As a developer advocate I create content around our frontend SDKs, in a bid to make them easier to use by our end-users and developers. I enjoy the work I do at the Stream and the opportunity to explore many tools. I'm also a Software Engineer with a major focus on the front-end side of things (web and mobile applications). And more outside my work, I create content generally from articles to videos to newsletters, basically sharing my knowledge on Tech, Career and my life experiences.
Here's how I polywork.
How I balance my side activities with my work
Thanks to my company's work-life balance and flexible-remote culture, my work doesn't hold me down so much from doing my personal stuff. If things were different at my company, I think juggling my career with my side hustles would be too much to handle. With navigating all of these different jobs, I’m happy that I get to learn amazing content creation tips from my awesome team members, which in turn, helps me grow both at my company and in my personal life.
While I work at my company for 8hrs a day, between 9am and 6pm, I know the importance of having a good sleeping structure, as it helps me stay consistent with work. I've noticed how disorganized I am when I sleep late. So sleeping early helps me wake up early, and plan out my day in an effective manner.
When I finish work, the rest of the day is usually up to me. Sometimes, I watch movies or play games before bed, and other times, I work on my articles or video drafts.
The same goes for my weekends. Some weekends I prioritize rest, and other weekends I want to get more videos out on my channel or more articles.
I love sharing my knowledge and that's what fosters what I do outside work.
My workflow for YouTube and articles
Thanks to my workflow, I almost always have ideas on what to write or create a video on.
I have a notion board where I put my video and article ideas. I dump the ideas there as they come to my head and from time to time, I update them with more details and outlines. When I'm finally ready to create content (on a weekend or after work), I can pick one from the board which is quite detailed.
For YouTubing, I usually write something close to a full-fledged script of the things I want to say, the code I’m looking to explain and any pictures/animations I want to show during the video. I keep these notes open on my laptop while I record my video.
My experience speaking on YouTube
I started my YouTube channel early last year as a birthday gift to myself. I started YouTubing because I wanted to express myself with videos, and not just writing. I also believe that people have different preferences when it comes to understanding technical terms, and while some are okay with articles, some would prefer to listen to someone speak (just like me).
I have had a lot of fun creating videos for the past year n. Over time, I've learned video editing skills, a bit of sound balancing, and some design skills when creating video covers– and I'm excited for even more that I know I'll learn on this journey.
Currently, creating videos is more fun for me than it was a few months ago, – and that's because I didn't have high performant tools. At the start, I prioritized creating content and having audible audio, and believed that with time things will get better. And they eventually did. My tools (as shared here on my YouTube) before were:
- Davinci Resolve for editing videos
- OBS for recording videos (with my 2015 MacBook Pro Camera) and screen recording
- a JBL Microphone/Headset
Using these tools with my MacBook was a pain sometimes such as delays in exporting videos, system hanging and slowing down my work. A few months later, I started using iMovie for editing my videos as it was relatively easier and faster for me. Currently, creating videos is more fun as I've upgraded my tools to:
- Shure MV7X and GarageBand for recording my audio
- my iPhone 13 pro camera for recording videos
- Final Cut Pro for editing my videos
All this, combined with my M1, makes the video creation process faster. After some time YouTubing, I noticed that my channel didn't have a specific niche. As much as I wanted to cover everything around my tech journey, my life and also writing code, I realized that it would help if I separated my “teaching code” content from my “life and career”. I made the decision early this month and moved my code and tech videos to my deeecode channel.
Polyworking can be fun (and stressful)
My drive is my passion to share knowledge from all aspects of my life.
I love creating content, and sometimes I find it hard to be consistent. I have a Podcast which I haven't had time to grow yet. While balancing creating videos and writing articles outside work takes a strain on me sometimes, the end result--seeing people benefit from what I share--is invaluable.
I love creating content and I want to do so much of it, across several publications, on my YouTube channel and any other means possible.
This is why, and how I polywork.