Tell us how you manage your channels over the holidays for $8!

I have decided this year to take content creation a bit slower over the festive period, honestly to try and relax, recharge and plan for 2024.

I have been using notion to help plan out my content buckets for 2024 , so that’s what kind of content I want to make and where. I’ve also built this out so I actually do my full end to end content creation process on notion, other than actually creating YouTube videos that is, but what I mean is I do ideation, scripts, scheduling and more all in the one place which is great for then having a it’s eye view of what’s going on in my dashboard and also what stage I am at in progressing various projects!

This has helped me slow down but also shedule a weekly video so I am still moving forward as the year closes out , which an eye to really pushing forward in 2024 with more focus on the content type I want to deliver regularly to my community.

Then in between this I have been enjoying posting on just about, and then posting bits and bobs to X, mastodon, bluesky and my YouTube community feed but I do t shedule these as I have there for more break news type things which I do t cover anymore in my main content!

Some might think that classic journalism is easy mode. You don't need to show your face to the audience, nor do you need to be ‘live’ and so on. But trust me, it's not that simple! I still have obligations to inform my audience; my content should be crisp, precise, well-timed, and most importantly, fact-checked. And you need to do it really fast.

As a journalist, I need to travel to take interviews or to get firsthand experience of what the gaming industry has to offer. This means I'm often far from the office. There are three key elements that help me to constantly deliver content and maintain the motto ‘The show must go on 24/7’:

1. Planning Ahead: In most cases, you can predict the workload and prepare content in advance. In the worst case, you can always research something interesting and write an article like ‘The Most Epic Games Designed by Solo Game Studios’.

2. The Team: When I'm out in the ‘field’, there is always someone on duty at the office ready to help. I've had times when I've been running (literally) between interviews, using an audio recorder to capture my thoughts and impressions. The team then processes this and creates a publication.

3. Content Diversity: It's useful to cover related topics. Gaming culture is still quite closely tied to geek culture, so anything related like tabletop games and TV shows could be of interest. Have someone as an expert in those fields and let them take the spotlight while you enjoy holidays with your family.

So there you have it, these are just a few tricks for going on vacation or being away from the office while still serving your audience.

Posting after the fact now - I had a few days of zero screen time - no discord, no content creation etc, and I feel great. I wasn't feeling bad before, but just feel excited to get back to it. My content creation isn't all about streams, and videos, it is about engaging with people in fleets, and having the desire to want to do that. Getting that excitement is what drives me. I feel driven at the moment even after a few days time out! :)

As much as I would love to relax over Christmas, the demanding nature of YouTube makes it near impossible. Thankfully, there is something that can be somewhat done about it nowadays, that being Shorts, which I've been uploading instead of full-length videos around the Christmas period. But the second the mood wears off it's back on working on full-length stuff. There are already numerous projects I began before Christmas that I didn't get to finish, so at least the amount of work isn't as bad as it could be.

I was planning to stream the seasonal event in FFXIV, but with everything what came up RL in the last 2 months I've decided to use this time for a little break. Need to finish unpacking boxes and finding a place for everything in the new house.

I will probably do a few streams between the holidays as I have a shortened shift at work. It will be some casual streams where I can test the new setup, adjust camera angle and see how my internet connection can handle multistreaming, so then everything will be ready for getting back on schedule in January.

Content creation is a job like any other, it's important that you take breaks especially if you are doing it full-time and stream 6 or even 7 days a week. So if you have an announced, planned break or just not feeling well on the day and have to cancel a stream or delay putting a video out, it's okay. Those who unsub because of this, are not worthy of your hard work. There are plenty of creators out there, people can find enough entertainment.

If you plan to stream during the holidays, bare in mind that not everyone is celebrating or celebrates differently. Or the holidays might not be a cheerful occasion for someone, people might be lonely and want some company to cope with loss or to get away from a not peaceful family life. So if someone decides not to take part in your festive activities, don't take it personally, and check on your community members, some of them might only hear kind words from you during this time of the year.