Hello!
As someone who is very busy and has a lot going on, what do you do to stay organised and on top of everything?
I find myself with more and more on my plate these days, between working, studying, looking for more work, and starting a business. It's got me wondering how other people handle doing so much
- I bullet Journal thanks to fan suggestions from years ago.
- Read ‘Atomic Habits’ the only practical organisation/ self improvement book I ever saw that was just practical with no wishy washy nonsense.
- I try to do a few jobs every day even if only for 10 seconds: file paperwork, clear emails, tidy workspace
- I arrange for a “treat” job so when I feel like procrastinating I can treat myself with a job that is more fun/ different to the thing I am escaping from but is still actually productive.
- Automate everything you can.
- Delegate everything you can.
- Constantly focus on reducing your responsibilities as low as possible to just the stuff you care about you will automatically be prioritising better. Once a month, sweep through your responsibilities and ditch everything you possibly can. More will always replace them but it will ease the load.
- “One in two out” for all things. Email, clothes, responsibilities, whatever. It has to be two because somehow extra always manages to sneak on.
- Batching. It’s easier to do multiple iterations of a task in a row so put them in batches.
- If something is regularly urgent you are doing something wrong and need to figure out what.
Hello Mr Bossman! (and possibly anyone else who reads this)
Its an honour to be here, I have a few questions. First i appologise for the long paragraph, you may dismiss it for the questions at the bottom.
For context, i am here after finishing TMA and being up to date with TMAP, i then went over and listened to RQG, and have just finished listening to Epilogue 3 and might i just say, good sir I am grateful for your podcasts. I am currently just a few months away from my final exams of High School, and as someone who even just 1 year ago was very lost, struggling with school and being just overwhelmed. TMA isnt exactly comforting, but the characters and plot managed to serve as a good form of escapism while sorting myself out. I found my self engaging more in creative things that i had originally put aside in favour of maths and science (which i hated but thought i needed to do). I started drawing again, even if just fanart. and i found things going well. By finding podcasts, story telling and these communities have helped me in my own understanding of what i want in life. I got an ADHD diagnosis earlier this year, and almost directly after started RQG and as my first hyperfixation (that i was aware of as an hyperfixation) gosh dang it hit hard. (in a good way). Ive been able to do so much more creative writing and drawings, and got re-involved with a small dnd group with some friends who i played one game with almost 4 years ago now. So overall, inspirational sounds cringe, but it was. Im doing my best with the upcoming exams, but trying to get in to Medicine is not my only prority, and the fact ive been re-introduced to my first love (Literature and story telling), im planning to go do an Arts degree and i know i wouldnt have been able to confidently make this decision, or even have survived this long in the school system without the work you and your coworkers do.
Now the sap is out of the way, Question time! (if you could answer even just one of these questions it would be so cool)(they go in order of RQ relevant to random stuff)(dont feel pressured to answer all/any. i know i wrote alot):
1. what would you say is the best way to draft out a long-form story. (with "Erasing the Line" as an example) Did you start at the end, with the links to the overarching plot.
2. When working with the players (in a form of TTRPG), what did you do to make sure you didnt miss relevant timing of plot points/ avoid creating spoilers while still giving enough detail?
3. What are good places to start with making a job out of storytelling/voice acting/audio etc. In the case of RQ, how is this a job and where do i sign up please! /j (what i mean is, how is best way/how did you find all the people involved and was there a common path that you were all on before getting to where you are now?)
4. Do you have recommendations for Terry Pratchett Books, i may be an literary-leaning student, but it seems i have never actually properly read any of his books. so where is best place to start?/What did you read first?
5. Similar authors or similar inspirations? Did you have a favourite podcast you listen to in your free time that you havnt had a hand in producing/directing/working on.
6. Favourite song/album/artist. And more specifically, what you like listening to in background when doing either writing or (for ttrpg) character research/game planing.
7. Since the olympics are on at the moment, what has been your favourite sport to watch, if you have been watching at all.
Thank you for your time :)
Thankyou for all the kind words. Knowing our work is helping people really keeps our engines fired up. Let’s see if I can’t answer your questions:
1. I “sandbox” which is where I just shove everything I can think of into an unorganised bullet point list. Characters, setting, plot, all of it in one big mess. Then I decide what type of story you want to tell, copy and paste to a new document and then start to organise the thoughts (with the sandbox on standby if new stuff comes in I don’t know what to do with). I think of it like scultping, you cut away bits and reshape until something comes out the other end that is story shaped. Only then do I attempt to build the sandcastle and put something coherant together like a synopsis or scratch draft etc.
2. Very tricky. I did a complete review and update of all notes after each recording session and don’t forget the audio eas edited. I made lots of gaffs that you never heard as audience.
3. I contacted anyone I could convince to take part and just proved I was serious by overworking. I don’t reccomend that route. Unfortunately it really is “who” you know. That doesn’t mean chase established professionals as much as it means you need to get out there and associate with other up-and-comers who match your vibe. For me the route was long and windy and not a particularly good example.
4. I normally recommend people do not read his books in publication order. Don’t get me wrong, its wonderful watching his craft grow from one title to the next but I would recommend new readers tip their toe into his later works to see if they like where he ended up before committing the time. I often recommend ‘Monstrous Regiment’ as people’s first one. My favourite though is 'Thief of Time.’
5. I don’t get much time to listen to podcasts in the last couple of years. I used to listen to a lot of non fiction. 'Stuff you Should Know’ and that ilk. I also read a fair amount of classic YA fiction to unwind (Windinsger trilogy, Bartimeous, stuff like that.)
6. Paul Simon’s Graceland but when working I assemble a playlist for each seperate project that is tonally appropriate. If I really need to focus I listen to Classical Minimalism. Or the Old School Runescape soundtrack. I’m allowed to be ecclectic.
7. I am actually in an incredibly busy work crunch at the moment so haven’t seen any of it!
Hello!
I’ve been wondering how y’all go about researching things for podcasts? Specifically this is about the 1920s and episode 22 of Protocol, but also in general.
Where do you look? What’s important to know? Is there such a thing as too much research?
Been working on my own ‘20s story and I would love to know about how you guys do it.
Thanks!
So I tend to hit up Wikipedia first for inspiration as to what interests me. Then I will hit up original document archives rather than historical accounts. This I will then supplement with deeper dives on anything I still need clarification. Google scholar is your friend.