Now that I have a name for my business and a YouTube channel (Check out my first video if you haven't yet) My brain is exploding with ideas of different things to make videos of. This week, I've been learning about Twitch and following some interesting channels, creating a little "do's and don'ts" list for myself as a streamer and now I want to stream all the things!
Trying to force my brain into thinking about boring things like planning and goals is like lassoing a tornado, but I must power through. If I keep charging forward on new ideas I will end up with even more unfinished projects and a bad case of burnout. Let's avoid that, shall we?
Some goals for the rest of 2024:
Keep a consistent, balanced work and self-care routine
Create sections in the business plan: social media, video creation, media organization
Reorganize my project management lists so I can keep track of projects
Collect and list out all WIPS, and start getting them done so I only have a few projects to work on at once
Start streaming on Twitch once a week (this one goes with the one above)
Balanced work and self-care routine
This goal is a constant work in progress. I often skip care tasks in favor of getting things done and end up miserably achieving very little.
Where am I? I've been a bit more consistent with my morning routine since I started wearing bracelets with my care tasks on them. They help me transition to the next task without using my brain to decide what to do next. (My ADHD brain becomes exhausted if I have to use it to brush my teeth or shower. Don't ask me why. I don't make the rules.)
A few months ago I made a work schedule for myself with set times for admin tasks such as opening mail and keeping track of bills. It was working incredibly well. Having pre-set time blocks for the boring stuff makes me feel less guilty when working on the fun stuff. Even if I have an off day, it's easy to slip back into the schedule. However, I had a huge setback since returning to work and switching my awake hours to a night schedule. Jesse (my spouse) got a new night shift job, a great job, but the switch completely killed my schedule.
Where do I want to be? Today, I reworked the schedule to fit my new, nocturnal life. The next step is to write rituals (my pet name for workflows) for each time block. The rituals help my brain work less, just like the bracelets. I need to follow the schedule consistently so I don't hyperfocus on one thing and neglect everything else. I will also create and implement a nighttime routine for better sleep hygiene. That means I'll be making some more bracelets, but I'll film the process this time so I can share it with y'all. By New Year, I'd like to be used to my new routines and stay on task at least 70% of the time. The holidays always mess me up, so caring for myself and keeping balance is extra important.
What's Next? I have a few more bracelets to add to the routines one at a time as I get used to staying consistent with the basics. I will also regularly evaluate what is and isn't working with my schedule and adjust accordingly.
Business plan updates
My business plan will change and grow along with me. Think of it like a multiverse manifesto. That's nice. I think I'll make that the title.
Where am I? I have drafted a rough outline of my manifesto that includes rituals for each aspect of running a business. I've included self-care and ethics because this is not the traditional type of plan that I would bring to a bank to ask for a loan. It's more of a manual for myself - a holistic guide to achieving my goals.
Where do I want to be? Now that I'm leaning more into content creation I want to get a solid plan for posting regularly and keeping my brand consistent. I also need to create boundaries for myself and the people I engage with online and list my values and ethos. For example, I want to lift people up with my content, not bring people down, so it's important to nail down what that means to me and how that looks in the context of each platform. Establishing boundaries with how I use social media is also critical for protecting my mental health.
What's next? Financial goals and branding. I probably won't make much money for a long time, but I need to outline current costs and future costs so I'll know how much I will need to make to quit my day job. Then, I can copy the boring business plan stuff from the manifesto in case I want to get a loan or apply for a grant down the line.
Branding is the fun stuff where I figure out all the design details that represent me. I need to decide on a consistent vision for everywhere the tendrils of my dark influence infect the planet.
Project Management
Keeping track of the mountain of tasks I pile on myself.
Where am I? I've been using a software that organizes tasks like a kanban board. I can access it from my phone so anytime I get an idea or think of something that needs to be done I add it to a master to-do list which I organize into proper categories during admin time. This helps prevent my brain from ruminating on ideas for fear of losing track of them. Or if I keep thinking about the idea, I can open my phone and add notes to the tasks. I need to reconfigure the project categories; I've only been utilizing the to-do list because the categories for projects aren't set up right. (Trying to explain my whole system needs a post of its own. If you're interested in that, let me know and I'll write it out and/or make a video)
Where do I want to be? I need to reorganize the categories to fit all the changes I've made and then consistently use the board to prioritize properly so I finish projects instead of moving on to the next shiny. By New Year, I want to be using this system to keep me focused and prioritizing the right stuff, most of the time. Tangents are unavoidable and I can't prevent them but I can lessen their impact. Harm reduction for hyper-focus.
What's next? If I can be consistent with this system, the only thing to do next is keep evaluating and checking in to confirm it's still serving me well.
WIP Madness + Weekly Twitch Streams
The mountain of unfinished projects is looming over my soul and doing psychic damage every time I start something new.
Where am I? Drowning in projects. Seriously, they are all over the place. Everywhere. And I keep starting new ones. Not Cute.
With Twitch, I have spent some time getting to know how it works and seeing what communities I will fit in with most. I've met some cool people who have been very welcoming and friendly. I've got a pretty decent follow list started and I'm enjoying being a member of the audience, too.
Where do I want to be? I will collect all my projects from around the house and do a live stream showing the projects and talking about the progress that needs to be made to finish. As I work on editing the stream into a video for YouTube, I'll put the list into my project management system. Then, I will start a weekly Twitch series where I work on getting those projects done and whittling the list of WIPs down to a more manageable amount before I start any new projects.
I don't expect to have them all done by the new year but I do at least want to have the main video posted and the weekly streams started by at least the first week of January (I would like to do sooner but life typically drops me down a few pegs when it comes to getting stuff done on time. Especially in December. And fuck, it is almost December.
What's next? I will continue making WIP streams and editing some of them into videos (or maybe, one big WIP update video, whatever makes the most sense). Then, I'll add another weekly stream. It will likely be a co-working stream because I think that will help me get work done consistently and keep me accountable, especially for taking regular breaks and staying focused. I will use the time to edit videos or work on my writing projects.
Future Content Goals (The stuff I don't have time/money/equipment for yet)
Video series on Horror VHS Art, updates on my spiders and other pets, thrift hauls and repurposed art projects, Videos highlighting other cool and inspiring creators
MoodyShop with my art and handmade goods, signed copies of books, and merch
More streams, including coworking, art practice, reading, pet cams, and even some video games
I wish I had all the time and money to make all these things right now, but I am only human. It is time to let go of being perfect. Such high standards are impossible, paralyzing, and halt any progress. I hope you enjoy watching me struggle and fail because that is what I will be doing a lot. Let's make some mistakes together!
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