How are the numbers calculated?

Hours per year = (sum of minutes per stage ÷ 60) × issues per year. Each stage share = that stage ÷ total. Stages are classed as: sourcing (find + choose + summarise) which a source watch with memory removes almost entirely; formatting, which a locked template removes; repurposing, which a one-click repurpose removes; writing, which stays yours.

Why split "find" from "choose"?

Operators report both as the Sunday grind but they are different jobs. Finding is scanning 20 to 30 tabs for what is new. Choosing is deciding what your readers need and what you already covered. Tools remove finding completely and shorten choosing to a ranked list; the pick stays with you.

Where does the "70% of the work" figure come from?

From operators describing their own weeks in r/Newsletters and r/Substack in 2026: "curation was 71% of it", "three to four hours every Sunday scanning 30 feeds". Your audit gives your own number, which is the one that matters.

No. The audit runs in your browser. Copy the summary if you want to keep it.

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Free Newsletter Time Audit

Six numbers, one issue. See the hours per year and which part of the grind is sourcing, which is writing.

Finding · min per issue

Scanning feeds, tabs, groups for what is new

Choosing · min per issue

Deciding what goes in, checking what you already covered

Summarising · min per issue

Reading each pick, pulling the key line

Writing · min per issue

Intro, takes, your own words

Formatting · min per issue

Laying it out in the email tool, links, images

Repurposing · min per issue

Threads, posts, recap for socials

Issues per year

Weekly ≈ 50, fortnightly ≈ 25, daily ≈ 250

Per issue

4.1 h

245 minutes

Per year

204.2 h

26 working days

A tool can take on

154.2 h/yr

75.5% of every issue

Finding: 90 min (36.7%)
Choosing: 30 min (12.2%)
Summarising: 30 min (12.2%)
Writing: 60 min (24.5%)
Formatting: 20 min (8.2%)
Repurposing: 15 min (6.1%)

Sourcing and choosing

61.2% · 125 h/yr

A source watch with memory removes finding, shortens choosing to a ranked list and hands you the quote. The pick stays yours.

Formatting

8.2% · 16.7 h/yr

A locked template with the picks already placed removes most of this.

Repurposing

6.1% · 12.5 h/yr

One-click repurpose to a thread or post removes most of this.

Writing

24.5% · 50 h/yr

Stays yours. This is what readers subscribe for.

204.2 hours a year on 50 issues. 61.2% of each issue is sourcing and choosing; 75.5% (154.2 h/yr) is work a tool can take on. Writing stays yours.

Writesy AI — Free to start

Most of that time is sourcing and choosing. That is the part that automates.

This is the manual version. The Newsletter Studio does it every week from your sources: watches them, tells you what is new since your last issue, remembers what you covered, and lays the picks out with link, quote and your take.

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Newsletter Sponsorship Rate Calculator

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RSS Feed Finder

Paste any site and find its RSS or Atom feeds, discovered from the page and probed at the usual paths, then validated. Build a Google News search feed and turn Google Alerts into RSS. Sources for a curated newsletter, without 30 open tabs.

Curated Newsletter Section Builder

Paste 3 to 5 links and get a curated section with the title, source, a verbatim quote from each page and an empty "your take" line. Copy it as HTML or Markdown into any email tool. No AI summaries, nothing invented.

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