Many independent musicians often work a day job to provide a steady income while pursuing their musical endeavors. A common dilemma caused by this is the lack of time throughout the day to accomplish the various tasks of an indie musician's business--rehersal, marketing, performing, recording, etc. The complaint is that there are only 24 hours in a day, which doesn't leave enough time to be as productive as one would like each day.
Having a sense of urgency to accomplish a lot of business-related tasks toward music business success is admirable, but not beneficial when one gets to the point of being overwhelmed. Sucn an overwhelmed feeling can causing paralysis from future progress.
It's important for any indie musician who is serious about what they do and serious about where they want to take their musicial career to remember that success, however one defines it, does not usually happen over night. Success comes from continuous hard work and determination over time.
Though it sounds simple, the secret is to accomplish at least one thing everyday toward progressing one's musical career. That one thing can be as minor as returning an email or as major as executing a gig contract, but always make sure you have done at least something to push your vision forward everyday.
A great way to help yourself get tasks done each day is to write down one very specific task before you go to bed at night (for example: call coffee shop to find out who does the booking). The next day make sure you at least get that one task done. You've then accomplished your one task for the day, and if you are able to think of a few more that you can complete the same day, well that's just a bonus. Then at the end of the night write one new task to get done the next day.
Each small victory strung together over time becomes a measure of your progress, which equals one large victory--acheiving your goals.
Check out more from Nick Venturella: business site, official music site
Nick's Examiner article archive:
Rock out to burn out time management for indie musicians
A little planning can go a long way
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