Embrace the Content Creation Grind
Some folks think writing can be a grind, especially if you find yourself on the content creator hamster wheel.
Publishing or creating content for a living can feel like a grind. As a writer or content creator, there is a never-ending need to produce.
I have been feeling the writing grid a bit in 2025. I am writing for two publications —You, Money, Happiness and Practical Ecommerce— and editing two more — Science Fiction Classics and Ecommerce Shelf Life.
In total, I am producing between 11 and 15 written articles and email newsletters each week. Admittedly, the last two projects — Science Fiction Classics and Ecommerce Shelf Life again— are much easier since, in both cases, I am using AI to generate an initial article that I edit.
For the first two publications —Practical Ecommerce and the one you're reading right now— I am the author, pounding out each and every letter on my 13.5-inch MacBook Pro.
In addition to the articles, I also edit 26 social media posts per day. Deadlines always loom moments away.
A Hamster Wheel
A fellow I used to work for a while back called the cycles of creating content a hamster wheel. He imagined content creators like bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers endlessly running on a wheel like a trapped animal —a rodent.
The force of his analogy was clear enough. Content creators should find ways to get off of writing or recording hamster wheel whilst still earning a living online. And this is by no means wrong.
I spent the past six months automating and innovating myself. Ecommerce Shelf Life —the project I mentioned above— is specifically an experiment to learn if I can use AI and automation to generate a growing weekly email newsletter.
Nonetheless, I don't think of the ever-present need to produce so much as a burden. It is a grind, but in a good way. It is a grind that I love.
Embracing the Grind
I will draw on personal experience here, so I hope you will indulge me. I wrestled in high school. Later, I coached wrestling —folkstyle and freestyle mostly— for 21 years. And now, in between old-man-style injuries, I practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ).
Grappling sports like wrestling and BJJ can also feel like a grind. In the case of the latter, I have no intention of competing, rather, I go a few times a week to a punishing practice.
Sometimes, after a workout, it feels like every part of my body aches. And not long ago, I experienced a severe injury that took me out for months. Nonetheless, I like to embrace the grind. I like the feeling of accomplishment. I like the fact that working out matches my self-image. It is an action that the kind of person I want to be, takes.
Embracing the grind as a writer is similar. The deadlines are challenges, sources of stress, and certainly not easy to achieve. But the steady flow of writing is compatible with who I want to be.
Do you feel the same?