How to *finally* be consistent on Instagram

One of the biggest struggles that most content creators have when it comes to growing on Instagram is being consistent. I am one of them. Whether you’ve had a hard time being consistent because of burnout or maybe just because you don’t have a solid system in place, this video is hopefully going to help you work through some of those barriers. and get consistent on Instagram.

The biggest misconception with consistency

How many times have you tried to set new habits and they just don’t stick? How many of those times did you (or others) blame it on not being motivated enough or not having the willpower. Let me tell you a secret... it wasn’t because you didn’t have the willpower, it is really because you don’t have the proper systems in place to set you up for success. I feel like so much of the conversation around being consistent or building habits tends to be around “if you want it badly enough, you’ll do it” and that all you need is motivation. But it’s NOT about having the motivation, it’s about having a routine.

A lot of people feel guilt and shame around lack of consistency, whether it’s on Instagram or any other area in their life and that’s probably because when we talk about it - we are constantly blaming it on not having willpower. But that’s just not true!

If you truly want to be consistent on Instagram (or want to build any other habit in your life), it’s not that you need to hustle and just push yourself to do it - it’s that you need to build the routines and the systems that will enable you to actually execute on these plans.

How to actually build these systems

Let’s talk about how you can actually go about building those systems for yourself. This is not just about identifying what it is you want to do, for example, “I want to post 5 times per week”. It’s about actually creating really specific sets of steps you could take to make sure that you execute your plan. Let’s say you have been very hit or miss on Instagram and you finally want to get consistent. This is what I would do... Start with batching a week of content at a time, instead of trying to do a whole entire month - that might be a bit too overwhelming and cause even further inconsistency. This is actually what we have been doing for our Creatorly Media Instagram account since launched last year - each week, we are working on the content for the next week. This way, you are always one week ahead.

I recommend scheduling yourself two hours each week to film your Reels, shoot your photos, write your captions, and all other content creation. The time you need to spend on your content each week will of course depend on the type of content you are creating, but around 2 hours each week should cover it for most of us!

Depending on your life, work schedule, and other obligations - there are two different ways you can approach this new creation schedule.

Set up a reoccurring task: Every week, you would do your two hours of content creation at the same time, on the same day. Maybe you would schedule yourself to create content every Saturday morning from 10am-noon. Setting up a regular weekly time block for content batching is an easy way to build a bit - because you get in your calendar and do this every week.
Setting up a relative habit: Instead of scheduling yourself those two hours every Saturday morning, you would instead schedule around 10 minutes every Sunday (or Monday morning, whenever you prefer planning your week) and look at your calendar to determine when you can fit those two hours in this coming week. I would set a reminder for yourself to do this - using a weekly phone alarm or calendar notification - that way you don’t forget and make sure you have that time blocked for content batching.

How to create realistic habits

It’s not enough to schedule yourself a task each week, you need to make sure your schedule is realistic and obtainable. For example, if you are making your schedule for the week and you decide to schedule your content batching for 6am on Wednesday - it is actually reasonable for you to wake up that early and work on content? It’s easy to schedule something for 6am, but will it be easy for you to actually do it? If you don’t normally wake up at 6am, then scheduling your batching for this time is setting you up for failure. Instead, set your tasks for a time that doesn’t fit with your current lifestyle, schedule it for a time that makes sense for you.

If you are into building habits, you might have heard of the book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. The biggest takeaway I got from this book was that if you want to build a habit, you need to make it EASY and ENJOYABLE to do. If doing this work at 6am isn’t easy or enjoyable, then it’s not going to be something you can stick to long-term, which means you will be inconsistent. There are so many ways you could make this process easier and more enjoyable. You could pre-plan your outfits for your photo/videos by laying them out the night before, you could go to a coffee shop to do you caption writing, you could take a walk with your friend or partner to take some of your photos for the week, you could listen to your favorite music while creating some of your content, the list goes on.

Something else I learned from Atomic Habits is “habit stacking”. Habit stacking is a formula where BEFORE/AFTER a current habit you already have, you will do the new habit. For example, “after I pour my morning cup of coffee, I will write my to-do list for the week” or “before I hop in the shower, I will turn on an educational podcast episode”. This is something you can work into your schedule as well, for example, “after I get ready for the day, I will begin my content batching.”

How to schedule your content

Staying consistent doesn’t end (or begin) with content batching. There is a lot of planning that comes before and after your content creation.

Pre-Content Batching: Before you can even batch your content, you have to come up with the ideas, right? I would recommend doing this separate from your scheduled batching time or you can do it right before you start working on content, but at some point - you will need to plan the content you want to create. If you need some inspiration on how to come up with content ideas, check out my YouTube channel, I have been doing a monthly “Plan my Instagram Content with Me” video that shows you my entire process of coming up with ideas. But as far as actually planning your content, I use Notion and have developed a pretty rock-solid system that helps me stay organized and consistent with my content, you can actually grab a copy of my Notion Content Calendar template by going to www.katiesteckly.com/products.

Post-Content Batching: Now that you have created all of your content, you will need to make sure it gets posted on the days and times you planned. You can do this by using a scheduler platform. I recommend Later, I use Later for both my personal accounts, my business, and all of the clients we have over at Creatorly Media. Later make it so easy to schedule your content, photos and feed videos can be scheduled to publish automatically and carousels and Reels can be scheduled to be posted manually by notification. This makes sure your content is automatically being posted on your Instagram or that you are reminded to post your content if needed.

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I know that you can start being consistent on Instagram if you just put the right systems and habits in place - and I truly hope this blog helped you with that. If you would like more podcast episodes about how to build systems in your business or there are other topics you would find helpful, send us a DM on the Creatorly Media Instagram, @creatorlymedia.