One thing about building your own business is that you’re free to choose what you do and when you do it.
It’s great and overwhelming at the same time. There is so much to do and not a lot of time to do it in.
This year, I decided to make my main goals
1 – Upload 1 YouTube video per week
2 – Send a newsletter once a week
Everything else is secondary to that.
These goals both have deadlines and systems to back them up to make sure I achieve them. I schedule in time to work on both of them in my calendar and my workflow and processes are being refined each week.
But as we all know, even the best plans in the world never turn out the way you think they will!
So while I’m happy I met the deadline of publishing the video today, I’m writing this newsletter while feeling tired. Not ideal!
So let’s unpick what went wrong and get me in this pickle this week. There might be things in there you can apply to the goals you’re working towards.
Scheduling
This was the first week where I decided to try out filming on a set day and time every week instead of scheduling it around my partner’s work times.
I chose Wednesday afternoon to film. The problem? It only gave me Thursday to edit because Friday was busy. This normally would be fine because 1 day to edit has been plenty in the past.
However, I really wanted to try out a cool intro idea. I massively underestimated the time this would take!
And with no contingency in my plan, I ended up editing all day on Thursday just on the intro and then all day on Saturday editing the rest.
Key takeaways
- Trying new things takes a long time so plan extra time for them!
- Build some contingency into the schedule to allow for things taking longer. (I’m now going to film on Tuesday afternoons instead!)
Time tracking
I have mild dyscalculia, which is like dyslexia with numbers and maths. Other than swapping numbers around, being on time for appointments, and estimating how long something will take are the ways it effects me the most.
To manage it, I have a timer on my desk that helps me track how long things are taking me.
This has turned a weakness into a superpower because now I know how long it takes me to write a script, edit, upload etc.
It’s also shocking how long things take! The edit on my video took 13 hours in total. That’s way too long. I’m not going to hit my other goals if I spend so long editing every video.
Key takeaways
- Instead of tracking time until the job is done, set the timer as a deadline and see how much got done in the time. When the timer runs out, it has to be finished.
- Look for places where things feel slow or there’s friction in the process. These are likely where you can streamline things and save time in the future.
Grit
I don’t recommend digging deep too often if you’re out of spoons for the day, because you’re just taking energy from tomorrow. But if tomorrow is a rest day, then you can and you can rely on your grit.
That’s what I’ve done today. Because tomorrow is Sunday and I’m playing boardgames with friends I can mostly rest.
I reflected on where my grit came from.
- I don’t want to break the streak. I’ve uploaded a video a week since 12th December and I want to keep it up!
- It’s for my main goal so it’s high priority for me.
- I’m making being a YouTuber part of my identity and being a YouTuber who misses uploads is not the identity I want to create for myself.
Key takeaways
- Digging deep is ok if you have planned rest the next day.
- It’s easier to find grit if the things you’re doing it for is really important to you.
- The actions you take build your identity.