Today we're going to explore ways
that you may be working harder instead of smarter.
Hey everybody my name is Kati Morton and I'm a licensed therapist
and I have a mental health channel here on YouTube
where I educate people about all things related to your mental health.
This series has been all about burnout.
What it is, how we can recover from it and how we can stop it from happening again.
But today's video is all about how to work smarter instead of harder.
One of the things I like to do as a creator
or actually, it might be more of a personal thing
but I love creating lists.
And one of the ways that I keep myself motivated
when I'm kind of feeling like I just can't get anything done
deadlines are creeping up and I'm feeling stressed
is I like to create to-done lists.
When I sit down on my desk in the morning, what have I already done?
I got up. I showered. Maybe you completed something at night.
Maybe you already posted on Instagram or you already tweeted something.
If you already did something, put it on your to-done list and check it off.
To-done lists help us feel like we've accomplished something right away.
The next tip, and something that I follow religiously
is seven things maximum.
Seven things on a to-do list is the maximum amount
that we can accomplish in a day.
Now these aren't ginormous tasks.
This isn't like "I need to film seven videos."
So don't force yourself into creating these huge long lists
because you'll feel overwhelmed and maybe not get anything done as a result.
Whatever the things are, make sure they're achievable within a day.
I need to reply to that email, I need to send that thing in the mail.
I also need to prepare that video that I'm gonna record later.
Keeping your list short, to that amount, means that we can achieve them.
We can feel accomplished, and we can do it again tomorrow.
And I hear all the time, from other creators
that managing larger tasks is their biggest struggle.
Something that helps me is simply breaking it down in order.
So what are really the steps to creating a video?
First I come up with the title maybe?
That's your first to-do on your first day that week.
Then the second would be
what are my main talking points for that video?
Third day is let's fill in those talking points
and put together the overall structure of the video.
Fourth day film said video.
Fifth day edit.
You can see how you can break it down, chunk by chunk.
The next way that I try to work smarter rather than harder
is schedule, schedule, schedule.
This means scheduling date nights, time with friends, time off
as well as scheduling in all of those calls and times you're gonna film.
Setting up a manageable schedule for a week can sometimes set you up for a whole month.
What really saves me, personally, is just scheduling video posts.
I also write my descriptions and tags out separately, in like a doc
and then I copy and paste them the day before they're gonna go live
or once they're uploaded.
I do all of that work ahead of time, so that I can actually take time off.
The next saver for me is bulk film and edit.
And I know many of you are like: "I can't do that, that's not how I work."
Unless you're covering the news or current events
you can do this.
Everyone is going to be different on the amount of videos they can film at once
but we can prepare a lot of them at the same time.
Meaning, we can start off with the title.
What are the titles of the videos we want to create this week or this month?
Let's start thinking about it, let's poll our audience.
We have time, let's see what they have to say.
Write down some of those ideas and start plotting them out.
My final tip is delegation, outsourcing and creating a team.
All of these three tools can help you better manage
all that you have to deal with each and every week.
I know personally, I'm not at a place where I can afford a lot of help
but sometimes, when I'm feeling really overwhelmed
I will outsource the editing.
I have some people that my friends have worked with
that came highly recommended, that I'll work with periodically
to just give me a breather.
I also have slowly, over the years, built a team.
And I would encourage you to consider that.
Be it a manager, or an agent
an assistant if you can afford them, an editor.
Obviously we don't want our audience to feel too disconnected.
but it's important for us to get the relief and the reprieve when we need it.
A manager was the first person I brought on as a team member
and the main reason for that
was because it removed me from negotiations with brand deals
and other situations.
I don't have to be involved, and that gave me such a relief.
So considering where your pain points are
can help you decide which member you should add first
and which would give you most bang for your buck.
I know many of you will wonder: "how do you find these good people?"
and "what if I don't know anybody who has a writer, or an editor
"or a manager?".
Creator events are great for this.
Any event where there's a bunch of creators around
I'd encourage you to ask people.
I'm always an open book, so if you see me at a creator event
feel free to ask me.
How do I find my team?
Who do I work with?
How did that come about?
Because together, we can all work smarter instead of harder.
I hope you found this series helpful.
If you haven't watched them all, please go back to the beginning
and check out what burnout really is and warning signs we should look out for.
We also talked about ways to keep burnout from happening
and how to overcome it.
And now we talked about how to work smarter rather than harder.
And share in the comments
what are some tips and tricks and things maybe I didn't mention
that help you work smarter?
Because together, we're gonna learn more and we're gonna be better creators.
Thanks for watching the series, I hope you found it helpful
and I will see you next time!
Bye!