I’ve done it—you’ve done it—we’ve all burned through an entire season of a show in one weekend, convincing ourselves it’s a well-earned break. But the average adult in North America watches over 2.5 hours of streaming content per day, according to Nielsen. That’s over 17 hours a week—time that could easily be reclaimed. According to a 2023 survey by Constant Contact, 63% of small business owners admitted they don’t have a formal marketing plan at all. Similarly, research from the SBA and SCORE highlights that small business owners often spend the majority of their time on day-to-day operations and significantly underinvest in long-term strategic planning and marketing. When you pair that with findings from a 2023 survey by Asurion found that small business owners spend, on average, over 14 hours a week watching streaming services—more than many report spending on growth activities like content creation or business development. That’s a massive opportunity hiding in plain sight.
What if you gave up just one show—say, 9 hours—and used that time to push your business forward instead?
Any one of these could be replaced with a powerful weekend of deep focus and strategic action. And you don’t need to give up TV forever—just this once, to see what happens when you reinvest that time into something that actually moves the needle.
Sacrifice just one weekend of streaming and reinvest that time in your growth. What happens when you trade screen time for strategy time? Usually, a lot more than you’d expect.
Here’s a simple, structured 8-hour sprint you can do over a weekend (or across a few evenings) to learn something valuable about your field, create content from it, and re-engage your audience with purpose.
This process works no matter what kind of business you’re in. I’ve removed specific examples so you can plug your world into these prompts and ideas.
Use ChatGPT to help you locate quality sources and gather insights.
“I’m a [type of business or profession]. I want to find in-depth, credible articles or research papers about [topic of interest]. Can you help me find 3–5 reputable sources, provide direct links to the full articles, summarize them, and tell me why they’re useful?”
Once you’ve got your materials, spend time reading, watching, or listening.
Prompt: ChatGPT Research Discussion
“Can we talk through these sources together? I want to explore what these insights might mean for my business, and how I could explain this to my audience in plain language. What new ideas or opportunities are emerging from this material?”
Let ChatGPT help you organize what you’ve learned into blog posts, social media content, or website updates.
Prompt: Content Organization
“Based on everything we’ve discussed about [topic], help me break this down into 2–4 blog post ideas or social media post themes. I want each one to be specific, valuable, and true to my voice. Please give me working titles and a few bullet points for each.”
Visuals help your content stand out. Instead of using generic AI images, I like to go for something that feels hand-drawn or editorial. Here’s a prompt I use:
Prompt: Image Prompt Creation
“Help me write a chatgpt prompt for an illustration-style image that captures the message of [blog or social media topic]. I want it to feel hand-drawn or editorial, not like a stock photo. Include setting, subject, mood, and style keywords.”
Use the image to headline your blog post, add texture to a social share, or simply bring a fresh look to your feed.
You’ve pulled together some great content—now give it a once-over with fresh eyes. Read everything you’ve drafted: blogs, captions, even image prompts. Ask yourself:
If you spot anything that feels generic or half-baked, now’s the time to tighten it up.
Prompt: Final Refinement
“Here are my draft blog posts and social media ideas based on our research about [topic]. Can you help me refine them so they’re more engaging, clear, and aligned with my voice?”
Polish it up, take a deep breath—and then, if you’re still up for it, hit publish.
