I want to capture a few thoughts about creating habits—not just habits in general, but the habit of creating video. This is part of what we're trying to solve with helping people optimize their offices for video. If you want to build a habit, one of the best strategies is to find a way to make the habit easier to do; in other words, remove friction.
For instance, if you want to become a runner, then at night, you put your sneakers somewhere where they're going to be in your way so you're forced to put them on. The whole idea is just to make it where it requires less decision making.
So as we try to make decisions, it takes energy in our brains, right? Our brains burn calories thinking and trying to make decisions, so if you force yourself to make decisions or choices, it's hard to actually get that activity going. So let's talk about this in terms of creating video content.
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Must-Have Equipment For Video Content Creation
It hit me at one point—because I spend an awful lot of time just sitting at my desk working—that I'm looking at computer screens and I want to capture video. I wish I worked in some kind of cool place where you had all sorts of cool B-roll and could just have people follow you around with a camera like a celebrity, but I don't have that.
So one of the realizations I had was: What if I made capturing video super, super simple for me, where I don't have to think about it, or go to a different area, or set up a bunch of special equipment. What if I used all of the equipment that would result in capturing nice video at my desk?
You’d get the added benefit of also always looking good on a video call.
So this is actually my setup for every video call that I'm on, whether a Google meet or a Zoom call, because I'm already ready to capture my highest quality video. So I thought, well, what if I optimize my work area for video? I had already worked on my studio itself and it was ready to go with soundproofing or sound absorbing material, lighting, LEDs—I had so much fun building all of this.
But then I thought, let's make sure we get the technical part right.
I've got a fill light, a microphone boom overhead, and my DSLR mirrorless camera. The camera is pretty expensive, but I already had it for photography and video—it’s definitely worth an investment there. In this case, it's a full frame, which means it captures a lot of really nice video. And then it's going straight through a teleprompter screen. The teleprompter allows me to see whoever I'm talking to or see my notes, so I can literally jot notes down on my screen, drag it over, and just hit record and start talking.
All of this is an effort to reduce the friction between me and creating video.
Two Ideas To Simplify Your Video Creation Process
Another thing that's important in terms of removing friction is to think about the environmental space for whatever habit you're trying to create.
If you're trying to create a habit of capturing ideas, you want to create a space that's already right where you are that has all the things that allow you to be creative, so that when it's time to be creative, you don't have to get up and go find a quiet place or find a place that inspires you—you've already done that.
When it comes to creating video content, think about how you could simplify what you're doing. The big challenge in this area—especially when you’re recording at your desk—is getting the quality level where you want it. I'm happy to kind of help you work through that. In fact, I'm working on some solutions and resources that will be helpful for that.
But for now, just think about these two things:
- What do I need to do with the background behind me?
- What would I have to do to feel really good about the content that I'm creating right at my desk?
And then start implementing. Make it really, really easy.
The one thing you want to be really careful about is that you keep everything right where it needs to be.
In other words, I don't take my camera off and use it for other things. I don't move stuff around. I don't change my lighting. With just a couple of clicks on my phone, everything comes on. When I walk in my studio, it's ready to go.
If you start messing with things, you're literally introducing friction back into the process again, so don't do that! Remove friction and watch your habits, especially around content creation and video capture, start to blossom.
Have questions about optimizing your space for video? Not sure where to start? Schedule a call with Lance.
