The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY hosted its second annual Journalism Creator Summit on Friday, November 4, 2022.
The free virtual summit featured podcast, newsletter, and journalism creators who shared their lessons learned and experiences.
If you’re like me, you probably attend a ton of conferences and events and end up with pages of notes that crowd your desk. I’m doing a better job of digitizing the insights I receive, but that’s still not enough. You have to make sure the time you allocate to events has the opportunity to pay dividends later.
Here are 3 questions I plan to ask myself after each event to ensure I’m not wasting time:
- Can I use the insights to help me save time?
- Can the information help me to generate more revenue or automate my income streams?
- Who do I need to connect with after this event?
After my events, I plan to set aside 2-3 hours within 7 days following the event to recap what happened and my takeaways. Then, I plan to have at least 1 takeaway from the event that I can put into action. I hope these steps will help me make better use of my time and leverage all the great information I receive every week.
2022 Journalism Creator Summit Recap
I didn’t get a chance to attend all the sessions, but I’m glad I was able to join the “25 Tasks in 24 Hours: Prioritizing tasks while finding time for the rest of their lives” session.
Creator of Cafe Con Pam podcast, Pam Covarrubias, and creator of Sanity by Tanmoy, Tanmoy Goswami, shared insights about overcoming challenges and finding a workflow that works. The session was moderated by moderated Jeremy Caplan, Director of the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at CUNY.
Here are my 3 takeaways:
- Make time for revenue generating activities
“If I do 5 things today, at least 2 things have to be revenue generating,” Tanmoy shared. Before the summit, I started identifying 3 priorities for the day instead of focusing on a long list of to-do items. It has helped me to focus and be more intentional with my time every day. Now, I want to review my top 3 activities and ensure that at least one item is a revenue generating activity.
2. Prioritize your well being
“We glorify productivity so much,” says Pam. “When you are not prioritizing your well being, you can’t think. The more spaciousness I bring into my brain, the more I can think. When I take time to rest. I’m excited when I create again.”
Every single day, I plan to focus on my health. That could mean drinking enough water or doing simple stretches. It’s easy to be so focused on a project that you look up and realize you haven’t drank any water, moved out your seat, or taken a break to eat. I’m guilty. That was me. But without my health and wellbeing, none of the other items on my to-do list would be possible.
3. Listen to more audio books
When Tanmoy talked about his collection of books that he didn’t have time to read, I could relate. I’ve bought so many books this year and have not had the chance to sit down and read a full book. That’s when audio books come in handy. After the session, I purchased Four Thousand Weeks on Amazon. I’m excited to read books that align with the life I want to consistently live.
Next Steps
My next step is to track my percentage of revenue generating tasks every day. Let’s see how this goes! For now, I’m working on my happiness challenge. None of this even matters if you are not happy and fulfilled. If you want to join the happiness challenge, grab your copy of How to Find Happiness Again on Amazon and tag me on Instagram with a picture of you and the book.