Efficiency-Who would like to share their Daily routines?

[toodamnhip]

I have started to try to make a schedule for myself that includes many areas of endeavor and expansion.
Even though I am already a very busy producer, I wish to always move forward and expand in many areas.

It seems like it has been very hard to keep all areas moving forward at once so I tend to make progress in one area, neglect another, have to go back to that, neglect another, go back to the 1st, catch up on the 2nd, remember where I put the 3rd......etc.

It’s as if life is the proverbial spinning plates routine where spinning them all at once is very hard to do without some plates falling to the ground..lol..

Thus, in search of forward progress on all fronts that can be maintained in a more efficient manner, I would like to ask those charitable Motunation members who would take the time, to possibly share their daily schedule and tips for keeping all the plates spinning in their lives and music.

Very soon, when I have perfected my schedule, I too will post it.
Of course, this shouldn’t get too personal, just general with tips on how to keep it all going.

This could be quite an interesting thread.
If you’re like me, you would like to be as efficient and forward moving as possible and would like to keep “all plates spinning” without dropping too many!

[burn em]

Every time I discover a useful keyboard shortcut it ends up on a sticky pasted to the bottom of one of the monitors. I also use a piece of paper taped to the front of my desk next to the keyboard as a mouse pad. This was at first a workaround as my new magic mouse was jumpy on shiny timber. Then I started scribbling thoughts, snatches of a half figured out lyrics and reminders on it. I replace it ever few days. Never could bare to put up a white or black board an ruin my acoustics!

[bdr]

Check out David Allen's 'Getting Things Done'. Basically his idea is to get everything out of your head and catagorised by context, to create a 'next action' for all projects that include a verb ('what is literally the next thing I need to do to move this project forward') , combined with 'ubiquitous capture'(having a notebook or similar everywhere to get rid of cruft floating around the brain) and a weekly review.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

There are many other aspects to GTD including reminders, use of calendars, filing/storing etc etc.

There is a massive GTD subculture on the 'net, highly populated by freelancers.

[Shooshie]

While I'm aware of an entire genre of books on the subject, I second toodamnhip's request. I'd love to see how others in this forum balance their time and manage their projects, bringing things to completion on time while still allowing the creativity to try out sounds, experiment in composition, and be generally creative. Time management is not one of my strong points. I always have gotten a lot done — more than most people I know — because I sacrifice sleep. I've always had the ability to work 36 hours straight, sleep 6, and do it again, sometimes for months without stop. I don't recommend it. I've now reached a point in my life where that's just not working for me, and I don't particularly have the desire to figure out a new method. In fact, I don't even feel strongly aligned with any particular goals at the moment. It's a weird feeling; kind of drifting, not really caring, and wondering what it all means. I'm starting to get a fire built under me to change, but I'm not sure what I want to change, or how. It's just more a desire not to continue on the same path.

So, I'd love to see how our friends here -- DP users specifically -- manage their work with DP and associated tasks. Some of you guys know you're good at this. Take a moment to share your methods with us. Please?

Shooshie

[toodamnhip]

I have written out a new DAILY Planner.
But I have been so busy completing mixes and working on multiple records simultaneously that I have not even started it.

It really is hard to get out from under a lot of work to get into a plan that incorporates a wider sphere of goals.
And I have been beta testing various softwares on top of all of that which , if done conscientiously, eats up a surprising amount of time.

So I soon hope to stop complaining and post a plan once I have tried it out...lol.
Yes SHoosh,,,,

Sleep has to go. Such a waste of time...

[labman]

[quote="Shooshie" I second toodamnhip's request. I'd love to see how others in this forum balance their time and manage their projects, bringing things to completion on time while still allowing the creativity to try out sounds, experiment in composition, and be generally creative.
Shooshie[/quote]

I third it. That is an extremely powerful question

[malditoyanki]

When it comes to composition I always (except for pure electronica which is quite distinct) start with pencil/paper/coffee and stick with that for sometimes days until I have enough material that I could end up not using half of it and still have enough. This includes not just harmony/melody/rhythm but also orchestrational ideas.

If I find myself stuck or bogged down it's usually because I cheated this step.

Also, the Greeks and Romans thought of creativity not as something that comes from inside, but rather from outside (the muse.) When I learned this and used this concept things got A LOT easier for me. One thing my muse likes...an audience. I can't just write stuff without there being a market/audience for it.

[toodamnhip]

I can't just write stuff without there being a market/audience for it.

I can relate to this.
I think many professionals are capable of composing anything.
Thus, there is a need for a project to drive creativity.
This is the opposite of an artist driven mentality where an artist makes a product and thereafter searches for an audience.

Thus a catch 22 can occur for a professional where that professional wants to get into another field of music but doesn’t have the gigs yet.

For example, I do lots of records but would like to do film and TV more so that I can create more diverse music.
Well, try composing for a TV show without having one...lol...
A “gig” would certainly be nice in my case and would result in immediate composition and production that I am not creating now. But due to deadlines to the records I must finish, it is difficult to just go “compose some film music”.

In my case, this is such that I have foregone purchasing LA SCORING STRINGS because I know I will want to seriously compose something with them and I don;t have the time.
I hazard a guess that I will just get frustrated to have such sounds at my finger tips and not create a symphony.

So perhaps there has to be a mental shift when one seeks to get into a new area or expand such that one needs to have less a project driven mentality and more of an artist driven mentality, creating a product/brand beforehand. I know I am spoiled by the “wheres the money” before I create syndrome..lol.

Of course, this change from gig driven to pre-created without gig....is a strange type of “artist" mentality as, due to the fact that a professional producer/ composer is seeking work, they don;t quite create as unique a product before as say a “beastie BOys” band would. They create work more “acceptable” to potential employers and contractors.

So indeed it is tough to create without a paid gig once one has gotten used to that being one’s “muse”.

[labman]

GOod info Darth and Toodamnhip. Appreciated.

Would like to hear more about how the greek/roman things changed your work flow.

[Dan Worley]

How I long to be one of the organized ones. I envy them to no end.

I rely on producers to keep me moving, especially early on in a project. I'm no good left on my own. I flit from thing to thing and never really get anything done. That leads to deep and heavy depression for me.

I am good at telling others what to do, though.

Once I sense that a project will be completed, I'm like a shark to blood. I will do anything to finish it. Sleep and food and relationships mean nothing.

If I'm doing some or all of the writing, I write my best when I'm first inspired and charged up by the new idea, and then near the end when I'm under pressure. I hardly get anything done in the middle of a project. This has backfired on me a few times when the inspiration did not hit and I was a song or two short by the end. Oops. Luckily, the producer liked some of the stuff I had written but threw out so she used that.

I love trying out new organizational apps, though. My newest one is TaskPaper. What a great little app! So easy. So clever. For sure this was the answer to all my problems. I used it for two days...

[toodamnhip]

I rely on producers to keep me moving, especially early on in a project.

I love trying out new organizational apps, though. My newest one is TaskPaper. What a great little app! So easy. So clever. For sure this was the answer to all my problems. I used it for two days...

I keep my clients moving too. It’s me that needs to make myself move on my OWN projects.
I checked out taskpaper and thought it cool, but at 30 bucks thought it over priced for how home made it is. Cool idea though

[Shooshie]

Very interesting stuff, guys. I'm seeing myself in many of you, and that's somehow encouraging. The idea that a producer/project becomes your muse is huge; in other things -- writing prose or poetry, for example -- my muse is a strange and mysterious thing that comes to me when I'm not thinking about it. But in music I'm a pro, I guess, who produces on demand. When you tell me what you want, I can see all kinds of improvements for it, and I can make it better than you thought was possible. But when it comes to creating "my own stuff," I find myself strangely without inspiration. Someone said it above when he said that a pro can do anything, but needs some direction. That sounds very much like what I go through when I am not on a project.

It was worth it to hear what you guys go through. I'm not as odd as I thought.

Shoosh

[toodamnhip]

I'm not as odd as I thought.

Shoosh

Errrrrrrrrrrrr................
Are you sure?...lol......

[Michael Canavan]

I'm no help in this regard. I will say I do write "to do" lists for myself, this keeps me on task a bit. I think it's silly and that's probably related to some naggy girlfriend saying I needed to, but she was right.

For example, I do lots of records but would like to do film and TV more so that I can create more diverse music.
Well, try composing for a TV show without having one...lol...
A “gig” would certainly be nice in my case and would result in immediate composition and production that I am not creating now. But due to deadlines to the records I must finish, it is difficult to just go “compose some film music”.

I'm in this boat, but really if you want to try your hand at something you don't have a resume for you have to create a show real of some sorts, you know, copy 5 minutes of a few bits from movies and replace the sound with your scores. There's always something else to do, and my main focus musically is a band I'm in, which is much more easily put aside to write a 15 minute real than in your case, but I still haven't gotten around to it. I did buy Kirk Hunter Concert Strings, but that can also be used with my band.

[Schweats]

I highly recommend the book "The War of Art" by Stephen Pressfield for some
insights into productivity

Schweats