This week is the first of seven where I am planning, researching, filming, editing, and uploading a three-part video series to my YouTube Channel that focuses on using the Hobonichi Cousin as a basis to improve your creativity, productivity, and well-being.

Step One: Picking My Project

So how did I come to this decision? I have a few reasons.

First of all, there is not anything like this out there. There are tons of productivity YouTube Channels out there like Matt D’Avella, Rowena Tsai, and Better Ideas that explore the ideas of productivity and self-improvement but it does not go as far as to create an action plan that could sustain any veiwer’s interests and goals. The same can be said for journaling channels like AmandaRachLee, procrastinate_create, and studyquill that are excellent at showing what works for them when it comes to journaling, but it is rarely based on research and may be a little intimidating to newcomers.

Second, I personally feel like I could use this video series; something that has the research behind it as well as an actionable plan, and I am sure that many others could use it too. Pre-Covid I would write daily in my Hobo, be on top of all of my assignments, and was generally good at keeping up with my habits. Then…well I think everyone reading this can figure it out. Because of Covid I was in and out of work, the lack of structure completely threw off my motivation, and I have been feeling just downright depressed. I could use a serious overhaul to how I conduct my days, weeks, months, and life.

Third of all, this is the kind of work that excites me. I actually began a YouTube channel last Summer centering around these ideas, albeit much more loosely. It was not going anywhere until my third (and so far, final) video gained some traction. As of writing this post it has 2,600 views, 100 likes, and got me about 36 subscribers. It does not seem like much but I was honestly shocked – I expected it to go nowhere from the get-go but now I know that people are interested in this topic.

Step Two: Gathering the Research

Since I know that I want these videos to be research-based I created a list of sources that apply to four different categories: Medium Research, Video One (Months), Video Two (Weeks), and Video Three (Days) – each with a different color for organization.

The Medium research is everything that applies to YouTube channel creation, analytics, SEO, thumbnail/channel art, tags, and other best practices. Some main resources for this includes the online course from SkillShare called “YouTube Success: Build an Authentic Channel That’s Worth the Follow” by Sorelle Amore and articles about YouTube Marketing and Analytics from Hootsuite.

The research for episode one (Months) is anything that pertains to long-term goals, habits & habit tracking, and even expressing gratitude. A few of the most important sources for this section are Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, James Clear’s Atomic Habits, Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, and interviews with David Goggins.

Episode two (Weeks) requires research about smaller goals, time-blocking, and the importance of taking time for yourself. Some important resources for this episode includes Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles’ Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, scholarly articles on motivation and turning goals into actions, and articles by Cal Newport explaining the importance of planning out your workday as in-depth as possible.

You can see my full list here. Keep in mind that I will be adding more resources and the annotations as I read through them (the calendar is a part of my Project Proposal).

Step Three: The Project Proposal

Then it was time to gather all of my thoughts and ideas into a comprehensive presentation, as if I were pitching this idea to a business. Within this document I lay out the main goal, all the artifacts I will need, the content calendar, and an overview of each episode. While it is less formal-looking than most business proposals, I think it suits the aesthetic of the project well and gets everything that I need to say across to the reader.

You may also view the PDF here:

What’s Next?

While I am pumped up about starting this project I will keep the momentum going by converting my content calendar into a project plan on Asana and my Hobonichi. From there I will begin my research and simply follow the plan. Follow my blog for more weekly updates on my research, planning, and production – and of course to see the finished products!