can get access to Michelle AI. And if
you want me to rewrite your Instagram
bio, well, those are all linked below.
All right, my friend, we'll see you next
time.