Low-maintenance by design
“We should start a podcast!”
If I had a dollar every time I said this and it didn’t become a podcast, I would have many, many dollars. It’s so much easier to come up with an idea than it is to actually execute it.
The downside: you’re at step zero
For me, it’s often because it’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re at step zero. The people who creatively inspire you are often years ahead. Who knows what step they’re at, but it’s definitely not the “google-search-how-to-publish-a-podcast” step.
Maybe your thing isn’t a podcast. Maybe it’s streaming on Twitch or starting a blog or joining a band or painting or writing novels or selling things you’re creating as a hobby.
It’s overwhelming to see your inspirations getting 4,000+ reposts on their work and using equipment that costs over $6,000 while you’re at the “google-search-how-to-publish-a-podcast” step.
Rather than trying to play “catch-up” you can leverage an advantage that your creative inspirations often can’t.
Keep it low-maintenance
When you’re eager to create things, nothing kills that creative itch faster than checklists, expensive investments, and unreasonable expectations.
You’ve just started!
That’s why I’m incredibly bullish on using a low-maintenance approach when beginning any creative endeavor.
Keeping things simple in the beginning will help you focus on two important things:
You can start immediately
You can stay consistent more easily
If you’re eager to start streaming on Twitch, the last thing you need is to make a $1,000 investment and hour-long production processes just to begin. Use what you have! There’s nothing wrong with installing their app or using your phone and just starting.
If you love to write, you’ll want to jump into writing as soon as possible. Toiling away at “the perfect blog template” will just drain you if it’s not your passion. There’s nothing wrong with signing up for something and just writing.
A low-maintenance approach to creating will help you begin immediately and won’t weigh you down.
Keep it consistent
When you’re just starting out, it’s so important to simply be consistent. And spending your time focused on meta-work is going to get in the way.
This past October, my brother said he wanted to start a scary movie podcast where we watch a movie every week and then publish the episode. As of this blog post, we’re still sticking with it! And it’s because of how low-maintenance it is:
One of us drives to the other’s house
We watch a movie
We record our thoughts immediately after using Voice Memos on his phone
He publishes it
That’s it!
Now, is it the best-sounding podcast? Of course not! But we’ve stuck with it because it requires minimal effort, and we’re not letting the production compromise the creative fulfillment of talking about movies together. It’s stayed fun!
The upside: you’re at step zero
Because you’re just starting out, you get a big advantage that your inspirations often don’t: you can get right to creating!
For a lot of bloggers, streamers, artists, and musicians they often must have a lot of production behind their work. It’s never really as simple as hitting “record”.
But you don’t need to do that! Instead, you can start writing, drawing, streaming, playing, and creating without being overburdened by processes and production. Use your unique position as an advantage!