How working and doing less really is more! EP #169 - Shorty

G', day guys. Dan Lanny here. 30th of March, 2021 Episode 169.

So I'm in the middle of unpacking Joy. Notice I could say unpacking hell, but I'm choosing Joy because it is a joyous occasion to be unpacking and setting up a brand new office. I've got myself a brand new desk that I had specially custom made that I wanted to wait until I got into the new house. And it's. It's divine. If you, if you're a connoisseur of workspaces, then I think you're going to love it. It's.

An Australian hardwood called black butt from New South Wales and it's 900 millimeters deep by 1800 millimeters wide. So it's a really oversized desk. And I'm hoping that later this year Apple are going to release a 32 inch iMac, which is really what I designed it for. I was thinking about getting the floor display xdr, but you know, it's a fairly hefty investment and I don't really need it. But it's gonna be nice to have the desk all set up with everything cut out and cables logically hidden. So one of the great joys of finally owning a home again is I can custom design the room exactly as I want it and not have to worry about putting stuff on the walls. But one of the things that I've discovered during this process is I was able to chuck out a lot of stuff before the move. And it's so satisfying. And it really compounds that idea that less is more. And I've been talking about, about this recently on the podcast how this year alone we've, we've doubled our business and I'm working four days a week. And by doing less with more suitable clients, I'm. I'm achieving more and living the life that I want to live. And then, you know, it's a choice. It's always a choice. But, you know, for many, many, many years, it was just, you know, firefighting every day of the week. I mean, probably 10 years of firefighting and finally 11 years of, of finding the nirvana.

But one of the things I was really keen to do, and even though our previous rental was a smaller house than the house we moved into, I realized there was a lot of stuff in the garage filmmaking gear that just hadn't been opened for two years. And so I got rid of it all. And I got to tell you, it's. I first went through this about five Six years ago when we were moving to Australia, I remember this, this one distinct moment when I went through a period where I had an F5 and Zeiss cine lenses and a O' Connor 1030 head and O'. Connor, all the high end, you know, filmmaking gear. I remember being one period where work was a bit quiet and I started staring at this $50,000 camera package sitting in the corner of the room gathering dust and I was just like, what am I doing? And then I shot this project for a client and I'd shot it on the A7s and actually the first time I shot for them, I'd used the FS7 and a whole load of gear. Second time I shot it for the, my shot the A7s and like there was no difference in the output to the client's mind. And I was charging the same money. And so I got rid of the FS7, I got rid of the F5 and for the longest time just used a 7S. And I'm not saying that's the right solution for everyone, but, but what it, what it highlights is that you just don't need tons of gear to make great content. And if you're running a business, it's about having the right gear and making sure that gear is making you money. And I think that's what separates businesses that go really well and business who don't is that. And I mean, there's a horror story. It still makes me shiver. I had a call with someone a few months back and they had spent £128,000 on camera equipment and they were, they were using like blackmagic design 12Ks, like complete overkill for a corporate video in a regional town in England. And yet they were charging 500 a day to go out and shoot with a two man crew. And it was just shocking really. And this person was in a lot of denial about the fact that, you know, that's. They genuinely believed that that was the secret to success was having the right gear. And clients really don't often, for the most part, care.

So what I found is that I got more creative with less. And it takes me back to my news camera days, really. We used to have like Betacam sp with a standard lens and there was one wide angle that you could book out for the day if you didn't get it early. You had to do everything with a standard lens. And that discipline makes you really focused on getting creative. And so I think the less gear you have.

The more creative you are. And that goes for your Workspace as well. At one time I had like a three monitor set up. And look, I think, you know, we've got to acknowledge that I love the gear. I mean, I know I talk about not making gear the thing, but it doesn't mean I don't love it. Of course I love it, but what I found is that it gets in the way. Too much gear gets in the way, too much technology gets in the way. And you know when you've got like multiple machines and multiple hard drives and everything's all plugged in, there are so many points of failure. And I found myself getting so frustrated with points of failure that last year I got rid of a lot more stuff and I now work off a Mac Mini and one screen. Now, granted, I don't do a lot of post anymore, so it may not be the right solution for you, but I found that that simplifying my workflow and having less points of failure made a huge difference. I had for a longest time promised raids and I still do the Thunderbolt 2 the Great, but sometimes they wouldn't mount. And so the amount of times I was starting and stopping and restarting machines to get drives to mine, it was so frustrating. So I ended up buying a Drobo 8D8 bay with 12 terabyte drives. I've got like 144 of of actual storage, but that makes me 96 of rated storage. And I started transferring everything onto there. So I now have the single connection from my Mac Mini into the back of the drawable and. And that's it. And it's just so much more reliable. And so whilst we're unpacking the house at the minute, you know, I've been thinking about this new office for forever and I want to have it to be minimal workspace because in my previous office I had like my bike in there. I had two computers. Part of that reason was the fact that the iMac 2015 iMac had Thunderbolt 2. The new Mac mini has Thunderbolt 3 and certain things could only be plugged into Thunderbolt 2. And even with adapters it was just a bit challenging. So I'm simplifying everything into one system and I'm really hopeful that the 32 inch iMac becomes a reality because then it can all be in one space again. But if not, I'll just look to get a nice big monitor and run off the Mac Mini for a while. But I'd love to know what you think. I mean, is this something you've experienced? Is having less actually more Productive, Because I think it is. I think that when you have a streamlined workflow. And for many years, I used to believe that, you know, messy. Messy was creative. And.

I really believed that for a long time. And yet when I clear my desk and have a clear office, I feel so much better. And I think we've got to be careful with some of the stories that might be running in our minds about.

You know, the excuses you make. And we did this back in episode 161. You know, are you making excuses for why things are not going better in your business? Are you sitting with a story saying, oh, well, you know, I know my desk is messy, but that's because I'm creative. These are the kind of things that show up to kind of hold us back from achieving more in our business and life. And I've got to say, being in this new, slightly larger space.

I've taken a second. I used to have a second desk, and I was taking that desk out. I've taken the training bike out of the office that's all in the garage now, which is becoming my studio. And I've just taken the server rack out of my office. I've literally got a desk and. And a computer and a printer for my photography. And it's like, wow, what a difference. It's just. And it's funny how the longer you're in business, the more you realize that less is more. And I don't know why. I wish there was a shortcut. Well, there is a shortcut. I'm saying to you, clear everything out. Have less. You'll achieve more. But I know that when I heard that myself, I was like, nah, I think I'm creative. There's lots of mess. It means I'm being creative. So, I mean, a very short shorty this week, guys, because I literally am still unpacking. But, yeah, I'd love to know what you think is. Is less more in your world. Talk to you soon. You've been listening to the how to Scale a Video Business podcast with me, your host, Dan Lenny. If you're a video business owner who's hit the ceiling and we benefit from mentorship, support, and coaching, then check out how you can work with me over at.

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