Get Good at the Boring Stuff
The stuff nobody celebrates but everybody needs to do
I am organized. My downloads folder says otherwise.
My desk is messy too. But I know where things are, and more importantly, I know how to follow instructions. I grew up filling out visa applications by hand. University applications, the same. You learn quickly that missing one checkbox or one document can cost you months.
That taught me something I have carried for 27 years in this business: the boring stuff matters more than you think.
The Week You Are Losing
I am talking about administrative discipline. Expense reports. Mandatory trainings. Vacation requests. Procedures. Invoices.
The stuff nobody celebrates but everybody needs to do.
Here is the problem. If you are losing just one hour per week to admin chaos, scrambling for receipts on your day off, completing a training at the last minute, chasing a payment because your invoice had errors, that is 52 hours per year. Over one full work week, gone.
Not because you lacked talent. Because you did not manage the basics.
“But Following Instructions Is the Opposite of Innovation”
I hear you. We should challenge the norms. Push back on “this is the way we have always done it.” Go against the grain. Yes. Absolutely.
But there is a set of rules, processes, and requirements in your organization that you are not going to skip. Trainings. Reports. Compliance procedures. They exist whether you like them or not.
So instead of resisting them, get good at them early. And if you are mid-career and still fighting them, this is your sign to stop.
It Is Part of Your Job
This is where a lot of people get it wrong. They treat administrative tasks as interruptions. Something that gets in the way of the “real work.”
Completing your expense reports is your job. Finishing your mandatory training is your job. Sending a clean invoice is your job. It is not extra. It is not optional. It is part of what makes you a professional.
It does not matter if you are the best audio engineer on the planet. If you have not completed a mandatory safety training, you are not getting in that truck. Period.
Talent opens the door. Administrative discipline keeps it open.
Get That Week Back
Whether you are already organized or just starting, the move is the same. Set 30 minutes aside every Friday to handle the boring stuff. Receipts, trainings, invoices, whatever is pending. Build that habit for one month and see what happens.
If you already have a system that works, I want to hear about it. Reply to this email and tell me how you handle your admin discipline. I will share the best ones with the community.
Be the best production manager, the best EIC, the best director. But also be the one who respects the rules, the norms, and the requests of the organization or client you work for.
You will not just save 52 hours. You will earn a reputation that talent alone cannot buy.
If you know someone in broadcasting who is talented but always scrambling with paperwork, forward this edition to them.
Sometimes the simplest fix is the one nobody wants to hear.
📋 Bulletin Board
Today is International Women’s Day.
This newsletter does not need a special edition to celebrate women in broadcasting. We do it every week. We praise them, we support them, and we celebrate their talent and their fight.
Things in our industry are better than they were. But they are not where they should be. Not until every woman in a production truck, a control room, or a boardroom sees herself recognized and appreciated the same way any man does.
To every woman reading this: we see you. Keep showing up.
Talk soon,
Oscar S.