One of the recurring themes in the messages that I get from other photographers
is about their struggle to find time to do photography on a daily basis
Today, we are all so busy all the time! It's the busyness era
This is a topic I'm deeply interested in
Recently, I read a book, "Make Time" and in this video I will be sharing some of the key points from that book
along with some of my own, all of them applied to photography of course
We're going to talk about why we are so busy nowadays, why we need to make time for photography
the highlight of the day, some tips about how to make time for photography, in this case, and
then we'll wrap everything up at the end
The book introduces two concepts: the busy bandwagon and the infinity pools
The default today is to be always busy, there is always something to do, endless tasks
and when we are done with one, there is another one right around the corner waiting
And then, there are the sources of endless entertainment, or endless distraction
Think the news, Netflix, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you name it
it's basically anything that'll give us something new every time we open the app, refresh the feed or turn on the TV
Basically, we spend our days reacting - reacting to the calendar, to the email, anything new that we find online
While we do more and more, that doesn't mean that we actually get to do the work that is most important to us
we accomplish a lot of small tasks, that makes us feel like we are busy and accomplishing things
but actually, the work that is most meaningful to us never gets done, like photography
Photography is important
I'm not saying this as a photographer who is trying to make a living with photography
but i think that photography is important to everyone because humans need to create something
and photography happens to be one of the most accessible art forms out there
I think that taking photos is good for your health and anyone, anyone can do it!
I always tell you to carry a camera with you, and that is the simplest, fastest and best way to make time for photography
because every second of your day, no matter what you are doing, no matter where you are
could be a good moment to make an image
But depending on your lifestyle, that might not give you enough opportunities
If you drive to work and sit on the same chair day after day, and then you just drive back home
You're not going to get exposed to a lot of different stuff
we need to put ourselves in different places, under different conditions
I'm going to give you a few tips about how we can accomplish this and make some time for photography
The authors of the book talk about something called the "Highlight of the day"
and that is something that we are going to be intentional about, it's what matters the most to us on a given day
In this case, we are going to make photography the highlight of our day,
we are going to try to accomplish that on a daily basis
but it could be anything: it could be cooking dinner, it could be exercising, it could be spend more time with your kids
or your significant other, it could be just bringing your dog to a new dog park
whatever it is, let's make time to do it
and you might be wondering: Photography? Daily? Really? Yes!
It is my belief that photography is something that we should do daily
some might prefer to go on the occasional trip to an exotic location a few times a year
and that is totally fine, I do it too... but then they forget about photography for weeks or even months
Turns out that what we do every day matters much more than what we do once in a while
"Make Time" offers plenty of tips to avoid distractions and to be more focused on the work that matters to us
I'll be highlighting some of them, the ones that I personally use, and I'll be adding a few more of my own
I don't watch TV, there is nothing intentional about it, even when we choose what to watch,
we don't get to choose when we watch it
At least, when we are streaming content from the internet we get to choose when
I try not to follow the news, and I'll admit that I fail at this pretty often, but I try to stay away from the newest
breaking news, if something big happens it will get to you no matter what, and for everything else
I just prefer to catch up on the weekend, Saturday or Sunday morning
I batch the little stuff
For example, replying to messages - I don't do it right away, I go through my email inbox, through my
Instagram messages, Twitter messages, 2-3 times a week and I get it done in one session a day
instead of spreading that work all over the day
I just say no
Sometimes, I say no to low-priority obligations
I wake up early
Even back when I had a 9 to 5 job I was able to sneak some photography before work, even long hikes
before heading to the office for a meeting
You can shoot for sunsets, if that works better for you
I design my day
This helps me a lot, every morning right after waking up, I plan my day out, roughly
This helps because I'm not thinking about what to do next, I'm focused instead on how to do it
Avoid distractions in the field
this is very embarrassing, but I've found myself in stunning places, surrounded by beautiful nature
with a magnificent sunrise happening in front of me, and I'm just glued to my phone's screen
Smartphones are great tools but they are also the most distracting devices we've ever created
Keeping them under control is something that you must do in order to focus on your photography
I'll be making a video about how I set up my phone as a useful tool for photography, and not as a distraction
but for now, I'll just mention the obvious things: uninstall apps and disable notifications
I use standalone cameras
As I said, phones are huge distractions and while there is nothing wrong with them and
actually, they are pretty good cameras nowadays
I'd rather use a device that is designed to do just one thing: to take photos
because that helps me stay focused on doing that: taking photos
Don't watch or read reviews about camera gear, unless you are in the market for a new camera or lens
This is something that I personally struggle with a lot, because it's really easy to just play that 10-minute
video about the newest camera or the newest lens
and it's not that we are wasting 10 minutes because we might get useful information from those videos, actually
but it's about the distraction that creates afterwards
I don't know about you, but very often that makes me believe that my camera, or my lenses, or whatever
are just not good enough and I need something new
It's a very bad cycle that leads to nowhere, and the only way to break it is
to just stop watching or reading any reviews about camera gear
Embrace doing nothing, just being bored
On my walks, sometimes I'll listen to podcasts or audiobooks, but many times
I'll just leave the headphones behind, and I walk for an hour and a half, 2 hours, and the only thing
that I might do during that time is to make an image here or there
It does get boring very often, but this is very good for our brains, because we are letting our minds wander a bit
Make your family part of it
If you have responsibilities at home, like kids or you want to spend more time with your significant other
make them part of your photography process
I'd rather shoot alone, I'm more focused that way, but I've made plenty of images in the company of others
I got fit
The more energy you have, the easier it is to remain focused and to avoid distractions
If you are physically fit, it's less likely that you're going to crash on the couch after work
and it's more likely that you'll grab your camera and just go for a walk to the park
You don't have to join a gym or do anything fancy
just little walks of 10-20min every day around your neighborhood is more than enough
You could do it during lunch at work, or walk to work, if you can
Walk to the grocery store, don't take the elevator, if you go somewhere by car just try to park farther,
so you have to walk a little bit more, all of these little things add up in the end
I personally do all of these, I try to walk a few miles every day, and some body weight exercises at home as well
I can definitely tell you that I have much more energy when I'm out there taking photos
and that makes you more likely to be inspired
Lastly, eat food, not too much, and mostly plants
Nutrition plays a key role in our health and we need to take care of our bodie to become better photographers
not only because we're going to have more energy, but also because likely, we're going to live longer
and that gives us even more time to make more images
I'll be making a video about nutrition and exercise for photographers soon, but yeah, just try to eat healthy
All right, so let's wrap everything up
What i'm trying to say in this video is: seek small changes that will put you back in control
remove a few distractions, try to get a little bit more fit physically and mentally, so you can focus more
on what matters the most to you, to us, in this case photography
and please don't take it as yet one more thing to add to your already busy days
This is about finding a better balance, as I mentioned many times, I believe that photography is very healthy
and it's very good for you, so adding a little bit of photography to your day will make it more enjoyable
I find photography to be extremely relaxing, almost like meditation
It's a me-time, where i don't have to think about anything but just create something
It's the landscape, the camera, and me
it's a time to enjoy, and there should always be a way to make time for the things that bring us joy
To finish, I'd like to share this quote that i absolutely love, let it guide your photography
I'd like to hear what you think about this, so please leave a comment down below with your thoughts
and if this video was in any way helpful please leave a thumbs up and consider subscribing to this channel
That's all for today, thank you so much for watching and see you in the next one!