Inside My Daily Substack Routine (1–3 Hours)

A realistic workflow for building momentum on Substack

There’s a lot of advice out there on Substack growth. And honestly, it often conflicts. One person says do one thing, another says the opposite.

But one thing is clear: consistency is what actually moves things.

You need to spend time on Substack regularly if you want real momentum. Not just publishing, but also engaging. That’s how growth becomes steady instead of random.

Still, if you’re just starting out, it can feel a bit unclear.

What do you actually do when you open the app or log into Substack? Where do you start? How long should you spend on it? What even counts as “enough”?

That’s why I want to share my current daily Substack routine with you. A simple system I actually follow.

Feel free to use it as a base and adapt it to your own flow.

What I Do on Substack Every Day

I have a list of ideas for Notes prepared, so 2-5 times throughout the day, whenever I have a moment and think about that, I pick one and share it on Substack.

For the rest, here’s my daily routine as a new writer on Substack growing an audience:

After answering some emails (I’m a full-time blogger so a lot is happening in my inbox), I open Substack (on my laptop) and start with the Activity notifications.

I respond to comments, check the profiles of people who liked my posts, follow and engage with their content.

I might open some Chats (group chats of publications I’m subscribed to and actually engage with), and I respond to a question they have in a thread. I then check out the other answers and leave a comment if I have something to say. I can also connect with some of the writers from that thread.

When I see a Note worth restacking, I do it and add my 2 cents on the topic.

I then publish a post on one of my publications.

If I’m running a challenge for The 2-Hour Blogger, that might mean posting daily for a week or so.

If not, that would be at least once a week.

My second publication, The $1K Newsletter, is where I document my Substsck journey. I can post there 1-3 times a week.

If I’m not publishing a post that day, I can still write one or two to have them ready ahead of time.

Last but not least, I’d learn more about the Substack business model, work on my strategy, and think of better way to make real impact on here.

So, it comes down to:

• Notes, Notes Notes.

• Engagement + connections.

• Quality long-form content.

The Simple Substack Routine You Can Steal

1. Notes

2–5 times a day (each time can take 1-10 minutes).

2. Activity + engagement (20–30 minutes)

• respond to comments;

• check who engaged with your posts;

• visit their profiles;

• follow and engage with their content;

• respond to questions in group chats;

• read other answers + leave comments;

• connect with other writers there.

3. Restacking + discovery (10 minutes)

Restack a note you like (or a few) + add a short thought or angle of your own.

4. Writing + publishing (30–60 minutes)

Write and/or publish an article/newsletter.

5. Strategy + thinking time (10–20 minutes)

Think about:

• what’s working;

• what’s not;

• how you can improve your content;

• how you can better grow and monetize your Substack presence.

And that’s it.

What do you think?

And do you have a daily Substack routine yourself?