A few weeks before I left for Rome for a festival screening of my film, my new company had been extremely busy putting together two applications for a local grant. It's been a hectic end of the year, lots of changes such as a move to a new office, while also personally moving home. My business partner Ivan has this saying, which popped up through all the recent chaos: "Value your time more than money.”
I recalled this statement as I wandered around Rome Termini trying to work out where to buy a bus ticket from, while the sweat started to build on my skin due to my layers of clothing. I checked my watch one more time. The plan I had was to arrive at the venue for the screening early to make the most of my day there and meet the organisers with plenty of time to spare. Doors opened at 12pm and it was close to 1.30pm when I was finally on that bus. My film was not screening until 4pm so I still had time but I wanted to be there from the start of the day.
Flustered by the time I got into my apartment suite, I flopped on the bed and thought I should have caught a cab. I could have dropped my bag, saved the sweaty transit, and headed straight to the festival. Instead I showered and didn't make the event until after 3pm, missing the talk I wanted to hear.
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
Ivan's advice of valuing time over money can apply to almost anything, not just taxi rides, but everything we do in the creative fields. Why take an hour bus ride to the other side of town to attend a thirty minute meeting when it will take you twenty minutes to go directly by taxi. Sure the taxi will cost much more than your bus ride, but think about the benefits – no sweaty skin from chasing a bus, no having to walk with a heavy bag (or multiple bags), no risking getting lost, and more importantly, allowing yourself the extra time to prep for your meeting, so you will be in a better frame of mind.
Currently, we are racing to meet a funding application deadline for a short film, which will act as a 'proof of concept film' for the feature we are also prepping. There are two of us aiming for the end of month deadline, but there is still a bit to do on the feature film application too. There is also another grant we are working on due the very next day.
On top of that, as most everyone does, we have living expenses to be paid, so we work side jobs. The solution? We decided to value our time and invest some money into delegating – in this case it was task which was taking us a while to do – our feature film's Pitch Deck. I tried for weeks to build it on Canva, but I didn't have the skills to do it, nor the time to dedicate to learn the skills and do it properly.
And it is not the first time we have delegated or found shortcuts to get tasks completed. We have used virtual assistants on Fiverr to complete admin tasks such as build film festival lists for our films, hired colourists for micro-shorts instead of doing it ourselves, prioritized what tasks need our attention most and dropped the ones we felt we could live without, written articles and emails while in transit and held our interviews via Skype instead of meeting face-to-face. On Facebook you can even schedule your posts so you don't have to be on the app all the time. It's an approach Tim Ferris recommends in his popular book The Four Hour Work Week. Prioritize. Focus on what is important. Outsource and automate whatever you can.
In our case, the most important thing for us is creating work that matters and that we can be proud of. Freeing time for yourself to create is how you can put your best foot forward. And know that you don't have to do everything yourself, there are plenty of options out there for help.
It's the same reason why filmmakers hire caterers to take care of all the dietary needs of cast and crew, or an experienced location scout is hired to find suitable places to film. Saving time by investing money allows you to work on what is important and not have to worry about tasks not related to your role. Your work will always benefit from your full attention. My first short film ever as a writer/director had me also doing production design, so I could not focus completely on the role of director. On set I worried about if there was enough set dressing in the bedroom and I walked around dressing the set as I looked at my shot list. Later, I was kicking myself for not directing to my full capacity as my head was elsewhere.
The irony of all this is that I am not in the office or at home at the moment writing this, but on a bus. I would love to save time with a taxi everyday to and from work, however the cost is not feasible. So I write while I commute to work and home. It's part of my 'hustle game' and I have become accustomed to it. You just have to choose your battles and know what is worth your time verses your money.
Written by Sarah Jayne