Press Start: Week 1/4 Overview
Ok on Monday it’ll be a week since I started this Project.
So as promised here’s the breakdown w/ stats.
As a reminder here are the deliverables:
- 1 Short form video daily
- 1 Long form video weekly
- 1 Long form write up (Newsletter)
- 3 Short form write-ups daily ‘X’ posts
However this is what I missed this week.
- Saturday - Didn’t post a video
- Sunday - Didn’t post 3 short forms (Only did 1) and no video uploaded.
- The long form video is late. Should’ve been up Friday or Saturday.
I can say these issues came 100% from the mistakes I list below.
#1 Lack of Planning
I had no idea how much planning would go into making a video or just writing. So scheduling is key here.
One of the biggest challenges was finding time to record and then realizing I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to cover.
So now i’m pressuring myself to think about a topic, formulate my thoughts correctly, then record, edit and publish.
And if you have a deadline, that pressure will be worse.
So the strategy i’m following this week will include better planning and a more structured approach to making videos. Where each step has dedicated time blocks to avoid rushed items.
This YouTube short from DesireLACAPTURE is what I'm basing my next week schedule on.
#2 Ideation
I needed to set time up for idea generation, and also have somewhere to store these ideas where they were easily accessible.
This Project has showed me how my capture system needs work.
Both to reduce friction for capturing ideas, and become easier to navigate to find it.
Setting time up for ideation/writing will save me time trying to figure out what to talk about when it comes to recording days.
I'm going to be following this for ideation from Ali Abdaal.
#3 Less ambitious projects (To start)
I realized that I have no idea how to use the more complex tools like Davinci Resolve or how to get footage color graded properly.
So currently I can’t create the videos in my head because I don’t know how to use the tools to make them.
Because of that I focused on making simpler videos without recording on LOG format, and also made simpler ones. This way I don’t stop publishing while I learn how to use these tools.
Starting with small steps helped me identify shortfalls. It also helped me fix them while also getting better at the basics through repetition.
#4 Gear
I can do much more than I thought with just:
- My phone
- A tripod
- Some Wired Headphones
The problem is that I don’t know how to get the most out of the gear yet.
(Specifically the phone camera)
But i’ve learned a bunch of things that have helped me just get stuff out.
Just working on my phone showed me that if I would’ve bought an expensive camera I would be screwed. Being able to just take the camera out of my pocket and record within seconds has taken out friction in the process.
#5 Reps
Getting stuff out there is more important than how good it is. Just getting stuff out there has helped me alleviate the stress I had when it came to posting.
Repetition has taught me the following:
- I over-estimated how much people would be paying attention to what I was making.
- No one cares, so you can experiment and get good quietly.
- I’ve realized that posting constantly helps get rid of the hesitation to post we have.
- The fast paced schedule didn’t allow me to overcomplicate things and think too much about posting.
Overall:
I’ve learned more by doing than by watching a bunch of YouTube videos mindlessly.
80% good/done is better than trying to achieve 100% and never getting there.
In the beginning volume is king. I've been able to identify my weak points and actually work to overcome them.
As we hit Week 2, I’ll look forward to continue sharing things as I figure them out so hopefully you can do the same as well.
If you've made it this far, don't forget to hit my X page and show some love over there.
And most importantly Thank You.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read these, see you next week.
Again, Thanks for reading -OG