Knowing Better
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Knowing Better in 2023 - An Update and Announcement
🕑 Added 2023-02-01 22:13:21 +0000 UTCHello everyone!
It’s been a few years since I’ve made a “State of the Channel” post, but I’m making a few changes for 2023 that I thought you might like to hear.
In 2020, I stopped doing traditional New Year’s Resolutions and adopted CGP Grey’s Yearly Theme idea. My previous themes so far have been Reduction, Adulting, and Generosity. 2023 is the year of Consistency. As we go through all of my bullet points, hopefully the reasons will become clear.
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Time Management
I regularly post my Clockify summaries to Patreon for people to see. It’s mostly to keep myself accountable and let the community know that I am in fact making content, even if I’ve been quiet on social media.
In 2022, I worked a total of 1622 hours and 45 minutes, which averages to 31.25 hours a week, or 6.25 hours a day if we’re assuming a five-day work week. In reality though, I would work at least a little bit every day, 4 hours one day, 2 hours the next, 14 the day after that. It was all over the place and never consistent. Some weeks I would work 20 hours, others I would work 50. Quite a few people have commented that this work schedule is not sustainable and I finally agree. So this year, I’m committing to working a solid 6.25 hours every day, with a goal of working 30-35 hours a week. Hopefully at that pace, I won’t be rushing right before the deadline every time like I have been.
Of that 2022 total, I spent 1275 hours working on video projects, roughly 105 hours a month. This averages to 26 hours a week. For the upcoming year, I am hoping to maintain that level of video work every week, leaving the remaining 4-9 hours a week for Twitch streaming and administrative work.
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Youtube Videos
Averaging the five videos that were part of the 2022 Jamestown Saga, it took me 283 hours to make a 1h36m video. Broken down into the stages of video creation, it looks something like this:
- Research: 96 hours
- Discord Watch Parties: 10 hours
- Writing: 65 hours
- Filming: 28 hours
- Editing: 79 hours
- Post-Production: 6 hours
The average Jamestown video was 1 hour and 36 minutes long, but these results are skewed by the three-hour long Indian Removal project. 1h36m is longer than any of the other videos, so I’m considering that as the ceiling. At 26 hours a week, I should be able to complete a typical video in 11 weeks. As such, my tentative content release schedule is as follows:
- April 30
- June 30
- September 30
- November 30
I will only be producing four videos this year because the goal is consistency, not ever-increasing growth. I made four videos last year (Company Towns was made in 2021 but released in 2022), so I’m not working any more or less. But I’m also planning to work on a few background projects that will likely take all year and those are still in the planning stages.
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Twitch Streaming
My Twitch channel is currently at the Affiliate level because I only stream twice a week. While I would love for the channel to reach Partner level, the truth is that I have been pretty terrible at maintaining a twice-a-week schedule as it is.
Previously, I would stream myself researching, writing, or editing the next video. If I didn’t have any work to do yet, I would stream a game related to the topic, which is a lot more difficult than it sounds. What games discuss Indian Removal? Is there a Pilgrim role-playing game? If I couldn’t find a related game, I would stream myself making candy – a hobby I only picked up a year ago. Streaming candy-making is fun, but I can only do it so many times before I have way too much candy and my dentist starts seeing dollar signs. When I had exhausted those three options, I just wouldn’t stream. For the last three months of 2022, I was completely absent from Twitch.
My goal for 2023 is to maintain a consistent schedule of streaming twice a week, every week. I would like to focus more on working, so even if I have to do a “study with me” stream, I will be live. The candy and games will continue, but only sparingly.
I ran a poll on the Discord to see which days people wanted me to stream, so I’ll be changing things going forward. I’ll be streaming for about 3 hours, starting at these times:
- Sundays at 1:30-4pm Pacific / 4:30-7pm Eastern
- Mondays at 1:30-4pm Pacific / 4:30-7pm Eastern
- If I miss either of those days for whatever reason, Friday at 1:30-4pm Pacific / 4:30-7pm Eastern, will serve as a makeup day.
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Team Expansion
While I do almost all of the research, writing, filming, and editing myself, I have hired a small team to help me with other tasks for the channel.
Rozarah is my Community Manager and Production Assistant. She’s the primary moderator on all of my social media platforms, maintains the Discord community, and coordinates with other moderators. As my Production Assistant, she helps find videos, images, and sources when my Google-fu is too weak, she converts the script into captions, and has been going through the back catalog to fix past subtitles.
Jesspsettle is a Research Assistant and Moderator. She reads the same books and watches the same documentaries as me to make sure that I’m not misinterpreting anything and fact-checks the script. She is also a moderator for my Twitch channel.
Tomatochemist is the most recent addition to the team as a Research Assistant. She will also be following along with the research, but her primary focus is fact-checking the script against outside sources. With my projects becoming ever-more complicated, I thought another set of eyes was necessary.
Donnythenuts is an Animator and Moderator. While I do all of the editing on videos myself, I have occasionally decided that an animated segment was more appropriate. So far he has made the BetterU parody for the Neoslavery video and the WTF is an Amerindian video for the Indian Removal project. I previously paid him on a per-project basis, but this year I have switched to paying him a monthly retainer. He also serves as a moderator in charge of coordinating community events in the Discord like watch parties.
TheInkedWell is my Tech Consultant. I likewise pay him a monthly retainer to help me calibrate and troubleshoot my equipment. He helped me pick out all the new camera equipment and computer components to hopefully solve the crashing and overheating issues I was experiencing last year. I will have a list of my equipment down below.
Sambeawesome is another Moderator on Twitch and happens to be a pretty talented artist. I have occasionally commissioned her to make thumbnails, particularly for the last two Asking Better livestreams.
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Help Wanted
This year, I am looking to hire a few more people. Take a look at the list below and if you are interested in helping the channel, send me an email!
Web Developer - My website knowingbetter.tv has been neglected for some time and I’m hoping to revamp it entirely. The site is hosted on Wix and I would like to keep it there. I’d like to include recent posts from all of my socials: my most recent IG post, tweet, Youtube video, maybe Twitch highlight, stuff like that. I’d also like to include a library for all of my content, since not every video is accessible through Youtube. I already have all of that information ready to go.
Musician - I need someone to develop an overall sound for the channel moving forward. I’d prefer someone familiar with working on background music that won’t interfere with my voice and someone who is familiar with my content and tone. Some videos are more serious, some videos are light-hearted, some videos shift between tones throughout. We can either develop an album of songs to use or we can work on each video individually. Hopefully, you’d like to stick around on retainer.
Captions Translation - I could hire a service to do this, but I would prefer someone more familiar with my content and tone so that nothing is lost or translated incorrectly. I’m currently only looking for a Spanish translator to work on upcoming projects and go through the back catalog. If that goes well, I’ll be looking for other languages. Hopefully you’re familiar with how SRT files work.
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Current Equipment
I’ve made a few equipment upgrades for this year, since my camera wasn’t quite working for the long-form content I wanted to make and my computer struggled to render two-hour long videos. Here is what I’m working with this year:
Video Production
- Sony Alpha 7S III - https://amzn.to/3Hd66Yp
- Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM - https://amzn.to/40btK01
- Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II - https://amzn.to/3DolPTz
- Sennheiser Professional MKE 400 - https://amzn.to/3HDA49k
- Electro-Voice RE320 - https://amzn.to/3RlZ1cL
- Zoom H4n Pro - https://amzn.to/3Y0N3aE
- Atomos Ninja V - https://amzn.to/3HfmOGK
Streaming
- Elgato Facecam - https://amzn.to/3jcXcCh
- Electro-Voice RE320 - https://amzn.to/3RlZ1cL
- GoPro HERO9 - https://amzn.to/3Rcfiky
- Rode Wireless GO II - https://amzn.to/3HEc9Xt
- Acer Predator Helios 300 - https://amzn.to/3wIDpxz
Computer
- be quiet! Dark Base 900 Silver - https://amzn.to/3Dm1SN0
- ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero - https://amzn.to/3kUVMwA
- AMD Ryzen 9 5950X - https://amzn.to/3RgoC6I
- G.Skill Trident Z NEO Series 64GB - https://amzn.to/3XMzSKD
- MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 24GB - https://amzn.to/3JjVnOH
- Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 2TB NVMe M.2 Internal SSD - https://amzn.to/3WTcdHq
- Seasonic PRIME 1300 Platinum - https://amzn.to/3kSPAFq
- EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Lux D-RGB - https://amzn.to/3HjhqSS
Desk Equipment
- PreSonus Revelator io24 - https://amzn.to/3JocX4a
- Adam Audio T5V Active Nearfield Monitor x2 - https://amzn.to/3Y6k2ug
- BenQ PD2700U 27 Inch 4K UHD IPS x2 - https://amzn.to/3JnUdlo
- Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 - https://amzn.to/3JnO1ty
- Corsair K68 RGB - https://amzn.to/3j60Iyx
- Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro SE - https://amzn.to/3Jpgsr6
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Equipment for Sale
Since I’ve upgraded my camera equipment, I now have three old cameras that I won’t be using anymore. All of themare in working order and excellent condition. Cameras and lenses have been grouped together, and I’d like to sell them as a set. I have listed what they’re going for used on Amazon (which is probably high, so I rounded down). Shoot me an email with an offer if you’re interested.
- Canon EOS R6 with RF 24-105mm F4-7.1 IS STM - https://amzn.to/3jhYsUU - $2000
- Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM - https://amzn.to/3wJ9ZiQ - $1500
- Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM - https://amzn.to/3WS6sJH - $200
- Canon EOS 80D with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM - https://amzn.to/3jeUY5r - $500
- Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM - https://amzn.to/3wATxRY - $400
- Canon EOS Rebel T5 with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - https://amzn.to/3HG45Wb - $200
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Final Thoughts
This year, my intention is not to make content for the purpose of channel growth, though if that were to happen, I wouldn’t complain. I mainly want to focus on doing the same amount of work as 2022, but more efficiently and consistently. There was an expression we used for learning techniques in the Army that I think is applicable here: “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Meaning, when you practice it slowly and intentionally, you will learn how to do it without error, which will lead to more efficient work.
Up until now, I have been making videos in much the same way I had when I started the channel in 2016. I started off making one video a week, then it became two weeks, a month, and then three months. The longer production time wasn’t because I was taking time off; it was because I was making hour-and-a-half long videos instead of ten-minute videos. I don’t take a break after videos come out, I immediately dive into the next topic. I work as much as I can every day, even if it’s only two hours here and there. After six years of doing working this way, I’m realizing I’m in a constant state of mild panic, because I always feel behind.
I started off this year doing something I’ve never really had the opportunity to do in my adult life - I took an actual vacation to a tropical island. When I was home, I spent my time thinking about how I want to change my work flow for the upcoming year, rather than doing what I always do and start reading a book for the next video. I feel like I have a pretty good plan for how I want things to go and I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.
With it being February 1st, I’m starting up work on the next video topic. As part of that project, I’ve begun a three-month challenge that members of the Discord should see in a separate channel and are welcome to participate in as well! Please do, I don’t want to suffer alone. You can join the Discord by signing up for Patreon, becoming a Youtube member, or subscribing on Twitch. http://www.patreon.com/knowingbetter https://www.youtube.com/knowingbetter/join https://www.twitch.tv/knowingbetteryt/subscribe
Your continued support for the channel is what allows me to do this as my full time job and I will be forever grateful to all of you. This started off as a hobby that I hoped would go somewhere, but never really expected it to. You all have given me a career that most people can only dream of, so I better get to work earning it.
Comments
Trevin Beattie
Congratulations to you and your team on getting this plan in place! 🤗 I’ve really enjoyed the well-researched, in-depth videos that you’ve released in recent years and will patiently await the next ones however long it takes. I hope you had a very relaxing vacation; you deserved it.
