Update 01/05 - Alfabus unlocks the secret to immortality (read: productivity, not actually immortality)

 AY
It's been an amazing 10 days and now I have to write a whole lot about it because it's very important.  

You know that feel when you're using a treadmill and you're supposed to be using it for 30 minutes, but you're already tired after the first 30 seconds, then you kind of give up hope on life and cut it short way too early?
This is the manner in which I've been editing videos for the last 8 years.
"Go at it for as long as you can, every day!! Who needs a schedule???"
Foolish. Bad.  
I mean, this way of editing has been working, technically.
I've released videos, a whole series of them, so, don't fix what don't broke, right??
Too bad I didn't realise it was broke from the very  b e g i n n i n g.  

This new year, as I was trying to fall asleep after the celebrations, I got an epiphany!
Why don't I edit videos in the same manner I exercise; by setting up small goals each day?
The human brain works really well with small kinds of goals.  
It doesn't work well with 'can't see the end in sight' kinds of goals.  

So, I went and came up with a calculation.  
How many seconds of video should I edit every day to finish a video in good time?
The answer is 48 seconds a day (at the least).
That might sound like a small amount, but it isn't.  
48 seconds is actually kind of a nice medium. Working within a 6 hours timeframe, 48 seconds is a piece of cake to do when it's just characters talking, while it takes time but is doable if the scenes have a lot of characters moving and effects.  

By editing 48 seconds of video every weekday, I will be putting together 4 minutes of video every week. This is unprecedented.  

By editing together 4 minutes of video a week, I'll be producing 16 minutes of video in one month. This too is unprecedented.  

By editing together 16 minutes of video a month, I'll be able to produce a 32 minute video in 2 fucking months. This too is very much unprecedented.  


Now... this is very much still up to be proven to work.
All this is of course completely neglecting three other very important stages of video making, which is script, audio and post.
My idea to get this to work as effectively as I can is this;  

In the next 3 months (January, February, March), I will be finishing up the rest of EP27, release three Shorts (one each month) and one Podcast. After this, in April, May, June, I'll divide the three months into three different phases

• Script Writing Phase (two weeks)
• Audio Phase (two weeks)
• Video Editing Phase (eight weeks)

So, in the Script Writing phase, we'll finish the script for EP28, write three Shorts and a Podcast.
In the Audio Phase we assemble the audio for both the episode, the Shorts and the Podcast.
And, lastly, in the Video Editing Phase, I put everything together, 48 seconds a day, until everything is done.  

And so on, the cycle shall continue, until there are no more months left in the universe.  

I've already tested this method out.  
On the 1st (which was a Tuesday) I sat down and put together 20 seconds of video just to see how it felt. After the next three days, wednesday through friday, I managed to reach the weekly goal of 4 minutes.
THIS IS [[[UNPRECEDENTED]]].
4 minutes could just as well taken me 2 weeks in normal circumstances.
Remember the EP26 updates???
I got through them in 3 days because I was so driven.
It's like if that old "humans only use 10% of their brain" myth was true and I just found a stone mask and turned into a vAMPIRE WITH 100% BRAIN EFFICIENCY.
It feels great. This is the power of fucking with your mind.  

To those who think this all sounds great but are worried that I'll be overworking myself; don't worry in the least! This way of working is actually a lot healthier than what I was going for before. Now, there is a clear line between work time and off time. I tend to work half hours at a time, so I just have to put in enough half hours to reach 48 seconds and then I'm done for the day.
I also specifically calculated it so that I could have weekends off.
I've not had weekends off for 4 years. It's really nice.  

Sorry that this got a bit long-winded, but I had to speak of this, as it might be the most important development this project has had in years. I really hope this will work out as well as I'm imagining. I am going to have to be a lot more organized going forward with this system, but humans love structure, so I imagine it going off without a hitch.
oh god just imagine what I could do if I had a second editor following this same kind of schedule............. mmmmmmmmmmm  

Please expect me to have finished at least 8 more minutes of video next time I post here.  
If I have not, I've obviously fucked up somehow and I will have to explain myself.  

Until next time, have a good one!!!