It's a balance we all struggle to strike. Whether we are lucky enough to be full-time musicians who struggle to have time for friends and family, or whether we are the vast majority of part-time musicians with full-time jobs, sometimes it feels impossible to have the best of both worlds.
While I had the privilege of full-time freelancing while I was struggling through immigration proceedings and red tape, I've been working full-time for the past 6 months, creating content for a company I feel privileged to be a part of. But at the end of the day, I find it difficult to strap myself to another desk to write more content, be it written or musical. My apartment has beautiful vaulted ceilings that are architecturally interesting but horrific for recording due to the insane amounts of reverb.
I know that I'm not alone - vast swathes of musicians have full time ''day jobs'' and struggle to have time for music, family, and friends.If you're looking for some advice on how to give your daily life an influx of music, check out this article I wrote for Polonious Sheet Music.
But what do we do when the motivation isn't there? When we come home at the end of the day and have nothing left to give, how do we advance with a creative career? On the weekends, many have family obligations or extra work and the days fly by without a single note written or recorded. It can be discouraging when it seems like your music career is floating away on days filled with dog walks, kids' recitals, working overtime, and more bills than you care to think about.
This year, I bought a new notebook on January 1st. I filled it with goals for this year, ranging from personal (read 30 books), to musical (finish that song cycle I've been working on forever), to technological (finally get mastery of Logic and Kontakt). Every month I make mini-goals for myself, like read 3 books, edit a chunk of the song cycle, and read through a Dummies guide on Logic. On the first day of the month I review the last month's goals and decide how to move forward.
We are beginning month 4, and I'm not where I wanted to be quite yet, but I'm further than I would be if I hadn't created goals for myself. I've read 6 books so far this year, started some awesome fitness programs, submitted music to publishers (fingers crossed), and read several technical books about the area of composition I want to explore.
How about you, readers? How do you balance work, music, and life?
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