STOPWATCH CONDITIONING

The Personal Accountability of Time Management

Nathan Dies — Steelehouse Visual Artist

Before I joined Team Steelehouse as a Visual Artist, I used to work as the Video Production Coordinator for the Oklahoma City Thunder. So, what’s it like working for a sports team? I thought you’d never ask! First off, let me ease your mind. I’m not going to break down why my team still has a chance to win a championship or how Russell Westbrook’s three-year contract makes Kevin Durant look disingenuous. I am, however, going to break down the area I most needed to transform my habits in leaving sports media to work for a production house. It’s a little thing called time management. Much like knocking over the first domino in an awesome Rube Goldberg machine, it’s a pivotal skill that repays exponentially.

Anyone who works in the business of creativity has been asked the ominous question: “How long will it take to accomplish this incredibly vague project and how much will it cost?” The typical response is likely just as vague, “What are you looking to get out of said incredibly vague project?” Hard truth: if you suck at time management, you suck at answering this question. I’m not only talking about task-oriented objectives. I’m talking about thinking fast and working efficiently while racing the clock. That is the reality of our industry. Technology is our friend and enemy. Unless you birthed the technology, you’re playing catch-up.

So what does working for a sports team have to do with time management? Well, the experience didn’t teach it very well. Don’t get me wrong. Live production requires just as much time management as editing down 6 hours of footage into a 30-minute show. Working in a control room pushes you to make decisions on the fly that can have dire consequences, but the tasks you execute in live production vs. a studio environment is like the difference between a field goal in basketball vs. football. The application is the same, but the context gives it a different value.

When I made the transition to Steelehouse from the NBA, I realized I sucked at time management. On my first day, I was tasked with storyboarding two concepts within 8 hours. It was a train wreck. Overwhelmed by the pace, my brain cramped out before halftime and I was carried off the court. I was used to taking my time and lining up all the technical details. At the NBA, I had two deadlines a year: start of the season and start of the playoffs. I could execute the craft, but never worried about crafting the time. That all changed at Steelehouse. Time to stay hydrated.

Micromanage Your Time. Let’s face it, people don’t like to be micromanaged — but your production schedule does. Micromanaging your time is invaluable — and it’s critical to our business model. Producers aren’t guessing when and where to allocate resources. They have a stat sheet of technical data that tells them where the company’s efficiencies lie and where the deficiencies need improvement. Remember that incredibly vague video project? Yeah, the Producers know how long it will take and how much it’ll cost.

Don’t merely micromanage your schedule. Actually record it. When you start seeing real-time feedback on progress vs. time, your instincts kick in like a buzzer beater play. You’ll start thinking four steps ahead while executing tasks. It gives you this acute awareness you don’t want to turn off. Sometimes finessing details are less important if it means to do so will cause the project to go tremendously over budget — similar to starting off with an art direction that is too ambitious for the budget. Don’t get me wrong. I love details. I love to enhance my work in every way I can when I can. Balance.

Don’t Be Cheap. Some people might want to say this to clients, but I also say it to studios. When I worked in sports, the value emphasized on the artist’s time was poor. A simple purchase for plug-ins and software was nonexistent. Knowing your time helps define your value. Your ability to create can be as valuable as your time to execute. As artists, we love to push ourselves creatively. That’s how we stay relevant in our fast-paced field. Studios need to trust their artist when suggesting software, plug-ins & hardware. If a plug-in will allow me to execute a task faster and improve the quality, it’s worth the cost.

Let Your Producers Push You. I used to work in an environment where my limits were only pushed by my own accord. When acclimating to Steelehouse, I had to rely heavily on my Producers to push me. I found a lot of return in shortening the timeline on tasks within a project. It created a sense of urgency that cultivated a work ethic I can turn on and off when needed. I explored new ways to work smarter while delivering the same quality. For example, I used to be quite the advocate for Apple’s “magic mouse.” One of our Producers always gave me a hard time because I “clicked too much.” Clicky was not a nickname that sat well with me, so I forced myself to learn a tablet. Life is now unimaginable without it.

Be Courteous To Your Fellow Artist. What is this you say? File. Management. I better not open your project to find the thing a cluttered [explicit]. Symptoms always start when the project’s folder structure is recklessly tossed together. I just spent two hours dissecting this sort of discombobulation because someone failed to spend an accumulated time of five minutes organizing as they work. Why is that file named Screenshot 2016–08–01 16.22.53 and used 36 times in the project? What should have been a thirty-minute change took 2.5 hours. It’s a best practice to organize projects and file structure — for your sake and the sake of other artists. Always assume another artist will handle your project.

Work Your Station. It’s not just hardware that optimizes productivity. Running on Mac, I utilize Spaces religiously. I need to see everything I am working on take up its own spot on the shelf. Nothing overlaps (unless it’s a Stickies window). Be obsessive with your real estate. If there’s not a macro for a software tool you utilize often, make one. Otherwise, find a place on your workspace to fit it. Utilizing the entire canvas of my video screens for presets and tools contributes to the collective whole. Digging through menus is cumbersome and wastes precious time.

Take these as guidelines. The creative world is an ocean of madness pleading for structure. Now that my render is done, it’s time to wrap things up. Writing is not something I practice every day, but I hope my sporadically contributed 6.57 hours to crafting this article has gleaned some insight into the processes that motivate time management as an accountable state of mind. The same projects that used to take me 80 hours of labor are now accomplished in half the time. This mindset has truly pushed me to become a better artist.