Long form is king (so what to consume?)
- lucy7295
- Apr 7
- 6 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
I have officially had four whole days off work for the Easter bank holiday weekend! Slight caveat that I am writing this on Monday evening at the end of those four days, ready to post tomorrow, but I enjoy writing these, and so I am refusing to count it as work.
Typically, when I sit down to write a Substack post, I have about 10 ideas in my head and another 20 in my notes app. I find narrowing down my focus so much harder than ideating. Largely because, in the modern world, we are constantly bombarded with noise. Be that on social media, in news notifications (honestly, BBC, not every article is breaking news), or in general life. There’s so much to say that the challenge is really in working out what I, or my 11 readers, actually find interesting
Without a doubt, one of the biggest drivers of content overconsumption is short-form content.
A “quick” scroll on TikTok results in 10+ minutes of time wasted, where I’ve somehow watched at least 20 completely different clips on everything from the history of Greek Gods, the crossover of JoJo Siwa and Molly Mae on The Great British Bake Off, and dogs refusing to walk in the rain.
I have no idea how my algorithm has got that way either, but yes this somehow hooks me.
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Followed by a “quick” scroll on Instagram where I have been given 15 different pieces of business advice, at least 3 of which contradict each other, and another 6 sticky notes filled with things I Must Urgently Do To Succeed. Now.
It’s so easy to consume so much with so little breathing room, because as soon as you’ve finished reading one recommendation, the apps automatically scroll you onto the next topic. It’s no wonder my smart watch was constantly telling me my stress levels were high.
So, like everyone else on the internet, I was finally influenced to buy a brick.
For those of you who actually manage to get off social media and haven’t heard about Brick, it’s basically a small square you pay an arguably excessive amount for (£50) to stop you from using your phone (that you paid even more money for).
You have to physically tap your phone to the brick to ‘unlock’ the apps on your phone, with the idea being that your mobile reverts back to a “brick phone” with just the ability to call and text etc. And it’s embarrassingly effective.
I don’t think I realised how often I picked up my phone for those “quick” scrolls. But it was definitely too much. So with this newfound mission, and the realism of knowing I can’t abandon content completely, I’ve been making an effort to favour long-form content. Which, in my mind, is anything over 20 minutes long that properly explores a topic, leaving me with media-free time afterwards to digest.
So, for anyone else on a similar mission, here’s a bank holiday summary of all the long-form content I’ve consumed whilst being bricked this last four-ish weeks. I of course recommend it all.
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YouTube Episodes I’ve watched
Despite the obvious benefits of being bricked during the workday, being bricked in the evenings means I can actually watch and absorb YouTube. Rather than putting on my usual mindless episode that can play in the background as I scroll.
Grace Andrews Vlogs
I recommend all of her vlogs. But if you have to start somewhere, start with her episode on “I watched my last 30 episodes so you don’t have to”. Which gives an excellent summary of some of her best advice.
Inclusive by Design
We all know Ted Talks are great but I’m not trying to say it’s a revolutionary idea to watch them. I did especially love Robert McKinna’s talk on ‘Inclusive by Design,’ however.
Robert covers how normalcy bias means we tend not to think about a problem until it’s on our doorstep. But some of the best product developments (Audiobooks! Electric toothbrushes!) come from designing inclusively. An important reminder that designing for everybody means designing better. Inclusive by Design.
In Defense of being Online
Perhaps I watched this on an evening when I was trying to get back online? But Mickey Galvin offers a really interesting take on the current trend that we all need to be more ‘offline’. How can we instead approach this by focusing on using our time better? Plus, I love her video style of it being a screen recording.
Substack articles I’ve read.
Obviously, I love Substack. There’s so many articles I could link, but these are the top ones I have saved to return to multiple times.
You’re stressing out about purpose when all you need is a pack of raspberries.
(Erifili Gounari: Crystal Clear)
A beautifully written reminder to address what success actually looks like for you. And that you can be both very ambitious and have a healthy and joyful work-life balance.
No one cares so take bigger swings
(Anna Mackenzie: Anna Mack’s Stack)
Love her idea of ‘shoot your shot Wednesday’. Perfect examples of all the good that can come from putting yourself out there, and the very minimal worse case risk (no one cares).
Stop trying to “find your niche”. Just answer these two questions.
(Alexis Barber: Too Online)
Digging into the why and who of your work, and why a day in the life blog probably isn’t the content you need.
Everybody is “building a personal brand” and nobody knows what that means
(Emily Jean: Founders in Jeans)
Everything I’d like to say about personal branding and more. And how to gain legibility.
Having taste means having experiences
(Lucy: Elevating Ecom) (I had to share one of my own!)
Breaking down why taste is so important, and how you can discover your own unique perspective that makes you stand out.
Books I have read:
What’s your dream: Simon Squibb
I really enjoyed this! It is a bit corny and a bit heavy on the dream, but if you are feeling in a bit of a rut about what to do, or feel like you’re not dreaming big enough, then I highly recommend.
Story Brand 2.0: Donald Miller
This has been on my TBR (to be read) list for sooo long and did not dissappoint. Such a good take on messaging, putting your customer first, and generally reflecting every value I believe in. If you’re looking to improve your business messaging this year then I highly recommend.
Podcasts I’ve listened to:
The Art of the Brand
Basically, everything they’ve put out. I find this to be one of the best podcast breakdowns for branding and love all of their summaries. Especially recommend “Nike flew us out… here’s what they got wrong”.
Working Hard
Two of my favourite podcasts to ever exist are Working Hard and Shameless. You can only imagine my excitement when the Shameless founders came on the Working Hard podcast. I imagine this is how Marvel fans feel, or readers of the Maasverse when Sarah J Maas recently hinted ACOTAR 6 will be a world cross over. Basically I was very excited.
As always an excellent interview on how they’ve built a successful multi-million dollar business whilst staying true to their values:
Stuff you should know:
A new one to me! I definitely don’t listen to every episode (contrary to their name, I don’t feel like I need to know about contortionism). But they cover a really interesting mix of subjects. I loved the one about “Let’s all go to the world’s fair” and really managed to reflect on how we’ve lost the ability to have a space designed purely for showing off. And this also ties in really nicely to my article on the same topic of showing off.
13 whole long-form content pieces you can digest! Of course, there are many more, but the beauty of long-form is you don’t need to consume everything. You can just properly digest a few.
If you do check any of these out, let me know your thoughts. And I’m always open to recommendations!
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