November 6

Time Management for Musicians

https://cyberprmusic.com/5-time-management-tactics-every-musician-must-know/

 

 

28 Replies to “November 6”

  1. The link above briefly goes over the necessary time management skills an independent artist or any musician for that matter should at least develop to have a successful career and lifestyle while keeping up with day to day activities. This is a crucial part of taking on new and more complicated endeavors because the more we try to add to our plate, the more room in our stomach we have to make to accommodate that extra serving. Personally, what I would say i need the most work on is the 4th step of not trying to do everything on your own, as I feel extremely ambitious to be able to do lots of things and sometimes it doesn’t come down to whether I know HOW to do something but it is whether i have the space in my day to accomplish it if I am not tied up doing something else for another errand. Similarly I would also say it is extremely difficult letting go of the control to some degree when looking for outside help, however the loosened grip on the control I feel as though is an even trade off to the ease on the mind one feels knowing that it is in another persons hands and it will get done.

    Another tactic I believe that is extremely helpful in not only time management but also just centering oneself and help sharpening ones mind and thoughts through the practice of meditation. Taking a few moments out of ones day can really make the difference in having a positive experience or an not so pleasant one, and after getting into the habit of meditating when I have the opportunity I have felt an improvement in my mood and have felt much more focused on the tasks at hand throughout the day.
    Here is a study described by Harvard Health Blog where meditation was shown to help improve the subjects stress management and other benefits from practicing mediation.

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-may-ease-anxiety-mental-stress-201401086967

  2. This article touched on ways to improve your time management. While it was specifically referencing ways musicians can manage their time, it provided great tactics that can be used by anyone in any career. One thing the article mentioned at the very end is procrastination. This is something I struggle a lot with, and am constantly trying to find ways to help me stop procrastinating. I found an article that gives specific tips to help get rid of procrastination tendencies. https://www.success.com/7-simple-ways-to-stop-procrastinating/

  3. When starting up any type of career is important that you do work on your time management skills even as a college student or high school student it is imperative that you learn time management skills since they will be essential most your life. All the tactics the article talks about are key to a successful career. Most importantly planning and doing. I find that the best way I get things done is by making a list every morning and once I finish the item I cross off which makes doing it more rewarding. Another thing I do that helps me get everything I need done is giving me a treat after if I complete it on time. Giving yourself rewards is always good and motivates you to do them faster than usual. I found another article that talks about skills that can also help you succeed. You can find it here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292572

  4. This article brought to light something that I had forgotten about and have been having difficulty with this semester. Time management. In my opinion, learning to manage your time is one of the most important things you can do to become successful in any business and life in general. This article reminded me of some things I had learned previously but have failed to put in practice as of late. One of the areas I have had trouble with this semester, is Tactic #2. It falls within the framework of prioritizing, and I have found it difficult to find those times of the day when focus is best. After reading this article, I have realized that missing the mark in one area of time management can lead to a type of chain reaction, as loss of focus can lead to incorrect prioritizing, which can then lead to procrastination. I will have to try and develop a system of autonomy with regards to revisiting the subject matter in this article.

    I found this article that goes a little deeper into time management skills.
    https://www.coachingpositiveperformance.com/17-essential-time-management-skills/

  5. I personally struggled with the tip of the five points the most (procrastination) early on in college. I learned this leads to not getting the best grades on assignments which can then lead to overall grades being unsatisfactory. My sophomore year I came into school with the mindset of getting down to business and then relaxing. It might seem intuitive but it’s truly hard to accomplish quality work in a world so distracting by external stimuli like phones and technology. Now when I work or study, I put away my phone and focus on the task at hand until I reach a resting point or I finish. It makes one more efficient at completing tasks which totally applies to the music industry world. Weather you want to be a song writer, business person, or a combo, setting up good habits in college will translate into the professional world and benefit those who practice getting quality work done daily! Here’s a link on working efficiently:
    https://www.careeraddict.com/work-efficiently

  6. Time management is something everyone struggles with, especially musicians and business owners because we are our own boss and we dictate what our future will be. That is a lot of pressure for just one person, so having this article break it down for people is really helpful and can actually help someone become successful . Something that stuck with me was the section where it discussed prioritizing what you wanted first. It really opened my eyes to view things one at a time and zoom into the bigger picture and focus on one thing at a time. You’ll be more productive with the same amount of time you stress about doing everything. Here is an article explaining why time management is important:
    https://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/time-management/importance-of-time-management/

  7. I love how this article talked about the all-important subject of time management and compared independent musicians to entrepreneurs. I strongly believe that independent musicians are entrepreneurs. They must handle their artistry as a business. I found two great articles from Forbes that talk about entrepreneurial success.

    The Seven Keys To Entrepreneurial Success

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2017/09/05/the-seven-keys-to-entrepreneurial-success/#21591f6d3d74

    Five Must-Follow Rules To Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2017/04/17/five-must-follow-rules-to-becoming-a-successful-entrepreneur/#320c211c24a9

  8. I really enjoyed reading this article I believe this is not only for a musician or someone building a buisness but for anyone that wants to be suscessful with their time and life. This article real spoke to me especially the diagram. I like how it broke down how an artist use whats around them in different categories it was well organized. Something else that stood out was the point to crave out time to for total focus. I think people forget what really haters and lack in making less stressful when finding the right time to do what.

    I found an article that went in more depth about time-mangement.

  9. I really enjoyed reading this article I believe this is not only for a musician or someone building a buisness but for anyone that wants to be suscessful with their time and life. This article real spoke to me especially the diagram. I like how it broke down how an artist use whats around them in different categories it was well organized. Something else that stood out was the point to crave out time to for total focus. I think people forget what really haters and lack in making less stressful when finding the right time to do what.

    I found an article that went in more depth about time-mangement.https://www.greycampus.com/blog/project-management/ten-essential-time-management-strategies

  10. I enjoyed reading the article. I feel like Time Management and Procrastination are the two biggest issues that many college students have, especially myself. Making the change in college before entering the corporate world is essential, and something I need to prioritize. This is what stood out to me the most in the article, the idea of prioritizing items to get done first, so that their is less stress with the full work load. I feel that prioritizing the things I don’t want to get done first, will bring me more satisfaction that I actually accomplished those tasks, but also take off the unneccesary stress that these tasks bring. Also, as the article points out, prioritizing helps you stay on track with the goals you truly desire. Not only will more tasks get done more efficiently, but you will also be getting closer to achieving your goals.
    For more information on how prioritization aids in time management, check out:
    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/gendiy/prioritization-time-manag_b_9294544.html

  11. Management of your time is so important, and this article brought out the best ways to do so. I believe it left out one very important thing that every musician will experience in their career though. I know I certainly did. That is getting and staying motivated about what you’re doing/making throughout the journey. Pressure can really build up when so many things are going on around you, and those bumps in the road only shake up the well setup plan you might have made. The linked article provides information on how one might lose motivation, how to obtain motivation, and how to keep it

    https://www.careersinmusic.com/music-motivation-part-1

  12. Time management is an area of life most people may have issues with. Having served in the military, even a highly trained force can still be subject to the pitfalls of poor time management. Along side the ITTT initiatives, I tend to personally employ a weekly checklist of all my TO-DO’s and priorities for the upcoming week. I usually write this down beginning each Sunday and outlining the week for myself by day. This helps prepare for what is ahead while also keeping approaching deadlines apparent and clear.

  13. With being college students with hopes of having careers in the near future, its extremely important to practice time management and stay focused on the future ahead. In this article there were many tactics for musicians to mange their time. These tactics included planning and setting goals, prioritizing and focus, automation, delegation and more. These tips all go back to the goal you have set and staying on track with what you want to accomplish. To me, one of the major parts about time management and staying focused is the goals I set. I try my best to not just set any goal that I may or my not actually reach, but instead create S.M.A.R.T. goals.

    In the article I’ve linked there is more information on smart goals and why its important to make Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound goals.

    Link: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm

  14. This is a great article that resonates truthfully with a lot of young college students/ young adults beginning to pursuing their careers. I think we can all relate to some of the issues of productivity that were brought up in the Article.

    A tactic that I thought was pretty interesting and helpful in my opinion was the “If This Then That” tactic, asking yourself what the outcome of something is in regards to one’s actions. Alongside the (ITTT) tactic, I found myself relating most to the “DIY” method, trying to do everything for by myself, instead of trying to delegate the things that stress me out the most first so it’s off my plate. Overall, I really like reading articles that involve human productivity, simply because of how prominent of an issue it is in our society today.

    Here is a website that gives us an Insight on procrastination:
    http://blog.studentcaffe.com/procrastination-in-college-how-to-stop/

  15. Time management is something I struggle with so to read an article on tips for artists on how to manage their time was very useful to apply to my own life. I can only imagine what artists go through daily, how many things are constantly moving around in their lives, time management is very understandable to be a issue for some. I liked how the article broke down the tips into 5 tactics, my favorite being Tactic #1: Plan. Planning is important in ANY industry to effectively measure and accomplish goals. The following article details planning steps an independent artist can take to start their career: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/five-ways-to-jumpstart-your-music-career-2460787

  16. The parts i feel are most over looked are automation and delegation. Many musicians and even small business owners feel that the D.I.Y. experience means they literally have to do everything themselves, but the most successful musicians and business people have a cohesive team who take care of smaller task and are capable of working together. As a musician, you are trying to create a memorable brand, market yourself, and grow your business. Many people are scared of looking at being a musician in the same scope as being a business person, but a successful musician who can make a living off of their work is an successful business person. Therefore, having a team around you is important to your success. Here are two links going over a common team that a musician might have to help run their business:
    https://www.musicclout.com/contents/article-101-how-to-build-a-professional-music-team.aspx

    https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/musician-tips/building-a-great-team-to-support-your-music-career/

  17. As a musician this was an interesting read. Just because you play an instrument doesn’t mean anything will come easy to you. You still gotta work and you have to spend money and time getting to where you want to be. You have to take it step by step and be open-minded and real with yourself and the group that is around you. So many musicians fail in the business because they’re so focused on the end goal instead of taking the next step. I found a list on on how musicians usually fail in the business that i found interesting.
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-most-musicians-fail-grow-expand-sustain-career-music-narayan

  19. I cannot stress how needed this article is to not just musicians but any busy person. Perhaps my favorite comment in the selection is: “just because you are a musician doesn’t mean you don’t have outside obligations that need to be fulfilled”. Aside from the double – negative action going on, this sheds a very needed light on the serious depravity that so many artists go through every day trying to manage everything all at once with no help.

    Of course, this is mentioned briefly later in the article. However, I can name at least 20 mainstream artists I follow that have had to take time off for themselves due to malnutrition of their physical and spiritual wellbeing.

    Because I am very into self-care and nutrition, this article reminded me of one of my favorite workout videos on getting back on track and beating laziness. Cassey Ho, a very inspirational and popular Pilates instructor on YouTube is known for her unrelenting positivity and sometimes even unrelenting workouts.

    In this particular video, she discusses several different things in order to realign one’s self, many of which are paralleled in this article. One thing that stuck out to me primarily was this notion of doing your favorite, or most important task first in the day.

    I think a broad majority of people could use more prioritization in their lives, but seeing as how this is a common theme amongst many articles and books on redirecting ourselves onto the right track, I do not believe this is a coincidence.

    To watch Cassey talk more about self-motivation, or to get your exercise in for the day, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo8mrdGKipU

  20. Time management has always been a struggle for me because of how busy I am always taking 15 hours a semester and working 4-5 days a week while being in school. I do my best to plan out assignments and work to get everything done on time while keeping my grades up. This article made me think about this, I look forward to graduation next semester to be able to just balance a work life instead of work and school. We all are very busy people, almost every person in the spotlight make points to stress how they need “a break” from fame to gather themselves and get their life back in order. Those who don’t seem to always go down unhappy, outlandish paths. I can’t imagine being a traveling artist going on tours for months or a whole year on planes and busses all the time, the life has to be difficult. One thing that helps me a lot with the stress that comes from being so busy is working out and doing yoga. It helps so much to find peace with yourself!
    This article gives us many ways to de-stress after long work days or busy periods. https://www.rd.com/advice/work-career/10-ways-to-de-stress-your-work-day/

  21. All of these notes are those that we have been hearing most of our lives. That you will be more successful if you plan and prioritize. For some reason I hear these things often but I don’t take them to heart. What made me think the most in the article was the statement after all of the common narratives was that none of those things would work if you were still procrastinating. Procrastination is one of my biggest enemies. I personally try and justify it by saying “I work better under pressure” Which i have no proof of. Procrastination is something I am still working on and will one day eliminate from my life all together. Until then, I’ll try and follow this article on how to stop procrastination.
    https://www.unstuck.com/how-we-procrastinate/

  22. It’s interesting how the complexities of being a musician, or rather a paid musician can really add up. It always seems that your time is constantly teetering between getting paid and perfecting your art which is quite a lot to deal with for one person. I really like the idea presented in the article explaining how you can possibly recruit “superfans” to help complete your work so you can spend time on more important things, for example a superman could help build a theme or make regular posts for you on social media to keep other fans up to date.
    Here is an article you could have a superfan read and implement to your internet presence
    https://www.planetarygroup.com/music-promotion-guide/use-social-media-effectively/

  23. The five steps talked about in this article can prove to be helpful to all people, not just musicians. The most important step to me is number 5, “Do.” Procrastination is something that many people struggle with. Quality work takes time and if you push things to the last minute then you aren’t truly giving your best effort. The other 4 steps are key to preventing that. Any college student may find this helpful because many of us have to juggle so many things at once.

    This article on entrepreneur.com gives some more tips for effectively managing your time.
    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/299336

  24. This article was great at articulating general time management skills but still giving examples of applying them in a music-centered life. I was concerned they would turn into the same tips for time management as a general skill, which is still valuable, but it’s even more helpful to find ways that those tips can apply specifically to your life which may be hard for people to do sometimes. One major thing that I noticed was the huge Venn diagram of all the different responsibilities of an artist that then went to have an attached list of additional responsibilities and it all seemed very overwhelming. It made me stop to consider how exactly can someone balance all these tasks.

    Here’s an article with tips on have a balanced life as a musician:
    http://reunionblues.com/blog/2018/02/9-work-life-balance-ideas-musicians/

  25. For us as musicians, but firstly as students, time management can be a tricky thing. With large workloads and little time, its easy to feel like you do a lot, but get little done, or to focus a little too much on one thing. This article does a good job of giving a starting point for a few things we need to do to help manage our time efficiently. I believe its good to start these good habits now, but also to continue to explore more things that may work for us indivudually.

    Here’s a video I found about time management:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcYy1Led7pE

  26. I personally struggle to this day with two of these points, the first one being procrastinating, the second being prioritizing. My life’s been hell on ice for the past month mainly due to me giving all of the things I have to do like promoting my upcoming show that I booked at Ventura, doing my audio tech assignments, my final project for this class, and finishing demos for my band equal importance, meaning I find that I have to jump from project to project with little time in between, Because this feeling of being immensely overwhelmed, my breaks are poorly placed and overly long due to anxiety of returning back to the mess that is my life at the current moment. Overcoming work anxiety is a point that I would add to this article, because often times we are very hesitant to return to what may seem like a mountain of work and consequentially put it off, perhaps rationalizing that it’ll get done a day when we have nothing to do. However, that day is not very likely to come and that would mean giving up a needed break. Often times what may seem like a mountain of work is very doable once you get to working at it, even if it’s just sections at a time, at least progress is being made.

  27. I feel as if this article touched briefly on the basics of time management for artists. Although this is a great place to start, and the five steps that are included are noteworthy and a great foundation, not every artist is the same. Planning and prioritizing are amazing skills that can be acquired through time and practice, but with these two come knowledge. Knowledge of what an individual needs or wants out of their career can be a tricky maze for someone with little, to zero, experience in the business.
    Also, some artists are also business-people, entrepreneurs, promoters, lawyers, etc. and it can be extremely daunting to manage themselves in a structured way like this article listed. I have friend who is an artist and a lawyer for corporate law and he goes by “organized chaos”. He said if he were to lay out a method of how he lived his life, he would be completely lost, because life is always changing if you do it right.
    Below is a linkedIn article which talks about how “time management” isn’t exactly all it is chalked up to be. A great read with a bit of vulgar language.
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-management-bullshit-myth-mike-crompton-sahri-dhrm/

  28. Time management is extremely important to function in the music industry. There are so many factors to think about in this industry, and without a solid plan and check list, these important tasks can fall apart and get out of hand entirely. It is important to prioritize, organize, plan and focus. Procrastination can be hard to beat, but is very important to get past. Time is super important, especially in the world of the music business because there never truly is time off. Musicians and the people behind them are constantly creating and connecting with an audience.
    Here is an article that briefly discusses Time Management as a musician.
    https://newartistmodel.com/10-musician-mistakes-time-management/

Comments are closed.