Perfectionism/Anxiety with making videos

HappinessAndHealthGains

HappinessAndHealthGains

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone! This post might be a little long, but I would love to hear from you guys, especially if you struggle with perfectionism.

It's been a few months since I was active on here or YouTube. A little backstory as to why, I have been taking a graduate level course while I'm getting my undergraduate degree and it has had me so busy and overwhelmed. Also, a week before the spring semester ended I injured my neck and had to take incompletes, so I've had to focus on making that work up in addition to taking summer courses and my internship.

Mostly I have just been too busy to make content, but I also started recognizing that I have a lot of anxiety about making videos and so I'm putting off getting back onto YouTube. The problem is that I am a perfectionist and when I started making videos originally, I was trying to avoid that. So, I spent extra time learning to edit and make my videos look more polished. I think YouTubers got in my head because I was trying to follow all the advice I heard (i.e., not using filler words, editing out any awkward silence, always smiling and keeping energy up, etc.).

I kind of got myself into a pickle though because I didn't allow myself to go through a publicly awkward phase, and I believe that really hindered my growth with finding my voice. When I was making my videos it was taking me 2-4 weeks per video and I know that it's not plausible to really see growth if it's taking me so long.

I made an Instagram post yesterday acknowledging why I've been away and mentioned that there will likely be some differences in my videos when I start back up. I'm going to try and not be so perfect, and allow more awkwardness through, as well as create shorter videos. My question is what advice do you have for making it through this phase, or at least accepting being awkward? I've started making video diaries each morning to start practice getting more comfortable with not being perfect, but if anyone had other advice I would appreciate hearing it. Thank you!
 
Tagging @OntheWrist, @mirrorlessNY(youtuber), @Tiffaloid, and @Tito Tims Videos
I wonder what you 4 have to say on the subject of being a perfectionist.

My 2 cents:
Don't pay attention to the youtubers advice until you make like 10-15 videos on a consistent schedule. Once you get into the rhythm of making videos add one piece of advice every week. If you start by doing everything it's like you just started playing a video game but you are trying to go straight to level 100. Perfection needs to work hand in hand with the level you are at. If you are at level 1 then perfect just means making videos. Level 2 - making videos on a set schedule. So on and so on. Maybe shifting your mindset will allow you to manage that part of your brain that wants to do things perfectly.

One tip (that you can ignore per my "don't pay attention to advice from youtubers" comment) would be to just make a video as fast as possible. Give yourself a time limit. I have 1 hour to record and 3 hours to edit and whatever happens happens. In college I had the same perfectionist mindset my freshmen year of design school but quickly learned I wouldn't graduate if I kept making every project perfect. With a firm time limit it sort of limits the amount of perfection you can possibly put into the project. Also working quickly forces you to cut corners and only work on the parts you mostly care about. It also teaches you to work quickly so you can manage it with your busy life.


Don't need to read below this line
(Some other things that I wrote before fully reading your original post but don't feel like deleting :
If you have a group of friends you trust, you could make videos and share them with your friends only. Maybe as unlisted or private (unlisted is easier to manage in my opinion)
That could get you in the habit of sharing videos with people you trust and getting feedback.
Also vlog with friends. It's a lot easier to make videos when you are talking to/with a friends. You can blame the video not being perfect on the fact that your friend is new to being on camera, BUT personally the vibe when you are talking to a friend is just more fun. If you have other health conscious friends ask them to pick 5 best health tips and you do the same and you both can make a video about your tips together even on zoom. I also think this is a quicker way to grow a channel since your friends may share out the video they are in. It's kind of like collabing even if they don't have a channel.
You can also workshop titles and thumbnail designs with friends or have them suggest topics. I find getting friends included in the process of making a video mean they are more likely to watch the content since they are involved with how it turned out
 
you just have to start pumping out some videos. with time, you'll get better but trying to make it flawless right from the get go will drive you crazy. don't get me wrong. try your best but understand that once you get a good amount of videos up, you can then go back to them and see how much you improved and what needs changes. you can't do that if you never have a library of videos for comparison purposes.
 
Nicekid76 said:
I wonder what you 4 have to say on the subject of being a perfectionist.
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some complex videos (review/test/comparison) take a while, been slowly editing camera review for 9months now :banghead: doesn't have to be perfect but so much to tell & show
vlog video I can record/edit/post in 2 days

been experimenting with simplifying things = like letting the camera do it's own focusing/whitebalace/iso adjustments, so I don't have to worry about those things but rather focus on content/acting etc..
less text in the video itself is another helpful thing - I find it's better to type various info in video description than have a lot of it typed/baked into the video - so in case if there's an important typo you can quickly fix it in description.....
customizing shortcuts in edit software has been tremendously helpful
instead of sticking to a strict 1/2/3 vids/week schedule - have your own varying/whatever schedule (probably better for newer/smaller channels)
 
I'll echo what everyone else has said and not worry about perfection and just make videos. They will naturally get better over time. You can go crazy trying to make a video "perfect" when in reality the only one who may notice the imperfections is you.

Ultimately people are going to come to your channel for what you bring to the table and that table doesn't need to be perfect. There can be flubs and filler but if the content is good that's all that matters.
 
I am about as far from a perfectionist as there is ha ha. Just make videos. Your first ones will probably not be very good (I know mine were not). Who cares. Keep making them and learn how to improve them.

I like having a release schedule, some people do not. In the long run I do not think it really matters that much. Some of my early vids, on no schedule at all, had some of my highest views.

As for your 'awkwardness', that is likely to give your videos a more personal feel and help people feel a connection to you and your vids. I am not a bubbly guy. I am very low energy, and so are my vids. Is that a problem? Not for me. Although bubblier vids do seem to get more views, there is no way I am going to be able to fake that for the life of my channel. I am who I am. If people like me, they will watch. If they do not like me, they are free to go to another channel. I am ok with that. I have a small core audience that likes and watches everything I post (about 400 people). They do not care about a schedule, they do not care about special effects or editing magic, they just like my vids, for some odd reason...
 
Nicekid76 said:
Perfection needs to work hand in hand with the level you are at. If you are at level 1 then perfect just means making videos. Level 2 - making videos on a set schedule.
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I really appreciate the advice you gave! I never really thought about levels of perfect, but I like that a lot. I also love the idea of making myself have a very specific time frame to work in and whatever happens happens. I'll definitely give that a try. Thanks for the advice!
 
Tito Tims Videos said:
As for your 'awkwardness', that is likely to give your videos a more personal feel and help people feel a connection to you and your vids.
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I hadn't thought about that before, but I can absolutely see your point. Some of the people that I enjoy watching the most, whether YouTubers or late night hosts, have a sense of awkwardness about them. I will try to keep that in mind as I move forward. Like you I can't forever keep up an energy that just isn't natural to me, and although I do want to find an audience I would rather find an authentic one that takes longer to find, rather than one where I have to pretend to be something other than who I am. Thanks for the advice!
 
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