In today’s busy world, finding time to produce can always be a hassle when you have a 9-5 job and a family to look after. However, we can use some techniques to guarantee that we’ll have time for our music as well, as you’ll see below:
4 THOUGHTS FROM ME
1. Prioritize your day and produce before your day starts. When I used to work 9-5, I used to arrive crushed from work and Netflix was always more attractive than producing. In addition, on the days I found time to do it, LOTS of distractions/tasks kept me from working on my music, and it started to suffer. I then started to wake up at 4 am to produce until 7h30 AM, and my productivity skyrocketed. Was it hard? Hell yeah it was, but priorities should come first in your day, and that’s why I changed my routine. If you’re struggling with time after work to produce, change your routine and wake up earlier to produce, or late at night, even if for one hour. That will not only show your commitment to achieving your music goal, but also if you really want to pursue it.
2. Instead of just working when you can, schedule your production sessions. When you have a hectic and crazy schedule, finding time to produce can be tough since things are always popping up. In addition to working when these distractions aren’t going to keep you from working like morning, a way out of it could be to change your approach of only working when you have time. Look at your calendar, and treat music production as if you’re going to a doctor’s appointment. Schedule it and make time for it. Once it’s scheduled and on paper, as if it was a goal, missing it will be a tad more arduous and you’re a bit more likely to get it done than skip it. If time is always flying, lock it!
3. Assign a weekly time goal for your music production. I used to require myself to produce 20 hours per week, and that was a goal I tried my best to achieve every week. That was an achievable goal to me, but also one that required some effort from me, which made it a nice goal to pursue since it wasn’t too hard nor too easy to achieve. Many times, I didn’t really want to produce, but that goal reminded me that I needed to put in the time if I wanted to achieve my music goals, and ended up having a lot done, which probably wouldn’t have been done if it wasn’t for my time goal. It didn’t matter what I did, as long as it was something productive, like tutorials, production, organizing sample library, etc. Therefore, assign yourself an achievable, but also challenging time goal for your music production, and working on music itself will become a goal for your week, something that will definitely help you in the long run.
4. Stop waiting for creativity and motivation to strike. Imagine your boss asks you to do a task and you say: “I’m not in the mood for that”. What would he/she say to you? Professionals don’t wait for creativity/motivation to strike and if even music is your hobby, change your mindset and do not accept ‘Writer’s Block’ as an excuse. Go after it, especially on the days you aren’t feeling like it. For example, try two melodies every day, which will take you 15-30 min, until you find something you like. We often don’t like trying that because we are afraid of not making something ‘as worthy’, but not making anything is worse than that. Of course, you won’t always end up with an amazing melody/progression at the end, but at least you tried and you did the work, and that has a compounding effect that if you stick to it, it will make your compositions come easier and better in the future.
1 QUESTION FOR YOU
What is your biggest struggle with time at the moment?
1. Your 9-5 Job? Isn’t it possible to find something that allows you a bit more time? This is not easy, but sometimes a solution.
2. Not feeling like it? Sit down and work. Go watch sound design tutorials as they don’t require you to be inspired to create. They are like reading a college book.
3. Too many distractions? Favor times in your day that are more distractions free, like early mornings or late nights. Less people awake means less distractions.
