How Many Times Should You Post Notes on Substack?

Most people either post once a week and stay invisible. Or they try posting 20 times a day and burn out by Tuesday. If you're wondering how many times should you post notes on Substack, you're not alone.

Neither works.

The answer is 1-3 notes per day. That's the sweet spot.

You're probably posting too little because you think Substack notes work like blog posts. Or you're overthinking each one like it's a major publication.

Notes aren't long-form content. They're quick touchpoints.

The "1-3 Daily Pattern" works because Substack notes stay visible for 7-10 days, not hours like X. Your notes don't compete with each other. They stack. This lets you show up consistently without overwhelming your audience or yourself.

By the end, you'll know exactly how many times you should post notes on Substack, how often to post on Substack for your audience, how to create them in 15 minutes total, and how to avoid the burnout trap.

The 1-3 Daily Sweet Spot

You post 1-3 Substack notes per day.

Takes 15 minutes total.

This range works because notes stay visible for 7-10 days. Not hours like X.

Your notes don't compete with each other. They stack.

One note reaches people on Monday. Another reaches people on Thursday. A third one pops up in someone's feed on Saturday.

All from posting on the same day.

Think of it like planting seeds in a garden.

You don't plant one seed per month and hope something grows. You plant a few each day. Some sprout early. Some take longer.

But you're always visible.

Notes Live Longer Than You Think

A note that gets engagement on day 1 keeps showing up in feeds on days 3, 5, even 7.

This changes how you think about posting frequency.

Two notes posted today might perform on completely different days.

One gets traction immediately. The other sits quiet for three days, then suddenly gets comments and restacks.

This is how the Substack algorithm works. It favors notes that get engagement, even if that engagement comes days later.

Your notes keep working while you're doing other things.

Compare this to X. A post is dead in 2 hours.

On Substack, your note from Wednesday might be someone's introduction to you on Monday.

The Zero-to-One Jump Matters Most

Going from 0 notes per week to 1 note per day changes everything.

Going from 1 to 3 notes per day? Marginal gains.

The biggest move is getting off zero.

If you're only publishing long-form Substack posts, you're invisible between articles.

You publish on Tuesday. Then nothing until the following Tuesday.

That's 6 days of silence.

Meanwhile, someone posting 1-2 notes daily stays in the feed. They're building familiarity.

People see their name multiple times before ever reading a full article.

Understanding Substack notes vs posts matters here. Posts are your main content. Notes are your visibility layer.

You need both.

You wouldn't meet someone once a week and expect them to remember you. Same logic applies here.

More Posts Equals More Data on What Resonates

Every note is a test.

Post once a week and you get 4 data points per month. Post daily and you get 30.

More touchpoints means you figure out faster what your audience actually cares about.

You're not guessing. You're learning in real time which ideas hit and which ones don't.

That throwaway observation about email subject lines? 87 likes and 12 comments.

Your carefully crafted thought on productivity? 5 likes.

The audience tells you what they want. But only if you give them enough content to respond to.

This is where analytics become useful. Tools like Stacksweller track which of your notes get the most engagement. You can see patterns quickly.

This note format works. That topic resonates. This time of day gets more views—and timing matters just as much as frequency.

Then you do something smart with that data. Take your best-performing note and give it a new spin using AI.

Same core idea. Different angle. New examples.

Now you have two high-performers instead of one.

Think of it like trying new recipes. Cook once a month and you'll still be guessing what people like next year.

Cook daily and you know within weeks what gets eaten and what gets ignored.

Each Note Takes 5 Minutes

Anyone saying they can't post daily is really saying they can't find 15 minutes.

That's a priority problem. Not a time problem.

Compare this to writing a long-form Substack post (60 minutes) or creating a video (hours).

A note is:

• One observation
• One quick story
• One lesson learned
• One question that got you thinking

You're not writing an essay. You're sharing a thought.

Most people overcomplicate this. They think every note needs to be profound.

That's why they don't post. They're waiting for profound to show up.

Post the regular stuff. The everyday observations.

Those connect more than the "big ideas" anyway.

Extract Notes From Your Long-Form Content

Your weekly article should generate 4-5 notes.

Write one piece. Extract multiple notes from it.

Now you're not creating from scratch 7 times. You're extracting 7 times.

Completely different workload.

Here's how to use Substack notes effectively:

You write an article about email list building. That article has:

• A stat about open rates
• A mistake people make with welcome emails
• A counterintuitive tip about frequency
• A quick win someone can implement today
• A question that challenges common advice

That's 5 notes. Right there. No extra thinking required.

This is like a chef using every part of the ingredient. Your long-form content is the main dish. Notes are the side dishes.

Nothing goes to waste.

Tools like Stacksweller can help with this. You feed it your long-form post and it extracts multiple notes for you. Then it adds them to your queue so they go out over several days.

You write once, stay visible all week.

Batch When Motivated, Schedule for Consistency

Here's what most people get wrong about posting frequency.

They feel motivated on Monday. Post 5 notes. Feel productive.

Then nothing for the rest of the week.

That's not consistency. That's chaos.

The Substack algorithm rewards regular activity. Not bursts followed by silence.

When you're motivated and batch create 5-10 notes, don't post them all immediately.

Add them to a queue.

Schedule them out. One for today. One for tomorrow. One for the day after.

Now your motivated Monday feeds your entire week. You stay visible every day without touching Substack again until next Monday.

This is the difference between creators who stick around and those who burn out.

They both batch create. But one dumps everything at once. The other spreads it out.

You can schedule Substack posts and notes manually. Or use tools like Stacksweller that let you queue everything up in advance. Can you schedule Substack posts? Yes—and scheduling is essential for maintaining consistent posting frequency.

Either way, the strategy is the same: batch create, but spread out the publishing.

Think of it like meal prep. You cook on Sunday. But you don't eat all 7 meals on Sunday.

You eat one per day all week. Same amount of cooking. Way better results.

You Need 90+ Notes to See What Works

You can't judge results after 6 posts. Or even 20.

You need 90+ notes minimum to see patterns.

Posting weekly gives you 12 data points in 3 months. Daily gives you 90.

More posts equals faster learning.

Most people quit too early. They post 15 times, see mixed results, and think "this doesn't work."

You haven't given it enough time.

90 notes shows you:

• Which topics get engagement
• What's the best time to post on Substack for your audience
• What format your audience prefers
• Which style gets restacks vs comments
• What converts lurkers into subscribers

But you need the sample size first.

Once you have that data, you can double down on what works. Look at your top 10 notes. See the pattern?

That's your content formula.

It's like learning to cook. You don't make 6 meals and declare yourself a chef.

You make 90 meals and start seeing patterns in what works.

Don't Let Engagement Dictate Your Posting

Some notes get 5 likes. Some get 150.

Keep posting anyway.

The goal isn't viral notes. It's consistent visibility.

One subscriber from a "failed" note is worth more than 100 likes from people who'll never buy.

You're not chasing engagement metrics. You're building relationships.

The note that got 5 likes? Someone read it at 11pm when they couldn't sleep. It resonated. They subscribed.

Three months later they bought your product.

The note that got 150 likes? Mostly from people who hit like and kept scrolling.

Which one actually mattered?

Think of notes like conversations at a networking event. Some conversations are quick and forgettable. One conversation leads to a client.

You can't predict which one. So you show up and have the conversations.

Think in Seasons, Not Daily Quotas

Some weeks you're motivated and create 15 notes in one sitting.

Other weeks life happens and you barely manage 3.

That's fine.

Your average over 90 days matters more than perfection today.

This isn't about rigid discipline. It's about showing up most days.

If you average 1.5 notes per day over 3 months, you win. Even if some days are zero and some days are three.

The creators who burn out are the ones treating this like a checkbox. "Must post 3 times today no matter what."

The ones who stick around think in seasons.

Busy week? Pull from your queue.

Motivated week? Batch create and refill the queue.

The average takes care of itself.

It's like exercise. You don't need to hit the gym for 90 minutes every single day. You need consistency over months.

Some days are 30 minutes. Some days are nothing. Some days you're there for two hours.

What matters is the pattern, not the daily perfection.

Frequently Asked Questions