Video Creation & Managing Workload: A Productive Day of Content Creation

Today was another productive day working on the promotional videos for my upcoming EP. I spent time filming, editing, and scheduling short videos for Instagram, all aimed at giving people a deeper look into the inspiration behind my music. I focused on themes that are close to my heart, like connecting with nature, noticing the small joys in life, spending quality time with loved ones, taking time for myself, and ultimately connecting with the universe. These are all central themes in the songs on the EP, especially My New Meaning.

Editing Workflow: Streamlining the Process

When it comes to editing, I've found my flow. I tend to use the same editing techniques for audio and visuals to keep things simple but impactful. In Final Cut Pro, I apply the channel EQ with the 'Male Vox' preset, adjusting it by reducing the gain at 3000hz to better suit my voice. Then I use one of the 'vocal compressor' options and finish it off with an adaptive limiter.

Audio FX

Channel EQ settings

For colour correction, I increase saturation by about 25%, drop the shadows by 10%, and bring the highlights up by 7%. These adjustments, while fairly minimal, give the videos a polished, vibrant look without needing to spend too much time on each clip.

Exposure settings

Saturation settings

The Importance of Flexibility in Scheduling Content

Despite the progress, I started the day feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content I had planned to create. I originally aimed to post two videos on several days, but that was making the process feel unnecessarily stressful. To manage the workload better, I decided to cut it down to just one video a day. Immediately, I felt a sense of relief. The content is still going out at a good pace, but I’m no longer stressing about keeping up with an unsustainable schedule.

Content schedule

Even though it means I'll be working on videos for a longer period, this adjustment made everything feel much more manageable. I also use Instagram’s scheduling feature to plan posts ahead, which helps reduce manual posting, but today I hit the limit for the number of videos you can schedule in 24 hours—a good sign of progress, but also a reminder that I’ve been working hard!

Instagram scheduling page

Learning to Pace Myself

I wrapped up the day having edited and scheduled seven videos in just a couple of hours. While I could have kept going, I remembered some advice from books like Effortless by Greg McKeown and Slow Productivity by Cal Newport. They emphasise the importance of pacing yourself, even when you feel like pushing ahead. So, I decided to stop early to preserve my energy for the following days.

I then spent the rest of my deep work session scheduling the videos—something I usually reserve for my open block time. True to form, I did get a bit distracted by Instagram Reels for 20 minutes, reminding me why scheduling tasks during deep work time isn’t the best idea! All in all, it was a productive day with some key takeaways on balancing workflow and maintaining energy.

If you want to see all the content I've been creating you can follow my instagram here