Small Habits Will Make You A Better Editor

Small habits, atomic habits, will change your life.

They'll make your editing better.

Getting better at your craft isn't about massive jumps in skill and effort. It's about the small 1% gains you build every day.

I learned this during the end of last year. Every day I wanted to see massive improvements in my skillset. I wanted to challenge myself to get a ton done to help see those improvements every day.

But at the end of the day, being impatient and trying to move to quickly left me paralyzed. I was stuck in my tracks, overwhelmed by the amount of work I needed to do to close the skill gap.

Then I started changing how I worked and read Atomic Habits with my wife. Those two decisions are chaniging everything for me.

As I started to get fed up with the constant feeling of being stuck week in and week out, I decided to put into use an idea: something had to be done everyday. Something small.

Something Small

If the biggest problem was that I was not doing the necessary work, then I needed to rebuild my personal trust. I need to know I could complete something. That I could see progress.

So I decided to start writing 1,000 words a day. Just completing that task felt like a big win for the day. Even if I did nothing else, I've done this "project" today.

Now that's not editing, but here's the question you need to ask yourself to find your own small thing to do:

"What's the smallest thing I can do in a day to move forward towards my goal?"

If your goal is to become a better editor, then it could look like:

I'll open my editing software and put 5 stock footage clips together. No music, no SFX. Just the clips with hard cuts right next to each other.

Now I know it can still be incredibly overwhelming to do even that small task when you have no momentum. I've been there many times.

You just want to choose something that can stretch you a little bit, but is still easy enough to get done every day.

For me, the 1,000 words started about journaling my thoughts. I knew I could write less than 1,000, but I wasn't sure if I could write more than that. So the easiest thing to do was force myself to write 1,000 without a time limit and without expectation of amazing writing.

Let it be crap. The goal is just to get it done.

Atomic Habits

Now, I didn't realize it at the time, but what I was starting to do fit right in to the Atomic Habits framework.

While travelling for the holidays, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear with my wife. The concepts in this book are changing our lives.

One of the main concepts is to build the smallest habits you can. Those are the stepping stones to the big habit you want.

So if you want to become a better editor, one thing you could do is: when you open your laptop, you will open your editing softare.

It may seem silly, but so long as you do it consistently, over time you'll naturally want to add more to it.

You just needed the small habits compound into the bigger ones.

If you stack the small habits with another main concept from the book, you'll start building momentum quickly.

Any new habit you create should only take 2 minutes to complete.

The two minute rule forces you to create a small habit that is easily achievable.

So if we go back the example above of opening your editing software and putting 5 stock footage clips together, could you do that in two minutes?

If not, choose something simpler. That simple habit will be the one that will make you a better editor.

It'll take some thought about your current habits and what you can add in, but finding a way to complete even the smallest project, will keep you moving forward.

We're looking for 1% gains every day, not 20% or 30% gains.

Some Habit Ideas

It can be overwhelming to think of habits for yourself, so here are some that I'm thinking about implementing for myself. And if I can find ways to automate them, even better.

1. When I download a new asset for a project, I will put it in it's right spot.

2. When I open my laptop I will put 5 stock footage clips together.

3. Create one edit, regardless of personal quality standards per day. Just tell a simple story.

4. When I make one change to the timeline, I'll duplicate the timeline.

5. I'll create a project template file and use that for any new project.

6. I'll watch my render before sending it to my client.

I know it can be difficult to feel stuck or to achieve new things during the new year, but your momentum can start when you want it to. You don't have to wait for an outside force to push you forward.

In fact, you shouldn't wait for that outside force. It'll probably never come.

Push yourself to build the new habits instead of trying to achieve big goals. The habits will serve you longer, be more fulfilling, and build your skills without you even realizing it.

If you're feeling stuck and overwhelmed by the concepts above, just do the next simplest thing for you to push your skills forward.

Don't look at social media as a "inspiration" excuse. We all know you're just comparing yourself to others and procrastinating.

Just pick some simple project and do it crappily. Even if you don't show it to anyone, you've done something. And if you need extra motivation, publish it to YouTube. And do it every day.

It's going to be challenging no matter what. Wade through that challenge and you'll build 1% every day. That 1% will build your self-trust and make you a better editor.

Happy New Year!

Let me know what you'd like to learn about this year.

Andrew