As video professionals and, especially, free-lancers, we have an instinctive regard for the value of time.
Deadlines are finite and always too short.
As editors, some tasks that affect deadlines are under our control, others are out of our control, while still others straddle between these extremes. For example, tasks that are under our control include:
In other words, we have control over our craft and storytelling.
(Image courtesy of Ales Krivec, pexels.com)
Things get hazier as we move into technical and people skills. Things we have no control over include:
In other words, we don’t have control over the people we work with.
Things blur further for elements over which we have some control, but not a lot:
In other words, we have only limited control over the environment within which we work.
I was reflecting on this recently as I was looking over my To-Do list. At the top is buying a new computer. But, truthfully, even if I replace all my computer gear, the stress of managing deadlines doesn’t go away.
The bigger part of managing my time is helping the people I work with, and work for, to understand that meeting a deadline is a team effort. That only happens when we are all on the same page. And getting everyone on the same page is very similar to herding cats.
It can be done, but it takes work.
2 Responses to Thoughts on Controlling Time
I am 86. Managing my time gets harder the older I get. Visualising what needs to be done is easy, Especialy before I get out of bed in the morning. Once on my feet and after I have organised my wife’s needs she is semi-invalid seems to take forever. Then I sit in my chair and wonder why it takes 5 times longer to do everything? Am I unique?
Robert:
Of course you are unique! However, the problems you experience are not. I’ve had the same problem for decades. Just as I wake up, the perfect phrase or tutorial is sitting “right there” – ready to write. I get up and – poof! – it’s gone.
Clearly, the only option is to write before I get up. I’m looking into how to suspend a keyboard from the ceiling. Or, perhaps easier, quickly jot a few notes on a sheet of paper before starting my day to remind me about what I was thinking when I first work up.
Smile…
Larry