Overcoming the ‘everything everywhere all at once’ of content

What if I told you the answer to feeling less overwhelmed, doing better work, and finding more joy in your career might be to do less?

Not work harder. Not upskill faster. Not expand your influence or prove your worth or fight for a seat at every table. Just do less.

I know how counterintuitive that probably sounds. We’re conditioned to believe that caring about our work means taking on everything, fixing every problem we spot, and somehow holding it all together through sheer force of will. 

But I’ve seen time and time again that narrowing your focus – doing less, but doing it better is the best way to have a real impact at work. In this article I’ll explain why doing less makes the chaos of working in content more manageable, and give you a model (with a free worksheet) that can help you find out where to put your focus.

The problem with content

Working in content is really, really hard. It can be completely overwhelming.

The reason it’s so overwhelming is because content is connected to everything and everywhere. It’s part of everything an organisation does. It reaches every department, project, campaign, customer journey, and Slack channel. Which means that even the simplest content task can reveal that everything, everywhere is broken.

‘Just write a line or two’

I learned this in my second content job, and it’s been the same story ever since.  A product manager came to me and said: ‘Can you just write a line or two and some button copy? We’re going to start offering two results routes for the last step of the process.’

I thought, yeah, fine, sounds easy enough. Just a bit of microcopy. Quick job.

I was very, very wrong. All these years on it still holds the title for the hardest bit of copy I’ve ever had to write.

I started asking questions. Basic questions about what the two routes were, who they were for, why we were doing this. And with each question, Pandora’s box cracked open a little further.

It turned out this feature was an ethical minefield – but no one seemed to care because it would drive conversions and make money. There were potential compliance issues with our industry regulator, but there were no policies in place and no one willing to take responsibility for creating them. It was a huge reputation risk for the brand, but the brand and PR team had no visibility of what was happening. It had major implications for the customer support team, but no one had thought to involve them in the conversation.

Oh, and I was also supposed to be looking after three other products, content marketing, social media, and helping with email campaigns.

All this responsibility, all these problems, all loading up on my plate because I asked a few questions about button copy.

We want to fix it all at once

These situations happen all the time in content. I’m sure you can relate to it – you pull one thread and everything unravels. The pressure mounts up because we want to fix it all at once.

And we want to fix it because content people care deeply. We want to do our absolute best for users, for our colleagues, for the organisations we work for. Sara Wachter-Boettcher calls this ‘vocational awe’ – the way we’re conditioned to see our work as a calling rather than a job, which makes us more likely to overextend ourselves.

So we get stuck in. We wrangle the stakeholders, advocate for content to have a seat at the table, fight all the fires, take on all the things.

I love that about us. But it’s also a problem.

The tipping point

Over the last few years, I’ve seen a gradual shift in our field. Less optimism, more disillusionment. At some point, our work stopped feeling doable and started feeling like we’ve been sentenced to push a boulder up a mountain for eternity by a vengeful deity.

Maybe it’s just the pressure of the job that’s getting to us. The grind of always wanting to deliver great work, live up to the ‘best practice’, the reactive working patterns, worrying about the constant cycle of layoffs, still fighting for recognition for content.

Or maybe it’s the whole world falling apart around us. The pandemic changed everything. Social and political issues and rampant injustice are everywhere we look. Not to mention the climate crisis and the imminent risk to the continued survival of living things on this planet.

And for those of us who work for charities and nonprofits, or create content and services for marginalised people, it feels like there’s a gigantic wave of desperation, need and suffering coming at us. And somehow we’ve got to stop it with content.

We’re asking too much of content

The issue is that we’re asking too much of content, and we’re asking too much of ourselves.

At the moment, we’re loading ourselves and content up with responsibility for too many things: user needs, co-worker needs, shareholder needs, financial security, career hopes, identity, belonging, self-worth, and more.

And when we take on that much responsibility and that much work, burnout swiftly follows. Or you just stop caring about the work you used to love, because it’s so hard, nothing matters, and you’ll probably get laid off soon anyway.

This was the cycle in my career for years. But I’ve been trying to do something about it. It hasn’t been a linear process – it’s been a rollercoaster. Through it, I’ve learned two key things:

1. You have limits. You can do a lot, you can make big changes, but you can’t fix everything. You’re one person.
2. Content has limits. Content is important, but it’s not the solution to every problem. There are problems that are too big for content design. It’s one part of a system – not just a digital design system, but a social, cultural, and economic system too.

So what can we do to break the cycle?

Control, Influence, Concern

I’m going to share a model that I’ve found really helpful in working out what to focus on, and finding more joy in my work. It’s about identifying that simple thing that you can do every day and enjoy.

It’s the model of Control, Influence, and Concern. It originates from Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. (I’ve actually never read the book, I’m ashamed to say, I just borrowed this concept.)

I started using it with clients in my first consulting role to help them work out what to focus on when they were stuck or at a turning point. The reason I like it so much is that it encourages you to look at the wider context and system you’re working in, and explore the power and agency you have.

Here’s how it works. You list out everything – all the things that you want to do, could do, are being asked to do, all the problems you’re worrying about, the challenges you’re facing, the opportunities that you see. Then you break them into three categories:

1. Control: Things you are in control of. This is your lane, and it’s where you should focus the majority of your efforts and energy.
2. Influence: Things you have influence over, where you can make a case, have a conversation, and try to collaborate.
3. Concern: Things that concern you, but that you can’t do much about. These are the things you need to try not to focus time, energy, or worry on, because what’s the point?

Let’s look at each category in more detail.

1. The circle of concern

The circle of concern is for things you can’t change. All the things that you can’t control or influence.

When you look at the list you created, you should be putting things like these into the circle:

• Other people’s reactions, feelings, and behaviour towards you and your work
• People who wilfully exclude content folks
• Topics, projects, and decisions bigger than you
• Layoffs
• Politics, society, economy
• The climate crisis
• The past

Expending effort and worry trying to effect change on these things can become toxic really fast, because it takes huge effort and you won’t see any reward.

Easier said than done, right? Of course you’re not going to stop caring about these things. But the goal is to give them less headspace. Stop the pointless rumination, because that drags you into feeling hopeless, angry, or nihilistic.

I’ve put things like politics and society in this category, but I’m not encouraging you to stop trying to change the world – far from it. If there are things on your list that you can’t live with and want to play a part in trying to change, that’s great.

But you can make it less painful for yourself by remembering that you’re one person, and you don’t have to be miserable because the world around you is on fire. I love the idea of ‘joyful militancy’ as an attitude towards things in your circle of concern. The term comes from a book by Carla Bergman and Nick Montgomery. It means fighting for the things you care about – but in a joyful, creative, community-focused way, rather than a grim, serious, joyless one.

Warning: Doing this made me quit my job 

Looking at your circle of concern might influence where you decide to work. A few years back, my circle of concern would have included lack of job security, being dependent on decisions other people made rather than the quality of my work. It would also have included the fact that the unwritten goal of all the work I was doing was to make powerful, rich white men richer and more powerful. So I quit my job and started my own business. That moved some of the things that were in my circle of concern into my circles of influence or control.

2. The circle of influence

The circle of influence is for things where you can have an impact – either with, or through, others. This is about exploring the power of collective action. You should spend some of your time here.

Finding your circle of influence can be tricky, because it’s not always clear what you can really influence. It can also depend a lot on how optimistic or pessimistic you’re feeling, as well as the scenario you’re working in and the people you’re working with.

To find your circle of influence, think about:

• Where, when and how you can influence. What opportunities do you have to influence? What meetings, forums, channels can you use to show up for content, for the user, for your peers? This could be in your organisation – by speaking up and showing up – or outside it, by writing and speaking. Beth Dunn’s book Cultivating Content Design is a fantastic read on how to do this in an organisation.
• Who you can influence and what they care about. Stakeholder interviews are a criminally underrated research method for content. Find out what your managers and peers need and use that to your advantage.
• Who you can collaborate with. Because influence can also look like collaboration. Collaboration is the most exciting part of influence for me, because it turns out we’re not the only people who care too much and want to make things better. Researchers, customer support, service designers, even legal – they care too much too.

Remember that influence has limits

But it’s vital to remember that your influence has limits.

Influence is an amazing skill to build, but you’re not a failure if you can’t win someone over. The odds are often stacked against you, because if you’re fighting for the user, at some point you’re inevitably going to find that what you think is the right thing to do doesn’t align with the goal for your organisation – which is probably driving profitability.

Also, not everyone enjoys spending their time educating and persuading people. That’s fine too. If this is you, look around and see if there’s someone who does have a knack for this, and give them your support.

3. The circle of control

Now we’re getting to the good part: the circle of control. Working in your circle of control is about working out what you do best and just doing that.

There’s another great thing about your circle of control – the things in it are probably the same places where you can find flow.

Flow is the work equivalent of a perfect domino run, or when the scissors start to glide as you cut wrapping paper. It’s that deeply satisfying state where you’re doing something and making amazing progress, but it feels effortless. Time moves differently – hours pass by without you really noticing.

The signs that something is in your circle of control and you’re going to be able to find flow in it are:

• It’s part of your role. It’s actually your job to do this thing.
• It’s not too hard (or too easy). It needs to be challenging enough to motivate you, but not so challenging that you freak out and feel like it’s impossible. It also can’t be too easy, because you’ll get bored and procrastinate.
• You have agency. You need a sense of agency over the situation or activity. If you feel like you’re being micromanaged, or that someone’s going to come in and override your recommendations, you can end up in a ‘what’s the point’ state of mind that’s not conducive to flow.
• You believe in yourself. If you’re feeling too self-conscious about the work, constantly doubting and questioning, you’ll never get anywhere. This doesn’t mean you have free rein not to question yourself or ask for feedback. It comes back to having the right level of challenge, so that you feel confident that you’re equal to the task.
• You know what the goal is. It’s impossible to do good work when you don’t know what the goal really is and what you’re working towards.

This might seem like a small area, but this is where you should aim to spend most of your time and effort.

The enemies of control and focus

When you’re trying to work out what’s in your circle of control and narrow your focus, you can run into challenges. The three big ones I see are duty, ego, and reactivity.

1. Duty

Sometimes a sense of duty gets in the way of focusing on the right things. When you care a lot – especially those of us working in the nonprofit sector – you can feel pressure to say yes to every little thing you get asked to do.

But you can say no. (I dare you.)

If it’s too hard, too easy, if you’re not being given the agency to do a good job, I’d encourage you to say no. It’s scary at first, especially if you’re not the most assertive person, but it gets easier. Just make sure ‘No’ isn’t your full answer. Try ‘No, but’ and explain why you’re refusing, or offer something else. It can start good conversations and give people a better understanding of your role.

Obviously there will be times when you can’t say no. In those situations, I’d urge you to constrain the task – set a limit for how much time and energy you give something and be pragmatic about what you can deliver. It makes things less frustrating and draining.

2. Ego

I mean this in the kindest way, but your ego might be a problem. Mine definitely is. Ego can present as imposter syndrome, lack of confidence, or a desperate desire to prove yourself.

So that’s why sometimes our ego tells us that we need to do it all, be the best at everything, expand our skills, and that we can fix every issue. And there are a few truly brilliant people who can do it all, who can take on that pressure and responsibility.

But a lot of us can’t or don’t want to take it all on. Maybe we have other stuff we love doing, maybe we’re parents or carers, maybe we’re disabled or unwell or tired, or maybe we just have the good sense not to want to burn ourselves out.

There’s no shame in doing less. It’s the opposite: being truly present, focused, and expert in something specific – however small that thing might seem – is something to take huge pride in.

One of the things that has made me feel best about my work is focusing on my circle of control and really deepening my niche. When I started my business, I found myself pushing the boundaries of my skills and experience, trying to do too many types of work because I was desperate to do something meaningful. But I got burnt out really fast, because the level of challenge was too high.

Settling into a niche – a specific type of project for a specific kind of organisation – helped me find my flow, because I could focus more and sharpen up my skills. Doing one thing really well is the best way I can make a positive difference.

3. Reactivity

I think the way content is set up in a lot of organisations means that we’re being pulled in several directions at once, always working in a reactive way, constantly being interrupted by someone saying ‘Can you just…’. These little, immediate tasks rob our focus and block us from doing the complex, meaningful work that would make the biggest impact.

This is the number one issue I see with my clients – they never get to the things that would make the biggest difference, because they’re stuck on the small things demanded by the people who shout the loudest.

It’s a hard cycle to break. You’re fighting your brain’s dopamine dependence and the little high you get from crossing something off your to-do list, even if it’s easy. And it’s hard when you have stakeholders breathing down your neck.

But breaking the cycle of reactive working is probably the best thing you can do for yourself, your team, and your organisation.

If you’re doing less busy work, focusing more on the meaningful stuff, and finding more flow, you’re going to feel so much more joy and pride in your work.

A red flag

If you’re reading this and you don’t feel like there’s much that’s truly in your circle of control, that’s a red flag. If you can, bring this up with your manager, your team, your boss – whoever. Name it, and ask how you can work together to change it.

In closing

Here’s what I want you to take away:

• Reject the pressure to do everything, everywhere, all at once. You’re one person. Content is one discipline. You both have limits.
• Don’t fixate on things in your circle of concern. Give them less headspace. If you want to fight for change, do it with joyful militancy.
• Collaborate across your circle of influence. Find your allies. Remember that influence has limits, and that’s okay.
• Focus your time and energy on your circle of control. This is where you’ll find flow and joy in your work.

Do less. Do it brilliantly. Do it with joy.

First published: 10/12/2023

Last updated: 16/1/2025