How I stay Productive

procrastination is a bad habit i tend to have now and then sometimes i spend a lot of time surfing the internet doubting myself and pushing things aside to not have to deal with work and this leads to me not getting anything done i still personally believe that people should not be going full sprint mode during productions all the time and one should pace themselves and now it's time to start developing practices and strategies that can help you stay productive that can have some benefits aside to just finishing a project [Music] hey guys it's nico ventua and today it's gonna be a bit casual today i'd like to talk about a few strategies that i personally use when i'm working on personal animated projects working on writing material or just any projects including work especially in animation it can be incredibly laborious just doing all that coloring that in between all the things that i don't want to do but i have to do to just get something done these are strategies that i personally use that work for me and have helped me stay productive and keep on track with my projects before the due date number one is that i use a timer specifically the pomodoro technique this was a strategy that was introduced to me when i was still a student at cal arts ever since my time at school i've been utilizing the pomodoro technique this is where i work for about 25 minutes just highly focused on my project followed by five minute breaks for me five minutes is enough to reply to messages and some mail or walk around talk to a few people here and then once that five minute break is over i go back to work for 25 minutes straight again i usually repeat the cycle for about two to four times and after that my next break would be about 15 minutes to 30 minutes except for like lunches and coffee meats that could be for an hour since i mainly work on my desktop or my computer i use a website called tomatodashtimer.com and from there you can start a timer of 25 minutes there's a timer for a short break and a timer for a long break and once the time is up it usually beeps and it tells me that i need to take a break or i need to get back to work however not everyone will utilize this technique but this technique actually helps me stay focused and pace myself and that's something you have to consider allowing yourself to work and allowing yourself to take even breaks and keeping that flow in balance consistent i try to stay pretty strict with this schedule because i do believe that you need to pace yourself when you work you need some time of work and sometimes a break and this is so that you get used to the idea of just pacing yourself not going full sprint and acknowledge that there are break times and breathing spaces and this is so that you get a better understanding of how long the process usually takes you and in most cases you'll notice that 25 minutes of just full-on focused work is not enough and might go by pretty quickly and eventually you'll probably tell yourself that you want to spend longer time working on the project rather than just 25 minutes the length of how long you work usually builds over time but i would just suggest that you just pace yourself acknowledge your breaks and take things slow since it's still pretty important to keep track of what you're doing during that day have a time for breaks and have a time for just full focused work i would also like to add that this is a great way to find out how long each process takes you how much work can you get done within those 25 minutes or an hour that way you'll have more confidence when it comes to negotiating for commissions or freelance when someone asks you how long a project will take you already have an idea for that because of your experience timing that number two document your process record screen capture or videotape your process when i'm working on an art project or an animated project i always document it this is so that i can use these b-rolls for making up videos behind the scenes or casual discussions where i have a process video playing in the background like this video right now and this is highly beneficial for someone like me who does casual videos where i talk about advices educational content where i talk about process and i don't need to just whip out a new process i can just load up some of the process videos that i made in a previous project i use an open source software called obs which stands for open broadcast software a lot of streamers use it a lot of artists and animators like myself use it to stream or to record process videos and it's free you can just download it from their website i'll put the link down below if you have an apple or mac you can use quicktime to record your screens again think of this as surplus footage for future videos where i'd want to use that said process video for a related discussion but the reason why this helps in productivity is that while recording i have to make every step count rather than procrastinate and do other things since that would just prolong the recording for someone like me who makes casual youtube videos with my voices talking over a process video this is actually a great way to utilize that surplus footage and if you want to make process videos or youtube content that's casual i would totally recommend this practice if i feel like i want to go the extra step i'll consider another method which is number three stream life with either friends or to the public when i feel like i might need a bit more pressure to work on something and that pressure may include someone watching over me sometimes i'll just stream i mostly stream with just my friends since it's great for me to get their thoughts and feedback from people i trust in a live environment this kind of brings me back to the good old times at cal arts when we all sat next to each other in the computer labs just working on our student films giving each other ideas feedback and support for our own movies if it's a public stream where anyone can see it i have to make sure that project isn't nda or secretive and i keep my interaction with the public limited i do my best to answer questions but even that is tiring and requires a lot of work if you want you can get another person in the stream that can read the questions out loud for you rather than you having to scroll through the messages and read for that question you can stream through youtube or through twitch and you can use obs as a way to broadcast your streams there are more instructions to tutorials on that online but again the great thing about obs is that you can broadcast your stream while also recording your process however if you just wanted to stream with just your friends discord is a great avenue google hangouts and zoom can help on that matter too it makes things a bit more private but when you're live and people are just watching you work it kind of forces you to just keep working and to stay focused on that work i think that's why some people work better in environments outside of their house where there is an environment where people are also working with you number four make a schedule calendar make sure you're hitting your milestones i usually don't make a schedule until i have a story reel or a list of shots and pieces to finish not unless i have something of an outline or a list of milestones to hit for the project however if you're starting a project from scratch what you can do is have a plan on when to have a finished basic outline for your project so for example an animation i'll give myself two to three months to come up with storyboards and a story reel with it and then i'll give myself a few months for animation and a few months for coloring and compositing make mini deadlines on when you're supposed to finish each step in the process but also keep that schedule realistic meaning that it's not meant for full sprint work style but still allows you to live a bit more balanced lifestyle so when you are making a schedule have some days off or some time to breathe have a day where you can socialize attend other hobbies attend other life errands go to the gym get buff but yeah plan out your outline number five hold yourself accountable for when to finish this is one thing i don't really do as much but i realize how important it is to sort of put yourself accountable for finishing projects so for example i'll tell my friends that i'll have something to show at a date or i'll tell the internet saying hey i'm gonna have something released by this month sometimes when i show work in progress along with a finished date it keeps me in track and seeing people looking forward to a project that i'm working on somewhat keeps me motivated and productive for a personal project if one of my personal projects includes a pitch for a movie or tv series i schedule meetings with friends acquaintances and development to make sure i have something prepared for that date if i don't have a date on when to finish or if i don't find myself accountable for anything there's less risk and when there's less risk i feel like i'm more prone to just push things aside and let it slide so like i said to put myself accountable i sort of put other people involved making sure i don't waste their time as much as i don't waste my own time it might be scary at first but it also teaches you how to manage your time and how to make it count for something number six turn off social media for most of the work hours and if needed turn off the internet so for me i am easily distracted with social media i wake up i scroll through my social media feed every break i get i access social media i can spend minutes to hours scrolling non-stop there are so much content trends and news i can easily get affected by comparing myself to my peers and other people on social media and i stated this before i'm fighting ego addiction i catch myself worrying about how i look in social media whether i'm pleasing my followers and this is a problem i have with vanity platforms i feel like i'm most productive when i turn off social media such as twitter and instagram and i only turn it back on when i know that i'm done for the day of work when i do use the internet i try to keep it to a minimum i use it just for messaging and replying to emails when it comes to having content playing such as having podcasts or videos off of youtube i make sure it's in a playlist so that i don't have to keep searching for new content to watch or listen to every time one ends because again i could spend so much time just trying to surf what i want to look for you could just have a tv show playing in the background or a playlist of music sometimes i listen to audiobooks such as audible i'm not sponsored by audible by the way but it's pretty cool so far so these are methods that i personally use for staying productive at the moment there are other factors such as having a good workspace and environment where you feel like you can work at your most optimum a good desk good equipment chair and overall environment keeps you comfortable while working a healthy and balanced lifestyle can keep both the mind and body stimulated if you guys have any ideas and how you manage to stay productive feel free to leave a comment down below and share that information with us anyways that's all i wanted to share about how i managed to stay productive there's really no deep secret to staying productive everyone's different i would suggest you trying out different methods that people use that helps them stay productive and eventually you'll find something that works best for you anyways that's pretty much all bye interested in learning hand-drawn animation or learning how to finish an animated shot from beginning to end have a look at the store where you'll find the complete introduction to 2d animation video course tutorials and other resources learn classical animation approaches drawing lectures techniques and other process videos visit the store through the link in the description below

Channel: Toniko Pantoja

Views: 114,351

Keywords: Toniko Pantoja, Youtube, Animation, Tutorial, Advice, Lesson, Vlog, Adobe, Photoshop, Animate, Flash, After Effetcts, Premiere, Video, Film, Drawing, Tips, Gestures

Id: ooi7Oe7xySo

Length: 11min 20sec (680 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 02 2020