Hey,
The other day I commiserated with my marketing strategist pal Leticia, and we got to talking about how this time of year comes with a lot of conflicting feelings and experiences.
On one hand, September feels like the real new year. It can be an energizing reset month that feels full of possibility. Brands launch new products, and we get a whole feast of pre-holiday campaigns to analyze.
But there’s a phenomenon that seems to happen for a lot of marketers: A slump that results from the exhaustion of summer, getting back into routines, and mentally preparing for what is often the busiest and most frantic season of the year.
Do you feel it? I certainly do, and so does my friend Leticia, who candidly described this time of year as her “burnout era.” She said, “It seems like everything I consume right now is for the sole purpose of melting my brain until it oozes out of my ears. I’m exhausted and uninspired.”
Oof. Yeah.
The way I see it, there’s two ways to deal with this. We can lean into the compulsion to sink into the couch and scroll ourselves into October (Wake Me Up When September Ends, amirite?). Look, sometimes a couch rotting session is just what you need, but too much of it will leave you more drained and more dysregulated than before.
The other option is to channel that into something more revitalizing—something that actually gets you ready for what’s coming. Q4 is a whole lot easier to get through when you’re not running on empty.
This tried and true guide pulled me out of many slumpy moments when the professional overwhelm has left me with the nervous system of a teacup chihuahua.
Take what you need, leave what you don’t.
Sorry to sound like your mom, but maybe you do need to eat a banana, drink a glass of water, go for a walk, and then take a nap.
Slumps like these don’t happen overnight. They’re often the result of prolonged overwhelm, or even just from having a busy and exciting summer (lucky you!)
You can bang your head against the wall trying to force creative ideas, but you'll come up empty if your brain is in survival mode. Before doing anything else, be sure to take care of the basics.
Being chronically online is part of the job, so a digital detox isn’t always realistic, but building better boundaries around what you consume and when is.
Most phones have screentime monitors, but real scrollheads who lack self-control (hi, it’s me) benefit from a physical app blocker.
Look, scroll happens. And when it does, it’s not always about consuming less, it’s about consuming better.
I recently stumbled on a ridiculously neat tool in beta called The Digital Culturist that’s become part of my regular practice. You build a signal library by saving content from any platform and organizing it into folders (think Pinterest but for any form of content). The tool analyzes what you save, determines who the content is for, and where it sits culturally. Then, it surfaces themes and generates intentionally incomplete insights, so you do the interpretive work.
It’s made me more discerning about what I save, which has made me more discerning about what I consume. The signal library gives me a healthy dose of dopamine, and the insights function like prompts that give my ideas somewhere to start.
And when you’re heading into the most demanding season of the year, having a curated signal library to draw from is immensely useful.
Marketers use creativity to solve problems.The problem is that creative energy goes dormant between projects, and trying to will it back through work alone doesn’t always work.
Creativity breeds more creativity, so starting a personal creative project, like journaling, a painting class, or learning something you've been putting off opens different channels of expression. It can be as high or low-lift as you want.
The point isn't to become a hobbyist. It's to remind your brain that creating still feels good, so that when Q4 hits and you need that part of yourself to show up, it does.
Inspiration loves company as much as misery does. When things feel bleak, I go to the Growclass Slack to see where other marketers are winning, what they're proud of, or what they're working on. I'll hop on a quick coffee call with a marketing pal to talk shop and find common ground.
Isolation can exacerbate slumpiness, but real connection does what scrolling can’t. A book club, a workshop, a movie night, or anything that gets you out of your own head and into connection has the power to bring us back to life.
When I sent this list to Leticia, she messaged back: “ugh okay fine, I’ll try it.” A glowing endorsement. But I was thrilled, because trying is exactly what this moment calls for.
We’ll get through September. That’s the goal, anyway.
Until next time,
Ines
If you found this useful, please be a helpful work friend and send it to a colleague, or share it on Slack. Did a friend forward this newsletter to you? You can subscribe here.
Expert-led workshops on copywriting, SEO and everything in-between. Hands-on seminars to build a career you love. Skills and templates you can put to work right away while connecting with excellent humans. Oh, and sometimes we make scones.
