As a content creator, the thing I struggle with the most is time management. I realised this particularly in 2024 when I set concrete goals. Two blog posts per week; Focus on YouTube; Publish 5 YouTube Shorts every week; One podcast episode per week. I set ambitious goals but didn’t have a plan.

As a family man with a full-time job, I know I need a plan. I need structure. Daily habits. Tools to help me organise my process. It’s all new to me and I’m having a hard adjusting to structure and sitting down each morning, writing, recording, and editing videos and podcasts. Stopping to fulfil my paternal duties, and get things done around the house. I’m writing this on Monday 8th January, 2024. It’s exactly 10:00 AM. Do I want to be writing this article? No. I don’t.

So, I’ve gone from being a content creator who approaches things willy-nilly to one who’s seeking structure and trying to build a business, and my brain hurts. You know those headaches you get when you give up sugar and flour? Yeah. I’ve been walking around with that headache for two days. But! I’m getting things done. I want to share the things I’m doing to bring structure to my life as a content creator.

1. I’ve set goals. They’re clear. They’re concrete. Two blog posts per week: One on Monday at 8:00 AM; and one on Thursday at 8:00 AM. One podcast episode. Because these goals are concrete, I will know when I miss them.

2. Prioritise writing. As a YouTuber, I’m tempted to think in terms of video first. In 2024, writing is the priority. These articles become the stepping stone to YouTube Shorts, Podcast episodes and long-form videos. As I write new ideas spring up and I jot them down for later.

3. Task Management Tools. for the last 3 or 4 years I have used Google Keep to write articles and jot down ideas. Google Keep is a note-taking service. I like it because I’m not restricted to writing on a local desktop file. I can access Keep from my phone or desktop. In 2024 as I turned my attention to having a content plan and I had to arrange, prioritise and track tasks, I immediately began feeling the limitations of Keep. I’ve heard about a productivity software and note-taking service called Notion, and I’m looking into it.

In the meantime, to track tasks and their status I’ve used Google Sheets to create two spreadsheets. One is a publishing schedule for articles and podcasts. The other is a publishing schedule for videos. Let’s talk about the fields in the first spreadsheet. There are seven fields: Article name; status; publish by; published on; podcast status; podcast recorded on; podcast edited on; and podcast published on.

This simple change has done a lot for me. Yes, based on how I’ve always done things, it’s a little boring, but I now have one holistic view of my content plan. Colour-coding rows help too. For example, a row highlighted in yellow means the article is written but the corresponding podcast episode hasn’t been recorded. Green means both the article and podcast episode are published.

Timeboxing/Timeblocking. I learned about timeboxing during my undergraduate studies. The concept sounds great, but I hate timeboxing. When I’m working on something that’s all I want to work on until it’s done. Imagine if a video takes days to record and edit, and a blog post and article are due. Problems. Timeboxing involves setting a maximum unit of time for an activity in advance and then completing the activity within that time frame. As much as I hate timeboxing I now use it to batch research, write, edit and record videos and podcast episodes. Every morning I dedicate an hour to writing. There are timeboxes for recording podcasts. Others for recording YouTube Shorts. Timeboxes on Thursdays and Fridays for editing.

I hope you’ve found at least one little gem that makes your life easier as a content creator. If you have any tips on managing your time please feel free to leave a comment.

Hi, my name is Lyndon Baptiste and today I want to talk to you about becoming a better content creator. I’ve been a writer and YouTuber since 2008, but I should warn you: it’s only in 2024 that I committed to becoming a better content creator. I may not be the ideal guide. These are merely my thoughts, and how I go about things based on my gut and the articles I read. If you glean something, I’d be pleased to hear. You can reach me on Instagram or X @lyndonbaptiste.

Know your audience. If you’re still here, chances are you’re a content creator who likes to read; or, if you despise reading, you’re here because the information is important to you. While your audience probably loves you, ask yourself what are they looking for: Love? Nostalgia? A taste of Trinidad and Tobago? Or Grenada? Are they searching for scenic accommodations on a hillside in St Vincent? Or luxury, all-inclusive hotels?

For me, the first step to becoming a better content creator is setting goals and sticking to them. For far too long I’ve done things willy-nilly. No clear goals. Nothing to aim at. No process. No business plan. No structure. Although I heard successful YouTubers and podcasters preach on the topic. For 2024 my goals are clear. Publish weekly: two blog posts; one podcast episode; at least one YouTube Shorts on weekdays; and one long-form video on Thursdays at 8:00 PM. Find good clients. I’ve set goals.

Create a plan, a creative schedule; stick to it. It involves batch writing, recording, and editing. My goal is a content savings plan. I’m writing this article on Wednesday 3rd January, 2023. By the middle of January, I should have a month or two worth of content saved. To get that done I have to write at least two articles every morning and record a podcast based on the article. Then I’ll settle into a more realistic schedule because, boy, oh, boy, I’m working hard, but I love it! Pressure invigorates me!

Learn something new every day. Know the players in your field. Listen to a relevant podcast. Read 5 pages. Listen to 10 minutes of an audiobook. Read articles.

Write every day. Gosh. I didn’t realise how much I missed writing every day. As I write I generate more ideas. And more ideas. For other articles, videos, podcasts. As I said, it’s the third day in January. Prioritising writing, I’ve written over twenty articles that will become twenty videos and twenty podcasts. As I write ideas come to me. I note these ideas. These ideas will become future episodes. Chances are if I was working on one specific video I wouldn’t have twenty other ideas. Let your writing drive your content creation strategy.

Batch record. Whether it’s videos or podcast episodes batch record. Of course, planning (and writing) enables batch recording. If you’re a YouTuber work on saving up a bank of videos. Commit to one a week. In the background keep creating so you can graduate to two a week then three. Work until you have a bank so big you can show up every day then twice a day.

Choose a video platform and stick to it. In 2023 I was posting everywhere. The metrics looked good and hooked me. As a solo creator, though, I was stretching myself thin. Particularly when it came to audience engagement. After years of experimenting, I feel like YouTube has the tools and audience I’m looking for, and when it comes to video content it’s where I’m going to settle.

Of course, there’s a lot more to becoming a better content creator like knowing your strong points, the software tools you use to manage different aspects and how to price your services. At the time of writing, these are the points that stand out.

In episode 19 of the Caribbean Content Creators podcast, I spoke with Ishmael Baig about pricing for content creators.