April Productivity Rebellion: It’s No Longer About Human Connection
This is The Productivity Rebellion.
Once a month, I send you an email designed to feel like settling in with your favorite magazine — something you tuck into with your coffee on a Sunday morning. Real stories, deep thinking, and permission to do things differently. One focused topic. No overwhelm.
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There’s something happening with social media marketing…
Buckle up my friend, because Mrs. Ranty-Rantpants is coming in hot.
I have been listening to you, listening to conversations, watching marketing trends, and paying attention (in a very Special Agent who broke out of the Matrix way).
Before I get into how you can show up for yourself and your business this April, I want to break down what I’m seeing across social media and in-person get togethers.
There’s a huge, giant disconnect between what we need and what we’re being fed digitally.
At 3 separate in-person events in March, women talked about how all they’re seeing in their Instagram feeds are ads and suggestions for who to follow. Not their friends, not anything they actually want to see.
A friend and client of mine (who happens to be amazing at social media) posted a talk Gary Vaynerchuk did about how “social media” is no longer social…it’s now “INTEREST media” — which fits with the “ads/who to follow” experience so many are having. He essentially says it’s a great opportunity for businesses to market themselves better.
But the subcontext here is so loud in its unsaid-ness… These platforms are no longer built for human connection. They do not serve human connection. They do not facilitate human connection (beyond the Reels you send your bestie without ever having a real conversation).
So what are we left with? Platforms that have trained us to automatically open them anytime we have white space in our brains or calendar - only to use that time, energy, and attention to sell to us and trap us in the scroll. While we convince ourselves that liking a post if we happen to see it constitutes friendship.
And here’s another mindf*ck for you, that another friend of mine and I talked out in the sauna the other morning: being a Creator/Creative is not the same thing as marketing. She said, when you create for the sake of creating, it’s completely different than creating for the sake of an outcome (i.e. a social media campaign for the goal of business ROI). I agreed, and added that the problem is we’ve conflated so much of our human-ness with the digital space.
We’ve conflated being “social” with media and digital marketing.
We’ve conflated being “creative” with media and digital marketing.
We’ve conflated “connection” with platform engagement metrics.
Next up? We’re conflating the very essence of being human with AI.
Now, do I think no one should use social media or AI? Absolutely not. It’s not the reality we live in, they can be great tools if used responsibly, and we’re not going back.
What I AM saying is that you should lift your head up once in a while and ask yourself what you’re doing. How are you spending your time, energy, and attention? (I use those so much, I’m calling it your TEA now, lol.) How do you FEEL?
YOU have ownership of your life and choices. And who knows, if enough people say “no, thanks.” we could see a shift in this space. And if not? You still have agency over how you show up in your life.
And you know what else I’ve noticed? I’m an outgoing introvert. Which means I do genuinely like being around my people, but it’s taxing and I have to recharge with alone time.
Since I have essentially stopped posting on social media, I have noticed more motivation and energy to actually meet up with people I like in real life. My social battery is more full because it’s not being drained by “interest media” wearing a social/community mask.
Chew on that my friends.
And stop letting platforms drain your TEA, which is exactly why April is about doubling down on what matters.
This Month: Time To Double Down
Since January, I’ve encouraged you to take it slow, eliminate what’s not working for you, and clean out the clutter (all the clutter - digital, mental, physical). To take the pressure off. Let yourself breathe for a minute.
Now it’s April. Q1 is over (whut), and you’ve spent 3 months building a purposeful foundation for growth. You could think of it like roots going deep in winter.
You weren't stalling. You were getting ready.
Now it's time to actually go for it.
Doubling down doesn't mean doing more. It means directing your energy toward the one thing that actually matters most right now, and being ruthless about not letting everything else dilute it. That second part is where most of us fall apart — we pick the thing, and then we let it share the schedule with seventeen other things and wonder why it's not moving.
So the question this month is: What is the one thing worth doubling down on right now?
In your business, that might look like:
Launching the offer you've been sitting on, the one that's "almost ready" for the last three months
Building real visibility — a content push, a pitching strategy, showing up consistently somewhere instead of everywhere sporadically
Finally finishing the creative project that keeps getting bumped to next week, and then the week after that
In your life, it might look like:
Committing to the health habit you half-started in January and quietly dropped by February
Protecting time for a relationship that's been running on fumes, where the people you love keep getting whatever's left
Picking back up something that's yours — a hobby, a class, something that has absolutely nothing to do with output or productivity
Here's the thing about doubling down: it only works if you've actually cleared space for it. Which is why the last three months weren't wasted. You can't pour more into a full cup.
You made room. Now fill it with something on purpose.
This month's prompt: What's the one thing — in your business or your life — that you're committing to for Q2? Not your whole list. One thing. Write it down somewhere you'll actually see it, and then look hard at your schedule and ask: does this thing actually have dedicated time in my week, or is it just a hope?
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
Behind the Chaos: What I’m Doubling Down On
I'll go first.
I'm doubling down on writing my book this spring — and I don't mean "I'm going to try to find time for it." I mean I made actual decisions that felt a little scary to make.
I've stopped all content marketing except blogging, the podcast, and this newsletter. No more social media content production, no more showing up everywhere because I thought I was supposed to. And I've committed to no in-person meetups until the first draft is done.
What I've realized is that I couldn't double down on the book while still trying to do everything else at 60%. Something (or a few things) had to go from the schedule entirely, not just get pushed to the back of it. That's the difference between saying something is a priority and actually treating it like one.
What does your version of this look like?
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If This Resonated
I’ve started a monthly series on my blog called Monthly Reset Series: Slow Living for Women Entrepreneurs.
Each month, we tackle one aspect of building a business without burning out. No hustle. No overwhelm. Just sustainable momentum that you can rely on when life gets chaotic and schedules change throughout the year. You can find each month’s published issue here.
It’ll publish on the first of each month, just like the Productivity Rebellion, with ideas and inspiration you can use to mindfully build a more intentional life and business (think more tactical and how-to’s, specific to the month).
On The Podcast:
Stop Drowning in Digital Clutter: Spring Cleaning for Your Business
Digital clutter is stealing your focus before you even start your workday—and it's costing you more than you realize. Every unread email, cluttered desktop icon, and chaotic bookmarks bar is draining mental bandwidth you could be using to actually grow your business.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why digital clutter is more disruptive than physical clutter (and harder to ignore)
How to declutter your email inbox like a CEO without spending hours sorting
The bookmark management system that keeps only what you actually use
How to maintain a clean desktop with one 5-minute weekly habit
Why unfollowing people on social media is self-care, not selfishness
*This is my longest episode to date at 40 minutes - it’s full of specific how-to’s and advice that I hope you take action on!
→Listen on Apple
→Listen on Spotify
→Watch on YouTube
On The Blog:
The Sunday Reset Checklist for a Calm, Clear Week
A Sunday reset checklist and routine that helps busy women decompress, clear the week behind them, and ease into the next one calm and clear — without turning rest into another productivity project.
That's it for April my friends. I hope you got a little joy, compassion, and feeling of being seen from this month’s issue. Take advantage of the energy you have now before summer chaos hits!
See you next month!
Here's to creating white space in your calendar and breathing room in your brain 🖤
xo,
Cara
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