I Recorded Five Reels In Ten Minutes

Five reels. Ten minutes. Done.

Except for the six hours you didn't see.

I hit record, filmed all five pieces of content, and wrapped before my coffee got cold. Sounds efficient as hell, right? Like I've got this content creation thing figured out.

Here's what actually happened.

The Part You Saw

Ten minutes of recording. Five reels. Camera on, camera off. Quick transitions between each one since I'd already mapped out exactly what I was saying and where I'd stand.

That part was genuinely fast.

But that's like saying a powerlifting competition is quick because the actual lifts take seconds. You're not counting the years of training, the warmup sets, the mental preparation, the strategy sessions.

The Part You Didn't See

Let me break down where those six and a half hours actually went.

Four-plus hours writing newsletters. Those five reels? They came directly from content I'd already developed for my email list. I spent an entire afternoon crafting those newsletters, researching points, finding the right words, making sure each piece delivered real value.

That's the foundation nobody sees.

An hour scripting the reels. Taking newsletter content and adapting it for vertical video isn't copy-paste. I rewrote every piece to work for the format. Tighter language. Stronger hooks. Clear calls to action. Each script needed to work in 30 seconds or less.

Thirty minutes on appearance. Hair, makeup, outfit changes. Yes, I'm showing up authentically, but authentically still requires looking put together on camera. That takes time.

Another hour on post-production. Editing clips, adding captions, writing post copy, scheduling everything, planning which would go out when. The filming might be done, but the content isn't ready to publish.

The math nobody talks about: 6.5 hours of preparation for 10 minutes of recording.

Why This Matters

Producing content consistently is the biggest struggle for over a third of content creators. Not because filming is hard. Because everything around the filming is exhausting.

And here's the thing that'll really mess with your head: spending less than 10 hours per week on social media makes it nearly impossible to see real results. If you're managing multiple platforms, you need at least 10 hours weekly. That's two hours every single day.

Most business owners I talk to think they can knock out social media in an hour a week.

They're off by a factor of ten.

The Burnout Nobody Mentions

Ninety percent of creators have experienced burnout. Not because they're weak or inefficient. Because the invisible labor is crushing.

You see the polished reel. You don't see the four drafts of the script. You don't see the newsletter it came from. You don't see the research behind that newsletter. You don't see the strategic planning about when to post it.

You see ten minutes. The creator lived through seven hours.

And when you're a business owner trying to do this on top of actually running your business? That math gets brutal fast.

What This Actually Means For You

I'm not sharing this to complain. I'm sharing it because you need to know what you're actually signing up for when you decide to handle your own social media.

Those perfectly curated Instagram feeds you admire? Someone spent hours making them look effortless.

That consistent content from your competitors? They're either investing serious time or they've hired help.

When you think "I should be able to do this myself," you're comparing your behind-the-scenes struggle to everyone else's highlight reel. You're measuring your six hours of messy preparation against their ten minutes of polished output.

That's not a fair comparison.

The Real Decision

You've got two choices with social media. Invest the actual time it requires, or delegate it to someone who already has the systems built.

Neither option is wrong. But pretending it takes less time than it does? That's how you end up burning out while feeling like you're failing at something that "should be easy."

It's not easy. It's just that the hard parts are invisible.

Now you know where those six and a half hours went. Now you can make an informed decision about whether you want to invest that time yourself or put it toward your actual zone of genius while someone else handles the content creation.

Either way, stop beating yourself up for not being able to crank out consistent content in spare minutes between client calls.

Those spare minutes were never going to be enough.