You're spending 5 hours a week on work that shouldn't exist

Hey,

Quick question: How many hours did you spend reading comments this week?

Don't lie. I know you checked your phone "just for a second" about 47 times.

Here's what nobody tells you when you start creating content:

You're not building a channel. You're building a one-person media company.

And right now? You're running it like it's 2015.

THE THING THAT MADE ME START CREATOROPS

I watched a professional runner quit Instagram.

Not because she wasn't good at content. Not because her audience wasn't engaged.

She quit because managing comments about her body during eating disorder recovery was destroying her mental health.

6-8 hours. Every week. Just sorting through hundreds of comments.

That's a full workday spent on what, exactly? Proving she cares?

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Engagement isn't empathy. It's operations.

And you're doing the job of a 3-person community management team. Alone. With no systems.

No wonder you're exhausted.

THE REAL NUMBERS

Mid-tier creators (50K-300K followers) handle 500+ interactions per week.

That's 100-300 comments per video, plus DMs on 4 platforms, plus emails, plus community posts.

You know what happens when you spend 8 hours a week on comments?

You have no time left to actually create.

The thing people subscribed for? You're not doing it. Because you're too busy managing the noise.

HERE’S WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS

When I was running marketing and communications at SWIFT (yeah, the company that moves $5 trillion daily), we had a rule:

Any task taking more than 2 hours a week needs a system (not willpower).

So here's your new system:

1. Batch in sprints, not doom-scroll

Two 25-minute blocks. Daily. Timer on. When it dings, close the app.

I promise the rest can wait. It really, really can.

2. Most comments need a ❤️, not your soul

80% of comments → react and move on
15% → deserve a real response
5% → filter or block immediately

Stop treating comment #247 like it's your thesis defense.

3. Save your templates, save your sanity

Pre-write 5 responses:

• Friendly/appreciative

• Answering a question

• Clarifying something

• Setting a boundary

• Thank you + redirect

Not because you're a robot. Because your creative energy is finite and needs to go somewhere that actually matters.

4. Let criticism cool overnight

Anything that makes your stomach drop? "Respond tomorrow" folder.

You'll be clearer. They'll often delete it themselves. Everyone wins.

5. Track the ROI (yes, really)

If you're spending 8 hours on comments and your engagement rate isn't climbing?

That's not community building. That's unpaid labor.

THE PART NOBODY SAYS OUT LOUD

If you burn out, your channel dies.

Not because you weren't talented enough. Not because you didn't care enough.

But because you treated a media company like a hobby.

You're a one-person business. Operations isn't optional.

YOUR ACTUAL HOMEWORK

Next time you sit down to respond to comments, set a 25-minute timer.

See how many you handle in that sprint. Then close the app.

That's it. That's the whole thing.

Try it once. See what happens. Then come tell me if it works.

Seriously. Hit reply. I read every response. (In my two daily sprints, obviously.)

Amber

P.S. If you're spending MORE than 5 hours a week on comments, reply and tell me which platform is the worst offender. I'm tracking this for... reasons. 👀

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