Now that I have stepped right into 2022, it feels like 2021 just flew right past me. One year! That’s both fascinating and terrifying. I did (for a short while) maintain a daily journal and was hoping that it would, (a) help me keep stock of time and (b) help me become a better writer. It was a difficult habit to maintain. I always kept telling myself that I didn’t really have the time to write about my day. But that’s further from the truth. I did have time, but I chose to use it to watch Sidemen Sunday videos (which are extremely addictive!).
And speaking of time, this week I wanted to write about how creating a time buffer helps me to consistently keep pushing out weekly newsletters, blog posts and YouTube videos. It’s important to create a time buffer in our systems and tasks. Unexpected things will come up, there will always be things we can’t plan for. And we are usually poor at planning and estimating how long it would take for us to complete certain projects and tasks. A rather simple example is when Google Maps tells you that it’ll take 40 minutes to get to a restaurant, it’s best to start atleast 50 minutes early. Keeping the 10 minute buffer allows for unexpected traffic, randomly running into an old friend, or looking for a parking space near the restaurant and so on. Our personal or work projects need to have a similar treatment in terms of the time allotted to complete them. Creating a time buffer will help eliminate unexpected costs and account for uncertainties.
One of the most effective ways in which I create buffer into my video production system is by adopting the most time effecting technique called batching. In fact I have written in-depth about how I batch all the tasks associated with video production in order to ensure that I get similar tasks done at the same time. If the A-roll for upcoming 4 videos is already filmed, and I happen to fall ill in the coming week, I can still ensure that my video goes up as per schedule. Batching creates a buffer and ensures that consistency is not disturbed. Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism, has highlighted the significance of building buffer into the system by stating that, “Consistency produces incredible breakthroughs. Buffer is key to maintaining consistency.“