Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good.. But Don’t Let Good Be Good Enough

I had the saying “Anything worth doing is worth doing right” drilled into me by my authoritarian father from a very young age. This idiom, when applied in the proper context, can help to instill the very noble trait of giving one’s full attention to things that are truly valuable or important. 

It was not in this context that I was given this wisdom, however. Instead of it being an encouragement to find joy in the challenge of difficult but worthwhile work, it was given to me in the form of harsh criticism of my work when it was not done exactly to my father’s often unrealistic expectations. In this context, I did what any rational child would. I learned to do everything with excruciating attention to detail, tuning in with laser focus to the task at hand. If that had been the end of it I’d very likely have accidentally become a Zen master. Instead, I obsessed over the perfect word, the perfect shade of blue, the perfect whatever it was I needed to choose. My analysis paralysis was misapprehended as procrastination or, the greater sin in my household, laziness. I would agonize over an assignment until well beyond the point of no return and then fire off a terror-fueled act of brilliance, often feeling shame when I would get an A on a school assignment that I had cut corners to complete. 

I also learned that, to avoid criticism of half-assed work, I should avoid doing anything that I couldn’t do perfectly. In a nutshell, I’ve struggled with perfectionism all my life.

It was not until very recently, in August of 2024 to be more specific, that I began the ongoing process of dismantling the harmful attitudes that I’ve held towards work. The aphorism “Perfect is the enemy of good” had come into my awareness a number of times in the years leading up my experience of what Brené Brown referred to as a “breakdown spiritual awakening” in her 2010 book The Gifts of Imperfection. I was in a really hopeless place, crippled by self-doubt and mounting debt, frozen in place by a million things I felt I was screwing up every minute of every day. Before my “breakdown spiritual awakening” the aphorism sounded, like most aphorisms do until they don’t, dusty and trite. When I gave myself the gift of rehab for my by then completely out of control drinking, I finally gave myself space to question everything. I mean really question. I was ready for profound change. I don’t know where the thought came from but I remember sitting on the deck of the detox facility thinking, “the only thing I have to change is everything.” I’ll write more on my experience in rehab and my journey through recovery elsewhere and at another time. The context for my perspective shift now established, however, let’s get back to perfectionism. 

The really nasty thing about perfectionism is that it seems to be so pervasive yet is given lip service - at best -  in the culture we find ourselves in today. I’ve seen one study, referenced in Fobes, that found that 92% of us are affected by perfectionism in the workplace. I’d heard colleagues criticize themselves - and, occasionally, me - for having perfectionist tendencies. These self-deprecations and polite criticisms were generally delivered with a sigh or a smile. It wasn’t until I got into the recovery community that I heard anyone really talk about how destructive perfectionism can be. So, if you’re part of the silent majority who battle perfectionism take this away if nothing else: You are not alone. Your perfectionism is a learned unhelpful attitude. You can train yourself with a more helpful attitude. 

One of the manifestations of perfectionism is all-or-nothing thinking. To bring us back to the beginning, that kind of thinking would be “If I can’t do it right I might as well not try”. Here’s an irony that I stumbled upon just within the last week: I was trained to iterate, to not expect A+ work on the first try. I remember essay assignments in high school and short fiction and poetry assignments in college where we were expected to turn in a rough draft, get notes from the teacher and incorporate those notes into the final draft. That was the plan at least. I also remember getting those notes and being absolutely gutted. “How could I have spelled holocaust ‘halocaust’? I’m a total idiot!” And that was a note on a rough draft of a poem I wrote more than 30 years ago. It still effing stings! Want an even more sad personal example? I still remember a 1st grade “what I want to be when I grow up” assignment where I wrote that I wanted to be a flight attendant. I said I wanted to travel the world on a 7-40-7. My teacher’s correction was not mean in any way but I was so devastated that I had let her down that the memory still pops up to this day. The shit is deep!

To dispel my perfectionist ghosts I’m re-entering the iterative process. Like many people I know, I’ve fallen into a constant cycle of having too much to do in the time allotted and, as a result, I don’t have time to go back and revise work before deadline. First draft is the final release. Back in January of this year I got into The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and have been free-writing three pages per day first thing in the morning, as prescribed by the book. It’s been tremendously liberating to just write and to notice when my inner critic starts to pipe up and tell him, forcefully, to shut the hell up and leave me alone to write whatever comes to mind. The writing isn’t about anything. It’s just a mining expedition. I’m drilling down through layers of self-doubt and lack of self-worth and perfectionist sandstone that I mistook for bedrock. The bedrock is somewhere deeper. The sandstone of self-sabotage is sedimentary. A superficial layer. If I can drill deep enough the real stuff I'm searching for will appear. Right now I’m tapping into that spirit. Just letting it come as it comes, filling up the page with whatever comes next without judgment and without looking at the screen to check my work. That comes later. Iterate. Go. Flow. Come back another day and see what’s there worth saving. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Maybe something else will show up on that day. Maybe not. It really doesn’t matter. I’m fighting through an old habit that tells me that this has to be about something. That this has to be worthy of the time you’re taking to read it. And guess what, that’s not up to me to decide. That’s for you. My part is just to do the thing, curate what comes out and, maybe, publish it. And maybe it will find you on a day when you really need to hear the message and maybe it will go nowhere. That is beyond my control. All I can control is the practice, the willingness to put fingers to keyboard and see what comes. The rest is all pure potential. I'm incredibly grateful for the gift of The Artist’s Way in teaching me to let go and let ‘er rip. I wouldn't have done this 6 months ago. I would have agonized over every word, my critic would be screaming obscenities of disapproval at me and, eventually, I would listen and clam up and this would be just another blog post idea, not an actual blog post. And that would be a shame. Not the kind of shame I mentioned before. More like a robbery. I’d be robbing the world of my voice, hiding behind perfectionism and fear of failure and pretending everything is going great all the while shaking in fear and anger at the pent-up expression that has come to dominate my life. 

So I’m learning to not let perfect be the enemy of the good. That’s progress. There is, however, this nagging need to go further. To turn this attitude or approach or whatever you want to call it into something that feels like continued growth. I want to learn how to always be learning. In that vein I have come up with the second part of the blog post headline: don’t let good be good enough. In getting better at getting started I want to get better at getting better. That means iteration as well. That means going full tilt and letting go of outcomes at first and then walking away. For something like a blog post that has no real deadline - why do I always paint myself into deadline corners with something as relatively low stakes as a blog post?? - I can publish any time. I don't have readers constantly checking to see what I've written. I’ll get there someday but today it’s not even a flicker of a chance. This idea, to not let good be good enough, is all about learning from failing and accepting the shortcomings of everything as the necessary byproducts of a single sliver of time. Growth can’t happen in freeze frame. It happens over time. So I will grow over time. Reach toward the sun even while covered in mud. Reach for better even though right now is good. I will let go of reaching perfection in the way that a plant doesn't reach for the sun, it grows towards it.

Another key inspiration for this part of my growth has been Atomic Habits by James Clear. The thing from that book that I'm focused on is the idea of 1% daily growth. This is another way to shed my all-or-nothing thinking. It’s not about overnight change. It’s about persistent daily effort with modest daily goals. 1% daily improvement compounded over time is big gains in the long run. Another dusty, trite saying that comes to mind is “one day at a time”.  This is some journey of a thousand miles shit. I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try, as often as I can, to enjoy the views, the smells, the feeling of the path under my feet, and not focus too much on the destination. There’s always a bit of a letdown when I reach my goals because, time and again, there’s that “what’s next?” feeling that sets in almost immediately. I experienced it when I got my black belt, when I bought my house, and at pretty much every milestone. What’s next is more journey, more sights and sounds and smells on the way to something new I didn’t know I wanted to see until I got where I was trying to go. There is no perfect anything. There is only growth. 

Anything worth doing is worth failing miserably at initially and trying again anyway. Now that’s growth.

Reflections of a Reluctant AI Adopter

Everybody's talking about AI right now. Have been for quite some time now. When it comes to this newish technology, I must admit a fair amount of skepticism or even disdain. Skepticism because, like many emerging technologies, it is being marketed and thrust upon us as a solution to everything that ails us. Disdain because, as a creator, the way that it is being marketed as a way to shortcut the creative process is frankly offensive to me. Here's the thing: I love the fact that we live in a time where the tools of creation are more accessible to more people than ever in the history of humankind. However, I am keenly aware that many people, as evidenced by some of the questions that I see on quora, have absolutely nothing to say that is original, helpful, insightful by any stress of the imagination. I see questions like “How do I make a viral video?" The question itself lacks anything remotely resembling any self-awareness or having anything unique to offer to the world. Embedded in the question is the implicit question, “How do I get people to like me?” Nnothing to see here. Move along.

Having said all that, I am a huge technology geek. I love tech when it helps me to be more creative and efficient or when it helps me to be more entertained or engaged in the world. The promise of AI in all three of these dimensions is very high. The trick, in my opinion, is understanding the limitations of this new tech and cutting through the hype of the marketers of the current suite of AI-enabled tools to the realization that they are just that, tools. They are not magic. They are not the secret to unlocking creativity. And, contrary to dystopian sci-fi narratives, AI is not poised to take over the world… unless we let it. More on that some other time, if the Super Brain overlords allow it. Sso, without further ado, here's how I have been using Ai and the past couple of months.

Ideation

I have found through webinars and research that crafting the right prompts for generative AI like ChatGPT and Gemini can help me to develop ideas for further exploration and research fairly quickly. Example: I want to get into the habit of writing useful blog posts for One Tiny Problem every month and sometimes I get stuck on generating ideas that I think will resonate with my target audiences. Enter generative AI. By prompting one of these language learning models with some baseline context such as my target audience’s demographics/psychographics, my unique skill set, and what is trending in terms of what problems I can solve with my specific set of storytelling skills I can generate a list of 5 to 10 themes that I could explore in blog form. I have certainly fallen into the pitfall of writing about the things that I think are important and, to be fair, those posts do find an audience. That audience, however, is people like me and not necessarily people I would consider my target audience. In the past, in order to generate ideas that are relevant to my target audience I might need to actually survey that target audience and ask them what problems they are encountering when it comes to video production or content creation in general. That can be very time consuming and may or may not generate ideas that are useful to a broad segment of my target audience since those ideas are coming from people whom I already know. Generative AI does help to give me a broader range of ideas to begin working from. I have tried following up on some of the responses from the AI to generate entire blog posts based on the themes that were identified in the initial prompt response but have not met with anything resembling success at this stage. 

Hyper efficient task management 

In late 2024 I moved from my previous project management tool to a new platform that utilizes machine learning to auto-schedule tasks for me and even generate templates for recurring project types, breaking them down into stages and individual tasks, and the results have been pretty freaking amazing. If you know even a little bit about me you know that I am practically obsessed with time management and this tool allows me to externalize a lot of the scheduling of tasks in a way that is dynamic, meaning it automatically adjusts the position of tasks in my calendar based on moment-to-moment updates including, but not limited to, booking meetings with clients and prospects. That does not mean, however, that I am now on full autopilot. Life, as they say, is lifey. And so there are currently about two dozen tasks that are behind schedule according to the deadlines that I set when I created the project or task. C'est la vie. The important thing is that I am able to very quickly get these ideas out of my mind into my organizational system and the software finds what it deems to be the optimal time for me to work on the individual tasks, whether they be stand-alone or part of a larger project, and saves me hours every month that used to be spent manually reorganizing tasks in my calendar. I still have a way to go in learning how to get the most out of the platform but in the past 3 months of using it I have really enjoyed and benefited from the automation it provides.

Summarizing meetings and reading material

I will often view YouTube tutorials or on 1.2x to 2X speed in order to get the information that they contain more quickly. Side note: this drives my wife and son crazy because they are not able to absorb information at that speed. I found long ago that skimming through written material was not an effective method for essentially doing the same thing with books, magazine articles, etc. Enter generative AI once again. I can feed the AI a URL or copy and paste an article or essay into the prompt window and get a reasonable distillation of the salient points contained therein. Also, with the AI assistant built into some of the virtual meeting platforms that I use I am able to stay engaged in the conversation and get a decent summation of the key points and action items that emerge from the discussion. I think the models still have a way to go before I would feel 100% comfortable completely replacing handwritten or typed notes with this type of assistive technology. However, as a supplement to these more traditional types of notes I think I will be able to circle back to conversations and meetings and more quickly come back up to speed when a project or relationship has gone dormant for one reason or another.

I'm still very much on the fence about using generative AI for image and video creation although I have seen some pretty amazing work by folks who have devoted much more time and attention to prompt engineering than I have had the opportunity to do thus far. Since art and design for me are, dare I say it, sacred in that they provide a form of therapy for me I am reluctant to delegate image generation and video storytelling to AI at this time. I still prefer doing it the old fashioned way. That said, as the tools continue to rapidly evolve and improve I can foresee using them to augment the creative process at least to the extent that I am able to get to proof of concept for projects a lot more quickly. As I mentioned, I will need to devote a lot more time to prompt engineering before I will feel confident that what I am able to create with image generation and video generation tools as the final product. 

So, on the whole, I am excited about the possibilities that generative AI presents for me personally and for society as a whole with the caveat that with the ease of use of the tools allowing more people to generate content quickly there is inevitably going to be a raising of the noise floor in creative spaces with a lot of people with nothing interesting or original to say being able to create a lot of things that are not interesting or engaging and, in turn, that will make it much more difficult for people who are seriously dedicated to developing their voice and creating original art to be heard and seen.

What's your relationship with generative AI these days? are you on the fence,? Are you actively using the tools? What are the pros and cons that you've discovered in your exploration of this crazy new field? Drop a comment or question below and stay tuned for more reflections as I dig more deeply into the realm of generative AI.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

3 time-saving keyboard shortcuts you need to start using right now

If you know me then you know that I am low-key obsessed with time management. You also probably know that I'm not stingy with my time, especially when it comes to helping others in need. These seemingly opposed attitudes can cause some serious friction for me. If you'd like a deeper exploration of how I'm managing that friction (hint: my therapist rocks), drop a comment below and if there’s enough interest I will prioritize writing a post about how I am learning to set better boundaries around my time without feeling like an a##hole. See what I did there? I brought my time management skills to bear on my emotional well-being and my desire to help others. Now, back to the topic of the day: time-saving keyboard shortcuts.

Let's start with some perspective

Using keyboard shortcuts isn't going to revolutionize your workflow to the point where you're going to be able to 10x your productivity overnight. We're talking about time savings in the neighborhood of fractions of a second per action. However, those fractions of seconds add up to minutes which add up to hours and those hours can be put back into play to do more productive things for your physical, mental, and financial well-being.

I could look at the time savings like this:

• Average time saved per day = 1 minute

• 5 work days per week

• 52 weeks per year

• 4.3 hours saved per year

Conclusion: Meh. Hardly worth the effort to learn keyboard shortcuts

However, I’m less concerned about the total hours per year and more about what I can do with that daily minute. While I was drafting this post my task timer reminded me to take a break and in 1 minute I did a set of pushups and a set of body weight squats. Is my 1-minute workout going to get me shredded? Hell nah. But math is math.

1 min exercise > 0 min exercise

I actually do this mini-workout several times a day as part of my implementation of the Pomodoro Technique. Whatever little positive things you do with your reclaimed time, it’s better than doing nothing. 

And now for the shortcuts

Alt+Tab (Windows) or Cmd+Tab (Mac):

Quickly switch between open applications. If you’re not already using this one on the regular I don’t know what to tell you. “Welcome to computers,” I guess. This one’s been around since forever. It’s a must-do when you're multitasking and need to jump between different programs.

Cmd+Tab in action

Ctrl+Shift+T (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+T (Mac):

Reopen the last closed tab in your browser. This is a great way to recover accidentally closed tabs. 

Bonus tip: This also works to restore a recently closed tab group in Google Chrome. 

Restore your last closed tap instantly!

Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+V (Mac):

Paste without formatting. This one is a huge Time Saver when copying and pasting stylized text from a document or web page into a WYSIWYG editor or slide deck.

Effortlessly match formatting, font, etc!

(Mac-exclusive Bonus Shortcut) Optn+Cmd+H:

Hide all but the active app. Desktop too cluttered with a gazillion open apps? Kapow! This shortcut tidies up everything but what you want to see.

Begone, clutter!

Wrapping it up

Obviously, these shortcuts just scratch the surface of what’s available to you. I make it a point to discover and implement keyboard shortcuts for as many of my frequently-used actions as possible. The list keeps growing! I’m dying to know what your faves are and how you’re using the regained time. Drop a note in the comments.

Gear You Didn’t Know You Needed - Part 3: 5 under $100

For my first post of 2025 we’re diving back into the Gear You Didn't Know You Needed series with another look at the unsung heroes of video production. This time we'll be featuring some essential pieces of gear that will come in at just under a Benjamin.

For filmmakers on a budget, making the right choices for the gear to add to your kit is essential. So, I've created this list based on some reasonably priced things that I've acquired along the way to make my productions safer and more efficient without maxing out the credit card. If you're new to video production you may have seen these items on a set or in a class but may not know how, why or when to use them. I hope to explain the use cases where these rock stars really shine but feel free to drop questions in the comments section. As usual, I receive no financial compensation for the recommendations that I make in these posts but the links provided are generally for the exact products that I have  actually used.

Empty Saddle Sandbags - Starting off this list is a real Workhorse in video production, the trusty sandbag. These can be used as a safety measure for your lights stands, mic stands and tripods* to prevent tipping, propping open doors when you are loading in and out of a location, as counterweight for your crane, and many other instances where you just need something heavy. I recommend buying these helpful tools empty and filling them with sand yourself at your local hardware store, thus saving you the added shipping costs of that dead weight. 

External Hard Drive - Having enough storage space is a perennial problem for media makers these days. The good news is that prices for drives, particularly SSD drives, have come down tremendously in the last couple of years. I remember when a drive of the type that I've linked above would cost in the neighborhood of four to five hundred dollars. More and more cameras are being released with USB-C connectivity, allowing you to capture footage directly to an external drive. You can even read and write from an SSD from some mobile phones and tablets. 

Please make sure you are backing up your laptop or desktop computer regularly. Nothing stalls out a project more horrifically than your computer's hard drive deciding to take a dirt nap. with a recent backup in hand you're up and running in minutes instead of days or weeks.

Pro tip: when buying external hard drives for media capture or repository, always buy in pairs so you can clone your footage and projects. As the old saying goes, it's not a question of if your hard drive is going to fail, it's a question of when. Yes, even with SSDs. For a deeper dive into hard drives and backing up your files, check out my free Media Management 101 mini-course.

Fanny Pack - I'll admit, I was not a fan of fanny packs when they first came out and I'm still not a huge fan of them today when it comes to everyday use. In production however, I never leave home without mine. You need handy access to your phone, markers, gaffers tape, wireless lavalier, a pen and notepad, batteries, and other small items while you are running and gunning. Having these things right at your waistline turns you into a superhero on set.

Rugged Watertight Case - Speaking of superheroes, our next entry is a real lifesaver. if there's one thing that you can expect in production it is the unexpected. bad things happen all the time and while we can't protect for all of them, accidental spills drops and collisions can be mitigated with a solid case for your gear that is watertight. all my Essential Electronics go into cases like this when I go out into the field. Of course, unwatched camera bags and cases will grow legs and walk away. so, Keep Your Head on a swivel when you are in production and, when possible, have a designated crew member keeping an eye on all your gear. 

Over-the-ear Headphones - In the field, in the studio and in that cozy café or co-working space, a good set of quality headphones will make a huge difference in how you perceive the audio in your video projects. Over-the-ear headphones do a good job of blocking out environmental sounds even if they don't have noise cancellation built in. Since they fit over your entire year they can be worn for longer periods of time because they're not pressing on the outer ear, at least not as much as regular headphones. A good quality set of cans, as they're called, can really help out when you are gathering audio in the wild (aka on the street) because the difference between what your ears are hearing and what your lavalier or shotgun microphone is hearing is stunning. Of course, you can always use standard earbuds but I don't recommend it, especially Bluetooth earbuds as they do have a tendency to introduce delay which, while short, can be troublesome. 

Final thought: as we creep into higher price points in this series I want to point out that none of these things, or any other gadget for that matter, is in itself going to make you a better filmmaker. It's important to keep in mind as you build your kit that these tools are only a means to solving the everyday problems of production. Nothing in these lists is going to make you more creative. All they can really do is help you to solve variables, remove splinters from your mind (all those little things that you worry about), and help you become more efficient on location. Stay tuned for another free mini course where I address GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), in which we will cover some important tools to help you prevent overspending on production gear and dispel the myth that that fancy new gadget that keeps popping up on your social media feeds is the magic pill that is going to unleash your creativity.

Now hop into the comments and let me know what amazing under $100 tools you’re using on your production that have helped keep you safe and sane. Happy shooting!

Unlearning the 9 to 5 Mindset: A Solopreneur’s Journey

The 9 to 5 schedule has long been my default. Like many office workers, the transition to hybrid or fully remote work was a shock to the system for me. After the initial adjustment period I began to seriously question whether this rigid structure was still serving me. Shifting from a traditional office setting to working from home can be freeing, but it also presents unique challenges. I was surviving, yes, but I wasn’t anywhere near thriving. To thrive in a remote environment, I needed to unlearn the 9 to 5 mindset and embrace a new way of working that prioritizes flexibility, productivity, and balance. In this post, we'll explore the advantages and drawbacks of working from home, offer solutions to common challenges, and share tips for building a balanced, productive workday.

The Advantages of Working from Home

If you’re new to remote or hybrid work, I’ll briefly run down the pros and cons. If you’re already familiar with the plus side of working from home, feel free to skip ahead to the Drawbacks section below where I offer some potential solutions to them. 

1. Flexibility to Work During Peak Productivity

Remote work allows you to tailor your schedule around your most productive times. Some people thrive early in the morning, while others hit their stride in the afternoon or evening. By identifying and working during your peak productivity hours, you can accomplish more in less time, making your workday more efficient and enjoyable.

2. Reduced Commute Time

Eliminating the daily commute is one of the biggest perks of working from home. You can say goodbye to long hours spent in traffic or crowded buses/trains and reclaim that time for activities that improve your well-being, like exercising, having a leisurely breakfast, or simply enjoying a slower start to your day.

3. Enhanced Work-Life Balance Opportunities

Remote work offers a unique chance to weave personal time into your day. You can take breaks to walk your dog, run errands, or spend time with family without being tied to a desk in a traditional office. This flexibility can significantly enhance your overall well-being and help you feel more in control of your time.

The Drawbacks of Working from Home (and How to Solve Them)

1. Blurred Boundaries Between Work and Personal Life

The Challenge: When your workspace doubles as your living space, it can be hard to "switch off" from work. You might find yourself checking emails after hours or feeling like you're never truly off-duty, leading to burnout.

Solution: Establish clear boundaries between your work and personal time. Designate a specific area of your home as your "office," even if it’s just a corner of a room, and make it a habit to only work in that space. When your workday ends, physically leave that area and avoid returning until the next day. You can also set firm start and end times for your workday and communicate these with your colleagues, so they know when you’re unavailable. Having a ritual to close out your day—like shutting down your computer, going for a walk, or changing into different clothes—can also help signal the transition from work mode to personal time.

In Practice: I’m very fortunate to have a home that affords me both an office for mostly admin work and a studio for more creative work. So, I have few problems physically stepping away from work. However, the line between work and recreation was still very fuzzy for me since I do both administrative and creative work in service of my hobbies. As a solopreneur with workaholic tendencies this lays some pretty enticing traps in my path. Since I have neither a boss nor colleagues with whom I work on a daily basis, one thing I did was institute meeting-free days. If I do plan any meetings on those days they are exclusively social in nature and as often as possible in-person, a chance to catch up with friends and family. I leaned heavily on my time management skills and tools and scheduled tasks and projects that needed longer blocks of focused, uninterrupted time for those days. I also set aside the last two hours of my Friday (a meeting-free day, BTW) as a block of time to reflect on the week and plan the week ahead. This allows me to transition into the weekend without those “did I do X?” splinters in my mind. 

2. Feelings of Isolation

The Challenge: Without the social interactions of a traditional office, remote workers may feel isolated or disconnected from their colleagues. This lack of face-to-face contact can make it harder to build relationships and stay motivated.

Solution: Make a conscious effort to stay connected with your team. Schedule regular video calls for work-related check-ins and consider setting up virtual coffee breaks or casual chats to replicate the social aspect of the office. Joining online communities or coworking spaces (even if they're virtual) can also provide a sense of connection and help combat feelings of isolation. If you’re missing the social buzz of an office, try working from a café or a library once in a while to be around people without the pressure of engaging in deep interactions.

In Practice: You might not believe it from my presentation on camera or even in-person but I lean pretty far into the introverted end of the intro-extro spectrum. So, working in a café or co-working space isn’t really my speed. I’m also highly distractible. I have to work with my office blinds closed because I just can’t ignore the birds and squirrels who are constantly darting about outside. Nevertheless, the switch to fully remote work during the pandemic hit me pretty hard. I realized, years later, that there is a profound difference between the restorative, self-imposed isolation into which I am fortunate to be able to occasionally retreat and the disorienting sudden isolation of a pandemic lockdown, or a layoff for that matter. At my last job one of my colleagues initiated a weekly hour-long Zoom hangout session where we could drop in and catch up and it was great while it lasted. Sadly, it petered out pretty quickly - within a month or so - as the demands of a chaotic adjustment took precedence over self-care in the form of casual connection. Pretty soon I was the only one in the room most Mondays. If you and your teams have been successful with this type of virtual water cooler I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

3. Difficulty Staying Focused

The Challenge: Home is filled with distractions, from household chores to family members needing your attention. Without the structure of an office environment, it can be challenging to stay focused and productive throughout the day.

Solution: Establish a daily routine that includes dedicated work blocks and break times. The Pomodoro Technique—working for 25 minutes, then taking a 5-minute break—can help maintain focus and prevent burnout. Creating a to-do list each morning with your top priorities can also help you stay on track. Added bonus: looking at all those crossed-off tasks at the end of the work day can be a great mood boost! To minimize distractions, communicate your work hours to anyone you share your home with and consider using noise-canceling headphones or apps that block distracting websites during work hours. If possible, set up a separate, quiet workspace that minimizes interruptions.

In Practice: Pomodoro FTW! I love this tool so much. (Note: just as I started writing this section my pomodoro timer chimed. BRB) Due to my aforementioned workaholic tendencies I adopted the Pomodoro Technique before the move to remote work in an attempt (unsuccessful, unfortunately) to stave off burnout. I use an app to not only create and implement the work and rest periods of my day but also to generate reports on how much time I spend on the different categories of work that I need to engage in as a solopreneur. Examples of these categories include:

• Ops

• Bookkeeping

• Marketing

• Sales

• Course Development

• Professional Development

Spitting out these reports in pie chart form every so often gives me insight into areas of work that could use better automation, research and/or training. 

One thing that I learned the hard way is that, due to my background as a writer and the nature of my work being highly verbal, it’s nearly impossible for me to listen to music that has lyrics while I’m working. I get lost in the poetry and trains of thought are violently derailed. On the upside, I have rekindled my love for instrumental jazz. Check out my playlist of faves for a taste. 

How to Unlearn the 9 to 5 Mindset

The traditional 9 to 5 schedule was built for a world where everyone needed to be in the office simultaneously. But in a remote or hybrid setting, you have the flexibility to create a schedule that works best for you. Here’s how to start unlearning the 9 to 5 mindset:

1. Track Your Productivity Peaks

Keep a simple log of when you feel most productive and focused during the day. Over a couple of weeks, you’ll notice patterns—times when you’re in a flow state versus when you’re easily distracted. Use this information to schedule your most challenging tasks during your peak productivity times and save less demanding tasks for when your energy dips.

2. Embrace Flexibility with Boundaries

While remote work offers flexibility, it’s important to set clear boundaries to protect your personal time. Experiment with different work schedules, like starting early and taking a long midday break, or working in the evening if that’s when you’re most productive. The key is to find a rhythm that suits you while maintaining clear start and end times to prevent overworking. This is not a set it and forget it thing. The goal is not to create a once and for all schedule. Rather, approaching this observation as a mindfulness exercise can help you become more tuned in to your body’s natural rhythms. Since these rhythms are constantly in flux, so will your work schedule need to be to some degree. Know thyself! There are some days when I’m fired up in the morning and then crash somewhere around 3pm. Other days I’m slow to start and then amped until 4am. I use a project management platform that auto-schedules my tasks for me based on deadlines and then auto-updates those tasks as I complete them (or skip them). In those Friday reflect and plan sessions I mentioned previously I come up with the plan for the week but I keep in mind the old saying “No plan survives first contact with the enemy”. 

3. Integrate Wellness and Personal Time Into Your Day

The freedom of remote work allows you to incorporate activities that enhance your well-being into your daily schedule. Here are some ideas:

• Start your day with a wellness routine: Whether it’s a morning walk, meditation, or a workout, starting your day with a focus on wellness can set a positive tone.

• Take regular, intentional breaks: Use breaks to stretch, get some fresh air, or step away from your screen. Consider scheduling longer breaks for activities like running errands, spending time with family, or pursuing a hobby.

• End your workday with a closing ritual: Whether it’s logging off and going for a run, cooking dinner, or enjoying a relaxing activity, having a consistent way to wind down can help you transition from work mode to personal time.

Achieving a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Shifting away from the 9 to 5 mindset involves recognizing that productivity is not about clocking in hours but about achieving results. Focus on what you accomplish rather than how long you spend working. Set clear, achievable goals for each day, and allow your schedule to adapt to your natural energy levels.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial in a remote environment. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the flexibility that working from home offers. The key is to create a structure that allows you to blend work and personal time in a way that enhances your overall quality of life.

Final Thoughts

Unlearning the 9 to 5 mindset is an ongoing journey, but it’s an opportunity to redefine what your ideal workday looks like. I’m nowhere near “figuring it out”, but by embracing the flexibility of remote work, addressing common challenges, and prioritizing a healthy balance between work and personal life, I’ve taken some big strides towards creating a schedule that truly works for me. 

Remember, the goal isn’t to replicate the traditional office schedule at home but to build a new routine that maximizes your productivity and well-being. Explore, experiment, and find what works best for you—your perfect workday might look nothing like the standard 9 to 5, and that’s a sign of progress! I’m fond of reminding folks: The old normal didn’t work, so f*&k going “back to normal”. Let’s go forward to better!

What aspects of the 9-5 mindset are you still clinging to? What adaptations have you made to your work schedule that have helped you be more productive or moved you towards a more balanced, wellness-filled balance of work and play?

Gear you didn’t know you needed - Part 2: 5 under $50

Time for another roundup of unsung heroes of video production. These indispensable items will help you save time and headaches whether you’re a team of one or a team of many. They also happen to be things that you may not know you need until you need them. So, here’s my list of 5 production essentials that you can add to your toolkit right now without breaking the bank.

NOTE: I don’t receive any compensation for recommending any of the following pieces of equipment but I do use each and every one of them. Some of the items listed below are the exact products I use and some of them are just general suggestions. Always do your own research, read the verified customer reviews, and ask your friends and colleagues for their recommendations.

Gaffers Tape - This is an all-time MVP for video productions of any size. Whether you need to mark off positions for your on-screen talent, secure loose cables to prevent tripping hazards or even temporarily fix a busted leg on your tripod, having a roll or two of quality gaffer’s tape in your equipment bag can be an absolute day-saver. Stock up and use liberally.

Note: for productions in locations with expensive, hard to maintain floors, make sure you check with the facilities team to get their policies for using tape before laying it down. You don’t want to get stuck with a budget-busting cleaning bill.

Multi-Tool - This little dynamo will pay for itself just for the flathead screwdriver alone since you’ll be putting cameras on tripod plates all the time. But if you ever need to perform repairs in the field or cut wires for permanent camera installation you’ll be glad to have a multi-tool at the ready. If you’re the outdoorsy type, grab a multi-tool with camping-friendly bits like a mini saw. Just make sure you clean it well so you don’t get wood sap on any of your camera equipment!

Production Slate - A must-have if you’re doing multi-camera or dual-system productions. The slate provides useful information like scene and take number that can really improve your efficiency in post. It also gives you a visible and audible sync point for lining up multiple camera angles or marrying your secondary audio to picture. Added bonus: the white of the slate can be used as a white source during color correction if your camera wasn’t properly white balanced during production.

Pro Tip: try positioning the slate in the frame before you roll camera. This will make all the relevant information part of the default thumbnail for your clips, making it super simple to find the takes you’re looking for when you organize your footage after the shoot.

Label Maker - If a piece of gear ever gets lost or left behind, make it easy for the finder to get it back to you! I label everything, from production equipment to external hard drives to notebooks/folders to storage drawers. Entropy is a real thing and it’s easy for your office, studio and storage bins to descend into chaos. A label maker can help you to get back to a neat and organized workspace so you can easily find what you need when you need it. 

Battery Organizer & Tester - It’s just a matter of time before your batteries die. Having spares on hand and a battery tester to confirm the charge level of a suspect battery can really get you out of a jam. The Zoom H4 portable recorder, for example, is a notorious AA battery muncher. With a fresh set of batteries always at the ready you’ll go from a full stop of production to a quick reset.

Pro Tip: make sure you fully break down any battery-powered equipment before storing it. Not only will this preserve battery life, it will also prevent corrosion at the contacts of your gear which can damage or destroy your go-to tools!

Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list of vital tools under $50 but I think I’ve covered some of the classics. What’s your favorite tool under $50 that I didn’t include?  If I choose your suggestion for a future post I’ll link out to your site and/or socials so make sure to include contact info in your message.

As always, please don’t feel any pressure to run out and buy all of these items right away. Build out your production toolkit at a pace that’s comfortable for you. That said, I can promise you that you’ll never regret having these workhorse items on hand… but you’ll kick yourself for not having them when you need them.

Gear you didn’t know you needed - Part 1: 5 under $10

When most people think about the gear that’s required for creating video content they think of the star players: camera, lights, sound. These are the obvious big ticket items. But what about the supporting cast? All those essential items without which you wind up in a moment  of “Oh, s&^t! How am I going to fix this?” when you get into the edit. Luckily for you, I’ve been building up my equipment cabinet for almost 20 years and have learned from those moments. I’m here to share 5 must-have video production support tools - all of them under $10 - so you can be better set up for success on your next shoot. 

NOTE: I don’t receive any compensation for recommending any of the following pieces of equipment but I do use each and every one of them. Some of the items listed below are the exact products I use and some of them are just general suggestions. Always do your own research, read the verified customer reviews, and ask your friends and colleagues for their recommendations. I am not suggesting that you run out and buy everything on this list right away. Slow and steady. Build up your equipment cabinet over time as you can afford to.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in. 

In this post we’ll focus on some ultra-affordable production equipment that will save you time and headaches. If you’re looking for ideas on the best camera, microphone or lighting options for your video content creation needs, check out my free mini-course, Overcoming GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), where I share some tips on finding the right gear for your budget, production type and skill level. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of my favorite unsung heroes of the game.

Lens Cleaning Kit - Even under the best conditions your lenses can get dusty or smudged with fingerprints. Failing to clean your lenses regularly can result in specks or flares in your footage that can range from really difficult to practically impossible to fix in post. A simple lens cleaning kit can keep your images looking their best. This is especially true for those of us using smartphones and laptop webcams for creating video content. A few extra seconds at the start of your production can be the difference between getting that perfect take or settling for second best.

Cable Ties - These little lifesavers will help you keep your editing station tidy and keep all those XLR, HDMI, USB and power cables neatly stored and ready for action. I collaborated with a musician friend for over a decade and, without fail, whenever I went over to their place to work on music we spent at least 15 minutes detangling cables just so we could plug in our guitars and mics. Been there? Get yourself a bunch of these little Velcro cable ties and watch those sour memories fade into the past. Coupled with some cable rolling TLC you’ll be up and running faster from now on. 

Smartphone Tripod Adapter - This is one of my all-time favorite pieces of low-budget filmmaking gear. With one of these tiny tools in your camera bag you can mount your smartphone onto literally any tripod or monopod, allowing you to get stable shots when the handheld look isn’t desirable or practical. No more leaning your phone against a stack of books! With the right tripod you can go from landscape to vertical video in seconds. Throw in a gorilla grip and you can mount that beautiful pocket-sized 4K camera virtually anywhere. Think of all the creative camera angles you can achieve to take your video storytelling to new heights - or lows. Check out my Better Smartphone Video for Everyone series to get schooled on this and other mobile-friendly tools and techniques for getting more from the camera you have with you every day.

Clipboard - I love my iPad Pro but sometimes I’m out in the field where there is no WiFi and less than stellar cellular service is the best that can be had. Or maybe I need to use my iPad as a teleprompter. This throwback piece is clutch in those situations and way cheaper than buying a second iPad. Shot lists, storyboards, permits and model releases are always accessible in paper form no matter where you go - as long as you remember to print and pack them back at HQ. Up the functionality with a clipboard that has storage for pens and such and you’re ready for whatever the day throws at you. 

Card Reader - For me this one’s a no-brainer. Without a card reader you’re stuck with having to connect your camera to you computer to offload footage from your shoots. With a card reader, however, you can swap cards and be copying and shooting at the same time - provided you have more than one card. You do have multiple cards for each of your cameras, right? My recommendation: 3 cards per camera. Same goes for batteries, but I’ll talk about those in Part 2 of this series. 

I hope you found these suggestions useful. Did I miss anything? What’s your favorite fun under $5 piece of gear? Let me know via email, social media or by filling out the contact form on this site. 

Now get back out there and keep shooting, rock star!

Manage your time to manage your stress

If you’re like me it probably feels like there are never enough hours in a day or days in the week to fit everything in. And, like me, you may have tried some time management tools, productivity hacks, training or coaching or even therapy if your overwhelm is really bad. Even though I was knocking out tasks and projects at a superhuman level, according to witnesses, this feeling of never being able to get to a good stopping point led to a downward spiral. I stopped having the energy to do the things that I love to do outside of work like making music, martial arts, and playing with friends. The problem is that I need all of those things to create some sense of release and balance in my life. Instead, I found myself insomniac AF, mind racing on all the things I needed to achieve in the next day, week or month.

The good news is, I found tools and tactics that work

It took a pretty major burnout and some tough conversations with my then boss and my therapist for me to realize and begin to articulate that I was on an completely unsustainable path. The thing is, I love being the superhero and, hell, I even love to work. I can’t count how many times I’ve pulled a 12-15 hour day and felt great about it, especially in work environments where we were offered a flexible schedule and I could make up the time elsewhere when whatever crisis or not-to-be-missed deadline was in the rearview mirror. For me, though, this workaholism coupled with a people pleasing nature started to get really tricky to manage when I started to operate at the executive level. And, yes, my dear freelancers I consider you to be in this category. The good news is, I found some tools and tactics that work for me. I hope they’re helpful to you as well.

Track everything

One thing you’re probably already doing is creating to-do lists and they certainly have their utility. But are you tracking how much time it takes to complete all those tasks? In my opinion, you really should be!

Reason #1 - keeping track of your time is a great way to identify opportunities to improve efficiency through automation, additional training or outsourcing.

Reason #2 - adding the time dimension to tasks is essential to make sure you’re pricing your time correctly.

Reason #3 - there’s this thing called the Pomodoro Technique that has been shown to increase focus and productivity by breaking work down into smaller sprints instead of a marathon slog where you forget to eat lunch. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, never going back.

Focus on what matters

This one is pretty cool. It’s a little old school but the classics never die. Ever been sitting at your computer with an overflowing inbox and a mile-long task list and get that deer in the headlights freeze? I can certainly relate to this version of decision paralysis. Enter the Eisenhower Method. Broadly speaking this method helps you to compartmentalize different types of work by assigning them an importance and an urgency. What you get is a decision matrix like this:

Image by Rorybowman - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2135450

The philosophy behind the Eisenhower Method is that if we spend more time on the things that are “Important and Not Urgent” (think big picture planning and long-term projects), fewer things rise to the “Important and Urgent” status, also referred to as “Putting out fires”.

I asked on Quora a while back what things should go in the “Not Important and Urgent” quadrant and a helpful commenter replied that they use that quadrant for things they should delegate. This user was interpreting that lower left quadrant as “Not Important TO ME but Urgent. I like that twist when working with teams. I like the example above, too, because it helped me to think about how to create a work environment that is more focused. I’m as distractible as Dug, the dog from Pixar’s Up, so open-concept or co-working environments really don’t work for me. Even when I’m working from home I literally jerk my head towards the window every time I see a squirrel run by from the corner of my eye. I just can’t help it. What I do to control my work environment, besides closing the blinds when I need to focus, is turn off all social media notifications and assemble my personal and business email tabs into a tab group and then collapse it. 

Use a scheduling tool for meetings

I’ve used Acuity in the past and now use Calendly for scheduling calls and meetings but Google Calendar is good enough to get you started, provided the majority of your calls and meetings are with Google users. Using these tools has greatly reduced interruptions and unscheduled calls. No more phone tag and no more losing your train of thought when the phone rings in the middle of your carefully cultivated flow state.

Last tactic: Try, Troubleshoot and Tweak 

Try out one or more of these tools and tactics and commit to using them for 30 days. That’s how long, on average, it takes for a person to adopt a new habit. It can be really easy to try something new and then flake out when the going gets tough, even when you’re pretty convinced that that new habit will have long-term benefits.

Troubleshoot any barriers to adoption that you encounter along the way to see if you just need to change either your mindset or the way you’re implementing (or both). Not every tool or tactic is useful to everyone and I certainly ran into my share of false starts and roadblocks before settling on the suite that I use.

Tweak the way(s) that you’re implementing your selected tools and tactics and continue to take note of any hiccups. Rinse and repeat.

Bonus tip: Celebrate your successes

As a small ritual I have set aside the final 2 hours of every work week with a block of time called Reflect and Plan. Carving out this time helps me look back on all the accomplishments of the week. With that done, I’m better able to let go of any guilt or stress about the things I didn’t get around to. I bust out that crossed off to-do list and marvel at my productivity. I also use this time to look ahead to the next week and figure out how to catch up on anything that slipped through the cracks as well as dedicate time to new tasks. As I close up my laptop for the week I can sail into the weekend without my brain buzzing about all the things I’ve been juggling. Well, most of the time. It’s important to remember that this is a living process and some weeks will end with more wind in your sails than others. However, I can say with confidence that taking time to manage your time will reduce confusion and stress and help you enjoy the precious time with friends and family more, thereby reducing stress even further.

Want to get hands-on? Head over to our training site to find upcoming offerings of our Time Management for Creatives workshop. You can also sign up for our mailing list to be first to know about our other courses and get exclusive subscriber-only content and coupon codes delivered right to your inbox.