Help! I feel Im on content writing auto pilot..

Lately I have felt a little like I have been on auto pilot - I like what I am doing however it is a little bit of the same same day in day out. Rather than getting sucked into an IM vortex, I always try to kick myself in the virtual butt when I get in a rut.

If youre pounding away in the marketing business day in day out its easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut. Were all likely to get there at some stage in our IM career.

• Nothing is working anymore
• No pipeline to speak of
• Youre not accountable
• Feedback from clients and projects is mediocre
• Youre lacking the time to do much research to ensure youre on target with your marketing
• Your plans slip by the weigh side and you go in circle without improving or increasing your business tot much
• You get easily distracted

If you havent experienced any of the above its practically a miracle, I honestly believe its part and parcel of marketing and its natural that at some time you will come across one or more of these stages.

While it doesnt always have to just refer to content writing, this can be anything in IM, its important for your sanity to dig yourself out of a slump and focus on a few areas so youre back on your A-game.

Whenever I get to this circular phase in my work and once I have identified that its happening I will usually try the following to break out of the rut:

Break it down and review all of my content and make it fresh

I will do this usually every few months if I have time. I will completely re-write my website content every year as I feel if it gets stale I also get a little stale. I always tweak as needed and enhance however a complete spring clean of my website usually puts me on course again.

Do something a little bit different and diversify your skills

Sometimes just doing something a little different can make a huge shift in your frame of mind. Recently I started offering some extra services that allow me to freshen up what I am doing and dont allow me to get as bored with doing the same thing day in day out.

Focus on the positives

It can be a real downer if you are in a rut so I take myself out of the situation and focus on the wins I have had and how I achieved these to try and recreate these for other projects.

Upskill

There is nothing better than learning and an old dog CAN learn new tricks so whether it is a new program, app or skill I get learning and this will broaden my horizons and can even allow me to get some time back if it is something that can reduce my workload and streamline my service offering.

Get networking and social

Youre not alone and sometimes I can feel like I am the old cat in the hood so getting out there and networking is important - whether its a quick beer or a proper networking function with people in my niche its important to break away from the desk and get out there a little.


Just turn off the computer for a day and be tech-free

While this can be a hard one, sometimes just disconnecting can make a massive difference and give you some new ink in your pencil.

What do you do when you've hit a slump to get back onto your A-game?