I'm having trouble editing.

Markerrr

New Member
I love doing YouTube. But lately I've been having an issue. A few months ago, I could edit an entire video without taking a break, getting bored, procrastinating, stopping, etc. It would take several hours but I got it done. I could just get it done like that. Now, I'm having so many issues.

I'm procrastinating every day, as soon as I start I get distracted, and even if I force myself to do it and I turn off any distractions, I cannot focus. It's taking weeks for me to get one single video done. I timed myself and I gave up and put it off to the side in just 3 minutes. Just 3 minutes.

I don't wanna hire an editor because 1. I don't have the money to, and 2. I wanna do things for myself. Is there anything I can do about this to make it so I can edit like I used to again?
 
I feel you, and my channel/videos are just tiny fetuses lmao. I start to edit a video, but then I distract myself, and then somehow it's a week later and I still haven't edited a short 25 minute gameplay
 
sometimes i'll get stuck for a day editing about 15 seconds of something lol. Better to take your time though like you are doing. Too many people just churn out endless videos and them complain when they only get like 5 views. Take time to try and make every upload better than your last one.. and if it ain't good enough don't upload it until it is. I think is a good rule anyway. If you just need to motivate yourself go find something that inspires you.. do something else and try again when your more enthused about it.
 
I love doing YouTube. But lately I've been having an issue. A few months ago, I could edit an entire video without taking a break, getting bored, procrastinating, stopping, etc. It would take several hours but I got it done. I could just get it done like that. Now, I'm having so many issues.

I'm procrastinating every day, as soon as I start I get distracted, and even if I force myself to do it and I turn off any distractions, I cannot focus. It's taking weeks for me to get one single video done. I timed myself and I gave up and put it off to the side in just 3 minutes. Just 3 minutes.

I don't wanna hire an editor because 1. I don't have the money to, and 2. I wanna do things for myself. Is there anything I can do about this to make it so I can edit like I used to again?

ask yourself "are you really cut for video making" or just do 10 min segments per hour that what i do
 
sometimes i'll get stuck for a day editing about 15 seconds of something lol. Better to take your time though like you are doing. Too many people just churn out endless videos and them complain when they only get like 5 views. Take time to try and make every upload better than your last one.. and if it ain't good enough don't upload it until it is. I think is a good rule anyway. If you just need to motivate yourself go find something that inspires you.. do something else and try again when your more enthused about it.
Not necessarily I'm taking too long to edit. It's just I'm too distracted to edit. And I can't focus on it either.
 
It sounds like this is an issue with getting things done and time management rather than an editing problem. When procrastinating, usually the hardest thing is to start a task but then once started, it's not so difficult to finish it.

The fact this is happening indicates you are starting to see it as a chore (and not a hobby) which isn't a good sign but yeah it can happen.

There's a very good book that can help getting over procrastination called "Eat that frog" that might help you ( https://www.amazon.com/Eat-That-Fro.../ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= )

Here's the blurb for the book:

"There's an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day. Using “eat that frog” as a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day—the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life—Eat That Frog! shows you how to zero in on these critical tasks and organize your day. You'll not only get more done faster, but get the right things done."
 
Try to make script before making videos. That will help you reduce editing time, so you will have more enthusiasm to do editing.
 
When I end up feeling like this i like to take a step back by just taking a 15- 20 minuet break and watch something on Netflix or listen to music and then I make sure I go back to editing an edit a good portion of it and if I’m really feeling like I can’t keep editing than I take just a few minutes to get a drink of water check my phone and then get back to editing. I usually have to take breaks like that because I have ADD and certain things take me longer to do because of my attention deficit disorder.
 
When I first started I did the same. Could edit for hours and upload the same day it was shot. As time progressed I took more time, and now I take more time still. I want to do other things besides YouTube, and YouTube was consuming me. I was treating it as a job and it was very clearly a hobby, it still is to this day. So now I edit till I get to a point where I start taking shortcuts. Sometimes that moment comes in 15 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes and sometimes I edit for hours before that happens. You need to stay happy throughout the process, editing by far is the most irritating of it all. But I will never pay anyone to do it for me. The editing is what makes the videos yours. An editor is not going to be able to do what I do, isn't going to capture what I do either. So even if it becomes a more significant part of my life down the line (not holding my breath) I will still edit my own stuff.
 
It may mean you aren't passionate about making videos anymore. Usually if it's something you really love, you'll achieve it no matter what. All my videos I've edited in one night, can take up to 6 hours, to colour correct, colour grade(roughly), adjust voice track volume, add pictures, add visual effects, add a music track (adjust the volume) and make a thumbnail. Good luck!
 
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