How can you build resilience while working under tight deadlines in Video Production?

I've found that clients, not familiar with the amount of work involved in production, will not get back with approvals or notes as fast as they should. We are working 12 hour days to meet a deadline, and then we lose 4 days for notes that should have come back the next day. This adds unnecessary stress. So, be sure to write in your contract the amount of time a client has to approve a milestone or that the delivery date will be slipped back for that amount. I also suggest penalties for these kinds of delays. I learned this the hard way a few times very early in my career. It's amazing how many unnecessary delays you will experience until it costs your client money. Then, I have found that clients are very fast to reply.

I've done this work for nearly 30 years, and here are three top points to consider: 1. Plan ahead with your client. That half-hour you spend to manage expectations is one of the most important parts of the project. 2. Get a good team together. Assign roles and deadlines to everyone, from producers to shooters to editors, and make sure everyone has skin in the game. 3. Allow some slack time, even on a tight deadline. Those extra 1-2 hours can make all the difference, in some cases. Be ready for the worst to happen!

1. De-cluttering and communicating about your commitments due to the tight deadline should be the first thing to do on the list. 2. Making sure that the output stands true to what has been committed to the client. 3. Making sure you spend enough time on the rushes as that would give you more clarity on the edit mentally, as you note down the names and number of the files that are useable. I guess thats the most I can add to whatever people have shared over here.

Video editing is not about cropping parts and putting lots of effects in a timeline, it is about telling a story. And it Doesn’t matter if you are editing a short video or a movie. If you need to tell a story, you need to organize. If you don't have a map about what you need to do and don't know what story you want to tell, you are going to waste your time discovering it during your work time. It is a creative work, but creativity needs organization. So you should set a realistic deadline, find out what story you want to tell, organize which materials you need to work (B-rolls, sound effects, luths, musics), and then start to edit. You shouldn't find your way during your work but set it before and then follow the process.

Communication is the key to good work. In our business we can't afford to waste time, especially when you're a freelancer getting paid for each job. Establishing steps to receive feedback from your client is crucial. Imagine spending a day on a project, only to find that the client didn't like it when you introduce it to them. That would be a day wasted. However, if you establish specific times to receive feedbacks, you will undoubtedly reduce time wastage. Additionally, it's beneficial for reducing stress. You insert the B-rolls, export the video, send it to the client for approval, and while they're reviewing it, you can take a short break to relax your mind. This process may repeats at each time you set to receive feedback.

Create a realistic work back schedule. Start with two dates - 1. the day it’s due and 2. the day it’s shot and make sure there is enough time in between to allow for THREE rounds of feedback from the client - that’s industry standard. If it’s not possible negotiate more time.

You learn resilience by going through the storm. You will make mistakes. Learn from them. You will set tight stressful deadlines. Go through it and learn how to handle them. You will get tough customers. Learn how to spot them before hand. It’s truly learning from hardships and overcoming.

Great communication makes the worst of times the best they can be. Keeping people involved in the project up-to-date with progress and how things are tracking, whether it's going according to plan or straying, is the best way to avoid frustration and keep everyone on the same page.

I use the project management software 'Notion' and have gotten into the habit of creating a space I share with the client. It is like a dashboard for all the information the client needs to know. You can put your contract in there, your proposal, relevant links, deliverables, dates, a timeline of the tasks that are completed in the project including when it is on them to complete a task. I've found it's just a godsend in keeping the client up-to-date and informed. It is just a url they can go to and comment on if they like. It prevents you from getting stuck on the phone or in a zoom. As long as you keep that page updated they see you are on task and know where everything is at.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to take breaks and recharge, even when deadlines loom. In the high-pressure environment of video production, resilience is forged in the balance between intense focus and intentional rest. Quick, regular intervals of downtime can dramatically increase productivity and creativity. By stepping away from the set or editing suite, even just for a few minutes, you allow your mind to reset and your energy levels to replenish. This strategy turns short-term pauses into long-term stamina, ensuring you meet those tight deadlines without sacrificing your well-being or the quality of your work. It's not just about enduring the marathon but finishing it with your passion for the craft intact.

TURN OFF YOUR phone when you're done. If you answer after hours, you'll be expected to answer after hours forever. And if you're not working on the weekend, for example, put the phone on DND and turn on your "out of office" notification. You'd be surprised how many people expect to be able to reach you 24/7.

Taking breaks and eating nourishing foods when you do eat (remember to eat...!) will keep your energized and focused during those long editing hours. This is one way to avoid burnout. When we ignore basic self-care we pay the price and may blame it on the business, when it's us that were the negligent. Take time out.

It is important to eat right, exercise, and get an appropriate amount of sleep... as well as pace yourself. It is tempting to work another two hours two finish a major milestone on a project. But, that doesn't help you if you're tired and exhausted the next day for your next milestone on a project. I set up a reminder every 90-minutes to step back from the project, stretch, and take some deep breaths outside for a couple of minutes. This will help you stay in it for the long run.

I am terrible at stopping and turning off my brain. I make myself take a break every 3 hrs especially when editing to do a physical activity like a walk around the block or some push-ups. There is a point where you get so caught up in what you are doing that you start making superfluous and unproductive decisions. That is break time. Do something physical, anything. It gets the body moving and let's your brain wander off. Go outside, go for a walk. Guaranteed that's when you will come up with your best ideas, so bring your phone. Use a speech-to-text app so you can just talk it out and you will go back more charged, more positive and with new solutions to your problems.

Journal time. The last thing you want to do after a long day of videographing is come home and write about it, but doing it while it's still fresh in your mind is 100% the best practice. Jot notes down somewhere for you to get to later. Then get to them. Efficient workflow is 1000 small 1% tasks you complete over a long period. Every little problem in your workflow you solve gets you that one step closer to a less stressful and more enjoyable video experience. It's a hell of a lot of work at the start but eventually, it starts to taper off as you create more solid business operations... Until of course you scale and then you insert 1000 more new problems in your workflow to solve hahah. Onwards and upwards right?

"Learn and grow"? Obviously, that's true in every situation ever. It's not unique to video production. What IS unique to video production is how you can go about that growth. Try to learn something technical and something personal on every job. It can be small, like how to color grade more efficiently, and it can be built over a few gigs. But for every technical skill, exercise a less tangible one too. Something like how you communicate with your clients or the process you go through to select them. It's small things, but they add up.

Embrace every video project as a chance to grow. View challenges as valuable feedback, learn from failures, and apply insights to future endeavors. Seek constructive criticism, stay updated on industry trends, and continuously challenge yourself to refine skills and techniques.

One thing I have found helpful is ensuring there is enough time to be creative, so minimizing disruptions (turn off your email notifications, keep your phone on silent and sometimes letting people know not to disturb you) is very key.

Music is critical to video editing and should be one of the first things approved by the client when editing. Videos are often are cut to the beat of the music - so changing the music at a later stage will mean recutting / re-editing the video. This leads to more work, more time and more money.

Under promise, over deliver: It's easy to cave to pressure to commit to tight deadlines, but its better to push back at the beginning and agree to a longer deadline and instead have the possibility of finishing early. The long term relationships built through negotiating realistic expectations that are often exceeded is much better than and short term gain from agreeing to unrealistic expectations and always scrambling to live up to your end of the bargain.