How to actually execute a content calendar

Are you getting frustrated with spreadsheets, Word docs, or half-hearted attempts to get your content organized and together?

I get it. It can be overwhelming—not only are you juggling topics, you’re juggling copy, videos, graphics, links, maybe a review queue…and you still have to somehow visualize this into a calendar that needs to easily adapt and re-arrange as things come up.

You’re running to a million different folders trying to gather assets and upload them to five social media sites, your website, and lord only knows where else.

I have to break it to you: content is a full-time job.

But…what if I were to tell you there’s a better way?

What if I could tell you it could be easier?

Surprise! It can.

I made a video to walk you through my favorite (and tried & true) content planning method via Notion.

Take a look:

Get the template

I’m planning on making this template available shortly—I do want to have a few testers before I release it into the wild. But, you can sign up to get on this list here:

Read the transcript

Thanks to my friend ChatGPT, I cleaned up the transcript from the walkthrough and turned it into a high-level overview. Read through below if you’re not keen on sitting through a 20 minute video.

How to actually execute a content calendar

If you're struggling to keep yourself accountable to a content calendar, I'm about to show you a system that can change your life.

If you're doing anything with marketing content, you're probably starting to realize how overwhelming it can be to keep everything in order. You're juggling social media, blogs, website updates, maybe emails or newsletters, or even a podcast. There’s a lot to manage, organize, schedule, and make sense of.

I’ve been in content marketing for 15 years and have tried every system out there—Excel spreadsheets, Google Sheets, Google Docs, social media tools. It’s a bear to manage.

But I’ve found what I think is the perfect solution: Notion.

If you’ve never used Notion, it might seem overwhelming at first, but once you dive in, it’s incredibly easy to use. It helps you stay organized and gives you both a high-level view and the granular details needed to execute everything flawlessly.

Welcome to My Notion Content Hub

This is where I plan all of my content. It gives me a holistic view of everything going out, and I hope it can do the same for you.

Notion is essentially a series of nested databases. The calendar is a database—the same as what you see in the sidebar and in the content factory workflow. Each database is made up of records, and each record can have customized properties like dropdowns, numbers, text fields, relations, and more.

I’ve built a template specific to content calendar needs. For example, we have:

• Content Type (e.g. social posts, blogs, newsletters, web pages, podcasts)

• Topic and Pillar (which relate to your strategic content themes)

• Status (to track where content is in the workflow)

• Publication Date (to keep track of releases and display on your calendar)

• Platform (where the content will be published—social, email, website, podcast platform)

• Blog Category (especially useful for organizing blog content)

You build your content directly in these records. Templates help prepopulate repeatable content structures to save time and maintain consistency.

Filtering and Workflow Views

Notion lets you filter any view—calendars, tables, lists, etc—by relevant data. For example, I use tabs filtered by status (e.g. Brain Dump, In Progress, Scheduled, Completed) so I can focus on one step of the workflow at a time without distractions.

The Scheduler view is where the content calendar comes together. You get a visual layout and can drill into specific views like:

• All content

• Social posts only

• Blog posts only

• Newsletters

• Podcasts

Each tab in the scheduler shows different stages of content production, helping you visualize your entire content strategy. You can also use a "No Date" list for unscheduled content and drag items directly onto the calendar.

Building the Content Calendar

Let’s say you post a blog every Wednesday. You can drag finished blogs from your unscheduled list to those Wednesdays. If one post isn't ready, but a later one is, you can swap them. This updates the publish date automatically.

The list filters ensure that once a date is added, it disappears from your “No Date” view, helping you stay focused only on what still needs scheduling. You can always see everything from the “Everything” view, regardless of status or date.

This drag-and-drop setup works for newsletters, podcasts, social posts—whatever your content types are.

Content Creation & Management

Start in the Brain Dump tab. Add all ideas floating in your head—blog drafts, newsletter outlines, social ideas—and get them into the system. From there, assign statuses and publication dates, moving them through your workflow.

Notion makes it easy to assign content to different platforms, manage statuses like “Needs Review” or “Ready to Publish,” and collaborate with your team.

Using templates, you can predefine content structures for different content types. For example, a social post template might auto-populate the platform and content type. From there, just tweak the details as needed.

You can also manage content approvals, add links to assets or drafts, and even embed your content directly in the record.

Wrap-Up

As you get into the habit of using Notion, your calendar builds itself. You can filter by content type, publication date, or workflow status to get a clear view of what’s done and what needs work.

It’s an incredibly powerful system that will save you time, reduce overwhelm, and help you stay accountable to your content strategy.

and don’t forget…

If you need a secret weapon to help you up your marketing and operations game, I’m here.