posting three long-form videos on youtube every week
the anatomy of work
a fellow youtube friend recently told me: “one of the hardest things to do as a content creator is stay focused, there are so many shiny objects”.
i think this is true as a content creator, as a tech founder and probably for everything else in life once you pair ambition paired with a bias for action. the world becomes a map of possibilities, but not all possibilities are worth pursuing at least for the time being.
it can become a form of productive procrastination, even a distraction. this year, i learned that work that isn’t rooted in purpose becomes a form of distraction
Bandwidth/Energy
i like to think about bandwidth and energy interchangeably. they are basically the limited resource we have for every given day.
the more you work and the more you understand how you work, you are able to expand the “surface area” of your bandwidth. the allocation of your bandwidth differs depending on your talents and interests as well.
my bandwidth box probably looks like this. where i have a greater capacity for work that is creative in nature. fixed work is work that doesn’t require much “thinking” and the expectations are clear.
this is how i would describe the work i normally do and how they fit into each box
The Problem
last month i tried posting one short-form video on Instagram everyday to promote Kawara. but here lie the issues:
i am not very good at short-form content
it is easy for most people to post short-form content everyday, therefore, i will not stand out
also, i wasn’t getting the results i wanted. so i stopped and decided to post on youtube three time as week instead.
sounds like a lot? maybe
when i first started making youtube videos, i tried posting two times a week. a known unspoken rule in content is you need to keep posting in order to grow. but posting once a week on youtube was hard. i would spend 6 hours figuring out what to script and how to film well. then another 10 plus hours editing. my videos would then be only 2 minutes long.
but now that i have been doing it every week for 2 and a half years, i have gotten the hang of it. with just of 6 hours of scripting, filming and editing, i am able to produce a ten minute video while maintaining that baseline quality.
putting out a ten minute long-form video in under 10 hours is something most people can’t do. but i am also well aware my video isn’t up to life of riza’s standards. so i don’t need 4 months to edit a video. or even if i did spend 4 months, my video won’t come out as good.
short-form is the easiest way to get discovered. posting on long-form is hard. true for others but not applicable for me.
i decided to double down on what i am good at. making long-form videos and telling stories in my own voice.
doing both short-form and long-form occupies the creative part of my brain. they are both similar in the nature of work (scripting, filming, editing) but slightly different in semantics (hooks, attention). they also serve a similar purpose in my life which is to increase distribution to kawara and help me build a brand. therefore they can be substituted and can be a distraction.
i find it easier to switch gears from brainy and creative side, but a lot harder to do so within the same realm.
in the same vein, trying to fundraise and building the product work simultaneously was impossible. they required too much of the same corners of my brain. i found it easier to balance doing product work and making videos.
i don’t know if this will get me the results i want but. i feel like this is the closest bet i have to succeeding. ignoring the noise and doubling down on what i feel like will work.