I’m the Host of I Love Doing Things, Bob Cladget, and This Is How I Work
Bob Cladget builds different things: asecret door , a backyard zipline , and awooden katana . He shows you how to create them on I Like to Make Stuff , a YouTube channel with over 2.1 million subscribers and a blog with detailed instructions and plans . We talked to him about his favorite workshop tool, the app where he plans all of his projects, and working with his family.
Location: Kentucky Current Concert: Launching “I Like To Make Stuff” One word that best describes how you work: Hard Current mobile device: iPhone 7 Current computer: MacBook Pro
First of all, tell us a little about your past and how you got where you are now.
I studied at the art school of computer art but studied programming myself. After high school, I started a web development firm and worked for 15 years in the software industry before starting a YouTube channel showing how I made projects with my own hands. Less than two years later, I quit software development and started working on I Like To Make Stuff on a full-time basis.
Tell us about a recent work day.
I try my best not to sit at the computer during the day, but my day usually starts with a quick batch of email responses (I get a little late every day). After that, I try to go straight to the store and start working on the project. Sometimes this means design, planning, preparation, or actual shooting. This often means everything at once.
What I love most about my job is that I rarely have the same day twice. I create things and make films, solving problems along the way. Sometimes I record podcasts or voice over videos. Sometimes I broadcast what I’m working on. In fact, things are always different and I love that!
What apps, gadgets or tools can’t you live without?
I use a lot of tools in my shop, but my multitool is probably the most used. This is Gerber Crucial and is perfect for my needs.
On the app side, I run most of my business with a free app called AirTable . It’s fantastic and makes it a lot easier to organize (especially with a small team). I also really enjoy using IFTTT to connect all the different services I use. This makes each of them feel more useful because they all work together and exchange information.
How is your workplace arranged?
Well, I have a couple. The workshop is divided into woodworking and metalworking, but now there is a lot of space and almost everything is mobile. Tools are often moved to where they are needed. The entire store is under construction. My office is a combination of a 3D printing / finishing station, an electronics workstation and a general control center. We also have an entire whiteboard wall that we use for sketching and brainstorming on a daily basis.
My whole space is pretty new to me, so I think it will continue to evolve and constantly change the longer I use it.
What’s your best shortcut or life hack?
I use the IFTTT app on my phone to jot down ideas for potential projects. When it opens, there is a large text box and a single button. I type in an idea or keyword, click a button, and close the application. Behind the scenes, this text is put on my AirTable project idea list and marked as inbound, so I know I need to come back to it later to see if it’s really a good idea. The process of capturing these ideas is now so easy that I have no excuse not to do it, which means I don’t lose ideas, but I also don’t need to memorize them.
Tell us about an interesting, unusual, or challenging process you have at work.
Our editing process has gotten a lot more complicated since my family moved to the state last year, away from the editor. We shoot all the videos for one project, and then my cameraman goes through it to remove unnecessary parts. After that, it imports the whole thing into Final Cut Pro X and creates proxy files (low-res versions of everything). It takes them several hours to render from 4K to 720p, then they are zipped into one file and moved to my local server.
My editor logs into the server via FTP and downloads proxy files (usually 20+ GB). The editor then does all the editing, music, and color correction of the video. When finished, it uploads only the Final Cut Pro project file to the server. I load his file, then tell Final Cut Pro where the high-res files are, and re-render the edit at full resolution. After rendering, I add the voiceover and minimal editing settings before creating the final rendering of the video file.
And the editor used to just come to my house once a week and edit for a couple of hours 🙂
Who are the people who help you achieve results, and how do you rely on them?
Well, of course, I rely a lot on my wonderful wife. She is very supportive and does a great job supporting a family of six while I work on starting a business.
Josh is a full-time employee who runs a video camera and creates a lot of social media content around video releases, runs an online store and sales, and often does a lot of prototypes and CAD to keep projects moving faster.
What is it like working with and around your family? What are the biggest pros and cons?
I personally enjoy working from home because we have pretty strict rules regarding access to me during my working day. Of course, I stop anything if my wife or children need me, but they know that I am unavailable during a normal workday for little things. I try very hard to maintain semi-normal work hours, and during these times I am really focused on work so that I feel productive.
I’ve found that if I’m feeling productive, it’s easier for me to turn off work at the end of the day. I want to be 100% close to my family when I am with her. I try very hard to devote my working time to work, and my family time to my family.
The challenges when working from home are mostly about keeping up with the task. For example, while I work, I will look around the house and see any improvements to the house that need to be done. I have to resist the urge to stop filming and get down to business. Luckily, my store and office are in the basement, so for most of the day at work, I kind of keep me in my own space.
How do you keep track of what you need to do?
As I mentioned earlier, AirTable is the tool we most rely on right now. Basically, it is a relational database that looks like a spreadsheet on the Internet. I use it for scheduling, to-do lists and tasks, tracking sponsor / ad data, and more. We also communicate most often through Slack . It is very easy to use and integrates with most of the organization’s tools.
How to recharge or relax?
I justbuilt a ping pong table so it is widely used as a way to take a break these days. On a larger scale, to be honest, I’ve worked so hard since I started doing this full time that I haven’t had enough time to recharge, but that’s what I’m working on.
Recently my wife and I went on vacation from everything and deliberately tried not to think about work during the week. It was MUCH more rewarding than I could have imagined. Sometimes we just need to step back for a while. Plus, table tennis and building Lego sets are a great way to switch thought mechanisms.
What’s your favorite side project?
Ha! Side project? It’s like someone asks about my favorite hobby :). Previously, my entire career was a side project, but now it is practically the only project. I have really the coolest job in the world and am in a place where I can constantly change any part of it to include my interests. Anything I like has the potential to be a part of the job in the best possible way!
What are you reading now or what do you recommend?
I recommend reading The War of the Arts by CS Lewis, Calvin and Hobbes. They all capture different parts of what makes us work (in my opinion).
Who else would you like to see to answer these questions?
Bill Doran from Punished Props Academy .
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
My friend Jimmy Desta says, “What if everything goes right?” We tend to think that of all the bad things that COULD happen, the worst case is the most likely. It’s also likely that everything will be fine, so why not use that as the default? Imagine how good things can be, this is so much encouraging.
What problem are you still trying to solve?
I’m still in a place where I can’t figure out how to do big projects using the timeline and process I’m used to (and my audience is used to). I am still trying to figure out how to do this without making significant (and risky) changes to the way I do it.
I understand the irony of this question given the advice I mentioned above. It is difficult to look at a business or process that is performing well, is going in the right direction, and decide to change something that could potentially have negative consequences. I am currently reviewing this and trying to figure it out.