There's no denying it things are a little weird right now.
Everything that's going on in the world, being so isolated it's taking its toll
on just about everyone. People handle these things differently but I think a
lot of us as creatives are feeling pretty off lately. Spending all of this
time stuck inside, staying positive and continuing to work it's just not easy to
do right now. I've been finding myself in certain patterns that I feel like have
been negatively impacting my creativity and growth. Feeling stuck both
figuratively and literally really isn't a good feeling; and while it's not
exactly fun, I certainly want to make the most of the time we have being stuck at
home in quarantine. So, I've come up with a few habits that I think we should all
try and avoid especially right now. The first one I know you've probably heard
but hear me out. Spending too much time comparing
yourself to others. Consumption and comparison is sort of inevitable for us
as creators, especially when we're locked in our homes. I'm sure I'm not the only
one whose screen time has probably hit an all-time high over the last few weeks.
But, we have to be careful because too much comparison can end up being toxic
and actually kill our inspiration and drive. So, in order to avoid feeling like
you suck.. I think we need to change the way we consume. I know this sounds
strange at first, but making this shift in perception has helped me a lot and I
think it can help you too. Allow yourself to consume content as a viewer and not
always as a creator. I get it this sounds weird, but think of it this way
Watching a magician perform is one of the purest forms of entertainment this is because
you're so focused on appreciating the act that you're just not concerned with
the smoke and mirrors. That is unless you do magic yourself, in that case it's easy
to end up letting entertainment take a backseat to analysis. Whether we like it
or not our brains as creators will inevitably almost forget how to
appreciate a video or photo and just end up comparing it to our own. Especially
when we're feeling down or uninspired
I suspect fact this is partially due to ego. But if we can make a conscious effort to
consume as a viewer and not always as a creator, we can avoid that shitty feeling
of comparison and even take away more from what we watch. When we spend too
much time thinking in a creators mindset we get so caught up in all of the micro
details: like these shots are incredible, the colors are so much cleaner than mine
the editing the music just.. AHH. We'll get so easily caught up in comparison that will
often end up overlooking the bigger picture: the impact the video made the
story it told the emotion it created. These elements of a video matters so
much more than all of the micro details. If you're someone who watches a lot of
content and you often find yourself comparing and feeling really down after
finding a balance between consuming as a viewer versus a creator should
ultimately allow you to enjoy content just a little more. The next one is
pretty simple not writing down your ideas. They pop in your mind randomly
throughout the days sometimes they're small and insignificant while other
times they can we need to your next big project. We all like to think our memory
is good but the truth is it's so incredibly easy to simply forget those
smaller ideas. The good news is there's a really simple way to get better at not
forgetting them: it's writing them down. This isn't just like guru mumbo-jumbo
either: it's science. When you write something down you use multiple regions
of the brain to encode the information. It's sort of like backing up your data
on your computer to like another hard drive it creates a stronger bond with
that memory. Neuropsychologists call this the "generation effect", because you're
more likely to remember things you generate yourself then you are to
remember things you heard or just briefly thought about. The act of
physically writing them down makes them more real it makes them tangible it
helps to hold you accountable. Some studies have shown that you're about 40%
more likely to achieve your goals if you just write them down. When you have ideas
and inspirations, it's easy to feel like the small ones are pointless or not
significant enough to expand upon. The problem is is once you forget them
they're gone. There really isn't a way to know when a random thought might
actually be huge. Writing down your ideas not only helps you to develop the
good ones, but it gives the small ones a chance to be revisited and not just simply
forgotten. In fact the idea that started this video, was a single sentence that
was said on a phone call a couple of months ago. If you're someone who isn't
exactly fond of writing like me one thing that I've found to make writing
just a little bit more enjoyable is finding a good pen as surprising as it
sounds. A lot of us might feel it's really easy to just resort to taking
notes down on your phone, but physically writing them down really does just
create so much more impact in meaning to what you're writing. So, do yourself a
favor and get yourself a good notebook and pen, I personally have been really
enjoying these Tul needlepoint pens. They write incredible, I'll leave a link
to both these down in the description below. Now the next thing I want to talk
about is something that I have personally been struggling a lot with
lately, and it's taking too many breaks. As filmmakers we go through high and low
phases of creativity. It's almost impossible to avoid this because the
creative process just quite simply isn't linear. The important part here is making
sure we don't give ourselves too much rope when we do decide to take those
breaks. This is especially true when we don't have deadlines set to keep
ourselves accountable. If you're a freelancer or just doing this as a hobby
you're essentially your own boss. You can tell yourselves when it's okay for a
project to be done or not to be done. Sometimes it can be really tempting to
get just a couple of hours of work done and then feel like, "hey yeah I did some
good work" now I'm gonna go play some Call of Duty
Don't get me wrong it is very important to take breaks here and there, if you
don't you'll burn out. But, you can't get in the habit of coddling yourself. You
have to do your best to keep yourself accountable. One of the best ways that I
found to help out with this is to set a deadline, but instead of relying on
yourself to hit that deadline ask a friend to hold you to it. Like, I get it
no one likes having to ask for outside help, but sometimes it's important to
recognize your own weaknesses, swallow your own pride and get some outside help
so you can develop better habits. Now our last habit to avoid is not allowing
yourself to shoot for fun. Remember back when you made your first few videos? Now
you probably think they suck, but back then when you first started, you made
things with little to no consequence or expectation. You allowed yourself to run
with an idea and just try new things. Once it was all said and done it was a
lot easier to feel proud of your work because those expectations just weren't
there. Over time as we develop and improve as creators
our standards for our work go up. This is a good thing obviously, but the truth is
that it can become a huge barrier. You may reach a point where you feel like
shooting for fun isn't worth your time, like you've become too good for it
Now the videos you used to make may be vlogs or cinematic sequences or whatever, they
simply have no value to you. My point here is, you're wrong! if you don't
believe me just look at David Sandberg or as he's known on YouTube, Ponysmasher
Here's a guy who has worked at the highest level of filmmaking, like he's
literally directed huge blockbuster films. If there's anyone who has a right
to feel like they're too good, it's him. And yet he still takes the time to make
YouTube videos. The truth is that becoming a better filmmaker doesn't just
happen when you practice your filming and editing: it happens at every step of
the creative process, it happens when you write down your ideas, and hold yourself
accountable, it happens when you watch content for fun, when you push through
the urge to take a break. It's okay to not always be working to
create your next best piece of work. Focus on improving yourself and your
work will improve alongside you. If you guys enjoyed this
video, this self-development type of content let me know down in the comments!
If you want to see more, what kinds of stuff you'd want to see, maybe leave a
thumbs up on the video. But, with that being said, I'm gonna wrap up the video
here guys. Thank you so much for watching, make sure to give it a thumbs up don't
ask a lot of you guys just go down there and.. (smash) Subscribe if you haven't already and
I'll see you in the next video
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