The Physical Realities Of Live-Streaming!

Screen Shot 2015-01-27 at 10.25.33 AMAfter an epic 26-Hour Event Stream with Duracell and Twitch last weekend, I was drained. While the event was extremely fun, it came at a big cost to my energy levels. The cross country flight to LA, the hosting and playing from 2 AM to 12 Noon, immediately followed by a red eye flight back.

 

On Monday, my channel was looking for a normal MUT Lunch and for the first time in a long time, I had to bust out the “I’m too tired to stream” line.

This is one of the most dangerous lines, because it is fairly challenge proof. Nobody can prove if you are too tired, it isn’t like saying “my power went out, no stream today” which is iron clad.

Think about it, is “too tired” an excuse you are using, or is it an actual physical issue.

My man ADRobs had a brand new baby, and within a week had already logged more hours than some “streamers.” He refused to use it as an excuse and I felt like as a Reel Gamer, I had to let him know it was cool to take some rest! #Dedication

You can’t stream your best when you are tired, or starting to feel sick. With that said, consistency is huge, so if you are always tired, here are some tips…

1. Hydrate

I can’t say this enough, a great streamer is almost always talking! This makes your mouth and throat super dry which you don’t really feel until after the stream is over (3-4 hours.) You need to keep a special water bottle handy and even make it part of the stream. Every time I score a TD, I chug water. Every time I hit my Ult in LOL, I chug water etc.

Pro Tip: If you stream early in the morning, Tea will soften up the voice and keep you sounding smooth, warm up the pipes!

2. Energy Levels 

Are you a morning or a night person? I used to be able to stay up until 3 AM without a problem. Now, I can’t be as loud late at night, so my streaming energy has peaked during lunch. On Saturday, I hit the gym at 10 and get an energy boost which I use to go live from 12 to 3! This natural spike produces my best stream each week. Why fight your energy, go live when you are at your best. Try and build your schedule to capitalize on these times!

3. Stream Trance

Has this ever happened to you? When I play for over 4-5 hours, my brain turns to mush. I don’t even know what words I am saying and after I feel like I was in a different world. I really try to limit my streams to 3 hours, unless I plan a special one. This keeps my daily routine strong and on schedule. If you aren’t a pro, you have other duties to attend to and too long of a stream can put you in a trance.

4. Other Duties

After a 8 hour stream, all you want to do is not be near a computer. However, after a great stream, you probably have to send out giveaways and respond to all those emails you racked up. When I get deep into a stream, I forget about all else, then realize that I need to respond to emails, text messages in other parts of my life. So, I was just on a computer for 10 hours and now I need to spend another hour answering messages when I just want to get away adds to the “fatigue”

If you have 5 hours to stream, you should stream for just 3, and have an hour on the front and back to do administrative stuff around streaming. Don’t stream for 4:45 and then have 15 minutes to respond to people and send out giveaways, respond to tweets etc.

5. Sleep!

After I stream, I can’t sleep. Too much looking at the computer and mental excitement means that I need about 2 hours to wind down after a good stream. Otherwise, I talk in my sleep and don’t feel well rested when I wake up in the morning. I can’t really even play games before bed, let alone stream.

On TWIM Nights, we stream until 10-11, so I need to have two hours to relax, which means my Thursday starts later. As long as I schedule it, it isn’t an issue. But, if I have an early engagement on Thursday AM, I need to plan around it, end the stream earlyish, or just know I’m going to be tired.

Being tired once and powering through it is fine (Duracell) but being constantly tired is bad. You won’t be at your best for the viewers. Don’t use energy as an excuse, learn to plan and schedule around it. This is so important for streamers who have jobs during the day. You don’t have to bring the thunder 5 nights a week, pick your two best days and stick with it.

Plan, Schedule, Hydrate!!! 

How do you plan your streams to max your energy, leave it in the comments! 

 

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