Is Substack Overwhelming?
Perspectives and tips from reading and writing on the platform
Yes, it is.
Of course, anything and everything can be overwhelming.
But some things can only be as overwhelming as we let them.
The reader perspective
There are so many posts I want to read and I only manage to read about 1% of them. I’m playing an eternal catch-up game - by the time I catch up on at least some of the posts I wanted to read, I’ve saved three times more.
When I was younger (and I guess more naive), I did believe I could go down to 0 videos in my “watch later” playlist on YouTube. However, on YouTube, as on Substack, interesting content linked to other interesting content. So one video watched/one post read means between 1 and 5 new added to the list.
Notes are a whole other thing - I can spend much longer scrolling, like on other social media. I do feel better spending my time on Substack notes than on Instagram, but sometimes it still is procrastination and makes me feel bad about myself.
Overwhelm does not always mean it comes with negative emotions, though. Most of the time I’m also overwhelmed with the warm emotions of how amazing the community here is.
As a reader, I always manage to learn something new from engaging on Substack. And I feel so supported and seen by reading the words of others and by their kind replies when I comment on posts.
The writer perspective
This is the source of greater overwhelm for me on Substack.
My publication is not very big so I don’t get thousands of notifications, but it is already much bigger than I could imagine for my time (and overwhelm-restrained efforts) on here.
The process
I've been writing for a while already, and used to have a blog before (followed by a few close friends and tons of bots). To be completely in the clear, I have to say writing in itself can be overwhelming, no matter the platform.
That's the first layer, then comes the sharing part. It is quite scary to put yourself and your words out there. It’s easy to overthink and be stopped by fears of what will the people who know you think, and what will the ones who don't.
For non-native speakers like me, there might also be the fear of publishing nonsense English which will be hard to understand and which will expose our ignorance.
But, it is also so, so exciting. Writing and sharing our words are also a source of beautiful overwhelm because we have the chance to get discovered, to have people read and comment with the kindest words.
To have our words inspire and help someone.
The platform
It’s one thing to wonder what to write and whether you are ready to share. And on top of that to wonder how do you exactly do things on Substack?
Taking up anything new is overwhelming at the start. We have a lot to learn, and we have lots of potential for mistakes. Trying to avoid them and to be on top of everything requires much of our time and attention.
Indeed, I find the truly overwhelming part is not having to reply to a backlog of comments but my expectation of how fast I should do it. (And I usually underestimate how long some Substack activities will take me).
So yeah, to be able to keep showing up here in one form or another, I've left some non-essential things behind. Maybe I've lost on potential subscribers who opened my ‘About’ page and saw nothing. Maybe my publication would generate some more interest if I’d spent more time on its design.
But sacrificing some of these things (for now 😅) was all in the name of building a habit, of exercising that muscle of sharing more and sharing more openly.
Had I fallen into the trap of trying to optimise everything all at once, I would have optimised none.
The feelings
One of my favourite things about Substack is how open and vulnerable many writers are. We get a glimpse at all parts of the journey - complete with the challenges, not only the shiny success.
The inevitable ups and downs of numbers are real. You get kind of used to it, but the first time something happens, you feel it big (especially if you are also a highly sensitive person).
The first time you get the most likes, then the first time you get a few likes after the most likes. The first time you reach a subscriber milestone, then the first time someone unsubscribes. (And surely, the next times this happens it’s not pleasant, but at least it is less of a surprise).
At one point I was checking my publication’s stats so frequently and feeling so distressed, that I thought I'd need to write off the first 24 hours after posting. Or worse, stop posting at all.
In the end, as I’ve seen many writers share on here, not only the numbers but also our emotions will have their ups and downs, and this is okay.
Most of all we should look after our well-being so that we can truly enjoy our success and take lessons from the challenges.
How to helm the Substack overwhelm?
Here are some ideas on how to minimise overwhelm and keep enjoying the platform.
App
(A double-edged sword, to be fair. It alleviated overwhelm from my email inbox but enabled me to check for likes and comments constantly and on the go.)
have a time limit on the app, enforced by phone settings or another app (cause we know we are not the best at policing our time on distractions)
turn off notifications
delete it
Email
turn off certain notification emails (like post interactions)
have a separate email only for substack/newsletters and maybe turn off notifications for it and only check it a few times a day
Website
have a "tab deadline" - if a post has been open for a while, and you still haven't read it, close the tab
or if FOMO is overpowering, save it and then close the tab. (I'm still kind of fooling myself that one day I'll catch up on all my saved posts. Hahah. But having saved posts overwhelms me less than notifications and open tabs, so I roll with it for now.)
Writer's emotions
feel the feelings and step down for a bit if needed, the platform will still be there when you return and it's not like everyone will unsubscribe in the meantime. If you want to keep writing on Substack, it's better to take small breaks and recharge instead of burning out completely and quitting for good
take mini baby steps. I took my time coming up with the name of the publication, with the idea of the few first posts. Then I got to writing and publishing, at first quietly and sharing with no one. I initially went with an AI-generated logo to save time on this. As mentioned, for better or worse, I still haven’t touched my Welcome email or About page, but hopefully will get there soon 😁
Phew, this post turned out longer than usual, thank you if you stuck around and let me know how you found it.
After all, I’ve promised to fight overwhelm and not to add to it.
And let me know in the comments if you are also facing Substack overwhelm and if you find any of the tips helpful.
What are your ways of keeping the Substack overwhelm at bay?
Thanks Milena for this beautiful insight into your inner world here on Substack! I bet a lot of writers will recognise themselves in it - I clearly do.
I think until a month ago, I felt pretty overwhelmed, too. Now I realise that this "fear" was fueled by noticing HOW MUCH time I spent (telling myself at this point "wasting") away on Substack. However, now I realised I a) had this time and b) needed to spend this time to familiarise myself with Substack, identifying what I like, finding first steps towards my voice, my writing, my posting, my interactions... Mainly by consuming at this time. And I think that was okay.
Right now, I feel I am at a stage where I am more free to have ebbs and flows in my interactions, reading and writing.
I never use open tabs for anything. I only use saved posts. And whenever I feel I want to read something, I browse through my saved ones like a decent book shelf and pick one or two I feel like reading at that time.
Thank you for this post. Already implemented a few of these strategies but lots of good options. Mostly I've stopped feeling bad about what I don't read.