Balancing creative ambitions with real life responsibilities

[TimBuys]

It has been about five months now since I quit my job and started a one-man company. The job was making me feel like a caged animal. However, I also felt I wouldn't be able to achieve the goals I have with producing if I kept working there.

With that being said, I haven't found any time to produce in the last half a year or so. All my energy has gone towards building my business. I'm getting slightly better at balancing things, but at the same time, I feel I'm not progressing fast enough and need to spent more time producing.

I know not many of you make a full income out of producing, so how do you balance it with your other obligations?

[[wesellboxes]]

Ignore the fact he does bad EDM and have a look at these lectures and clips on workflow from Ill Gates. He brings a lot of general project management theory into music production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq9mBBp8Wns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVQ8c19unnM

[Mslwte]

Has anyone got any advice on dealing with the real life responsibilities bit. I've been struggling here for a while haha.

[juodas]

Hmm, everyone went through life responsibilities black hole I think, others may not, becouse of families or other stuff, I quit my social care job, and went to work as waiter, i had to travel each morning to restaurant, waking up at 6 a clock, living at 7:00, trains was been delayed most of the times, stress of being late. I had like 4h break each day, so i went back by train as well at 12 a clock to my house till 4 a clock, there was around 2-3 miles walk from the stations all together to my house(same stories with a trains as well bein delayed) weekly pay which is shite. In a mean time I had Ielts test i was really keen into this, was on speed at the same time, paranoia, didn't turn up to work place and at the end I didn't reach a right score for my course. left job, been through a lot of shit for 2 months, didn't have job, had 1k pound debt. So md and different shit was my friends, lonely times..... However i decided to come back to my old job, which was Social care, did 200-270 hours of work each month, in summer to repay my debt, I used to have around 3-5 off day in 3 months period, most of the times it 14.5 shift, at the end of summer thanks god, i gave all the money back to a friends and my landlord. Although I booked Another test on August as well, thanks to my co-worker which help me out and preparing for IELTS test. I pass a right score and i applied in music production course. which i'm studying it now. Anyway at course time, speed was still my friend, i had that stupid idea, that musicians need to be on something to make something(that's is a biggest bullshit) it helps me focus and bla bla bla bla stuff. So i reduced my work hours, to focus on my music. I would like to see who would stand 4 day in a job and 3 days at college, that was to cruel. Anyway back to the story I was focusing more at the music, yeah the tracks was better, than half of year ago, but something was still missing, there's was just sound, i didn't feel anything any emotions just kick, and stab and loop without a texture. So month past, and i went through gambling stage, it was my last proper payment to me, one and a half grand or something like, that i manage to pay bill and i had around 700 quid, went on slots and won 750, unfortunetly they didn't let me transfer the money, and they bloked my account, i spent one day to unblock it, however they didn't let me to transfer it, so i start to play it and at the end i end up with a fucking 150 for whole month in a beginning of november, Shit isn't travel expensive and stuff. More over I have a house mate which was a boxer and quite pissed of my speed addiction, so he gave me a pressure, so i had to throw my all stuff to my toilet and bla bla, i felt something different, like spiritual awakening or something like that, it was like in that movie ,,Fight club'' dude was starting everything from the bottom, he just blow up his own flat and he was obsessed by materialism same as me. So i started to do some boxing and running, which was the best best best thing what can ever happen to a person, You release realise that if you want to produce something, you need to do something different. Ideas just flow and flow and flow into your head. so went to college at first week with my new track, but it was still shit to me, but quite groovy it was one day project, and all of are group suppose to bring one track which they have been made in a day. anyway i just manage to come at first week to the college, so i had to survive, buying food and bla bla bla, i had 4-5 day off for 3 weeks, so had plenty of time for producing and finding the style i really wanted. So after that i came back at the end of november with a three tracks, (I shared one of them in here in other forum section, but i deleted anyway so maybe i will show you some later on when it' will be finished) and everyone in there was spaced out, that was the biggest turbo boost I really wanted that to be happen. So i'm at half term now, and just yesterday was my last day in the job, and i took 2 week holiday to focusing on the music. So in conclusion what I want to say first that I dont' give a shit about anyone and other people opinions, like everyone suppose to do that, more over if you want to produce something and make money from it, you still need an income from another job even if you will start to make money from music, you won't survive until you reach that stage (oooh some one is recognize you and seeing potential in you, dude who make drug addicts to dance) any way you need to work hard, hard to towards your goal and yourself in general find a women LOL. grind, learn something different, have a breaks from music as well if you will do the same thing over and over again you will become crazy duuudeee. Or you will arogant douche bag that thinks he can make music and tells a ''cool jokes'' to look cool around other people. Anyway i'm still working on, i never got paid for my music, and my music never been accepted to any of labels(I wish...) but when you will, reach that stage when you will have income from making money from your own stuff, then you can think about leaving your job and bein a full time music producer/dj. anyway you still making a risk and you know that becouse this industry is so so so so so huge and you know that.
P.s
Thanks bot for typing me this post

[Mattias]

Has anyone got any advice on dealing with the real life responsibilities bit. I've been struggling here for a while haha.

Yeah that's the nasty part.

However, having a laugh at that stuff is good and all and probably a necessity to actually go on living.
From 2016 till today have been the worst years in my life (the first mentioned being THE SHITE) along with 2011 where I suffered from exhaustion / fatigue / mental shit and all that. It feels like I've aged at least 10 years during the last two haha. Still 2017 have hold great moments, some of the best in my life and also have set things, in perspective and context, to be better looking for the future.

[jordanneke]

Has anyone got any advice on dealing with the real life responsibilities bit. I've been struggling here for a while haha.

Yeah that's the nasty part.

However, having a laugh at that stuff is good and all and probably a necessity to actually go on living.
From 2016 till today have been the worst years in my life (the first mentioned being THE SHITE) along with 2011 where I suffered from exhaustion / fatigue / mental shit and all that. It feels like I've aged at least 10 years during the last two haha. Still 2017 have hold great moments, some of the best in my life and also have set things, in perspective and context, to be better looking for the future.

Take care of yourself mate.

[jordanneke]

Has anyone got any advice on dealing with the real life responsibilities bit. I've been struggling here for a while haha.

I have a feeling everyone figures it out...on their deathbed!

I dunno about you, but dealing with real life, I just gotta do that shit. Time passes, I get shit done, go to work, try not to fuck up my kids or my marriage. Whilst that happens I just get fatter and balder.

[jordanneke]

It has been about five months now since I quit my job and started a one-man company. The job was making me feel like a caged animal. However, I also felt I wouldn't be able to achieve the goals I have with producing if I kept working there.

With that being said, I haven't found any time to produce in the last half a year or so. All my energy has gone towards building my business. I'm getting slightly better at balancing things, but at the same time, I feel I'm not progressing fast enough and need to spent more time producing.

I know not many of you make a full income out of producing, so how do you balance it with your other obligations?

What's worked for me is not producing, until I get that feeling. Then devote as much time to it as I can in a tiny window. Like 6 hrs straight.

Today my kids watched, and I got a track done in 1.30hrs. Needs and musts.

[Mattias]

Has anyone got any advice on dealing with the real life responsibilities bit. I've been struggling here for a while haha.

Yeah that's the nasty part.

However, having a laugh at that stuff is good and all and probably a necessity to actually go on living.
From 2016 till today have been the worst years in my life (the first mentioned being THE SHITE) along with 2011 where I suffered from exhaustion / fatigue / mental shit and all that. It feels like I've aged at least 10 years during the last two haha. Still 2017 have hold great moments, some of the best in my life and also have set things, in perspective and context, to be better looking for the future.

Take care of yourself mate.

Yes, thank you. Doing my best! It's hard when those around you crumble though. The physical pain I had this year I could handle although it was still close to soul breaking, but it feels good to be cut open

[jordanneke]

Yeah mate, when it comes down to it, your health is the only thing you got!

[Root]

I'm using this producing thing to calm down and have a counterbalance to my energy-sapping job. So I could say, I need this to be balanced in some way. From time to time it comes to that point where i feel I'm getting too obsessed with producing, then it starts taking energy too. That's the moment where I leave it all and come back some weeks later, when I've got the feeling that it's ok again.
I've had some serious crisis in 2014/15 and this year was pretty good. Found a new job, managed ongoing health issues. I guess it's more like normal life than something special. Don't let the struggle become too big in your thinking. Trying to normalize it is a good basis for being able to handle all the shit out there.

Wish you all the best Mattias, take care of you energy and take a timeout when needed. And yes, that's trivial, but after the rain comes sun again

[Plyphon]

Building the foundations to your career/business is very important, and it'll pay dividends if done right later in your life - it's the most important thing for you right now.

We all love music, but there are frankly much more important things. I wouldn't let not producing stress you out. I'd look at the overall balance of work/life and see how that looks - your non-working time is important to be shared with the people you have in your life also (family, friends, partner(s)).

[Mattias]

Wish you all the best Mattias, take care of you energy and take a timeout when needed. And yes, that's trivial, but after the rain comes sun again

Thank you good fellow human being. I wish you the best as well!

[juodas]

Building the foundations to your career/business is very important, and it'll pay dividends if done right later in your life - it's the most important thing for you right now.

We all love music, but there are frankly much more important things. I wouldn't let not producing stress you out. I'd look at the overall balance of work/life and see how that looks - your non-working time is important to be shared with the people you have in your life also (family, friends, partner(s)).

But what to do if the producer , doesn't have any contacts, and friends either to show his production?

[Mattias]

But what to do if the producer , doesn't have any contacts, and friends either to show his production?

Then they build connections and contacts.

[juodas]

But what to do if the producer , doesn't have any contacts, and friends either to show his production?

Then they build connections and contacts.

I'm a green on this, give an exmaple

[NAO]

But what to do if the producer , doesn't have any contacts, and friends either to show his production?

Then they build connections and contacts.

I'm a green on this, give an exmaple

Throw your own parties. Common answer to that question on here if I'm not mistaken and great advice..

Things rarely "just happen" so don't wait for "something" to happen, do something yourself instead.

[NAO]

It has been about five months now since I quit my job and started a one-man company. The job was making me feel like a caged animal. However, I also felt I wouldn't be able to achieve the goals I have with producing if I kept working there.

With that being said, I haven't found any time to produce in the last half a year or so. All my energy has gone towards building my business. I'm getting slightly better at balancing things, but at the same time, I feel I'm not progressing fast enough and need to spent more time producing.

I know not many of you make a full income out of producing, so how do you balance it with your other obligations?

Why the need to progress fast enough? What are your goals? Fame, technical skill, both? Are you risking becoming too old to for the Bumload rooster?

No, but really.. Reading your post it sounds like you have made the right decisions for the right reasons. Five months is nothing, if you really have clearly defined goals then working towards these over several years should be nothing - even if you can't see what changes you can do to balance between work and production at this exact moment.. Just believe in yourself and the choices you make.

Edit: added another Sweden

[msl]

Whilst that happens I just get fatter and balder.

hahahaha this. luckily my mix downs are get fatter too.


Its an age old thing this work/life balance. Unless your rich or win the lotto most of us have to work to survive. When your young you have all the time in the world (and boy did I waste lots of it!) as you get older time gets less and less, passes quicker almost.

The last two years 2015-17 where the hardest of my life, I lost both my parents in quick succession within 14 months to aggressive cancers, I became unemployed for the first time in 15 years, went on the dole for the first time in my life, and to top it all off got diagnosed with a serious life threatening (somewhat manageable) disease.


So.... My take away from all these challenges? Was to adapt and change, accept it and grow. I was in a comfort zone work wise the last years, and never looked after my health. That has all changed, I take meds daily, I stopped smoking after 28 years, I exercise and managed to find a decent job in a good company last summer. I was ready to pack it in at the end of 2016, before I got the job. I was thinking fuck this lets just go to SE Asia till the money runs out and top myself before the illness can do it. Comfort zones are death basically. We don't learn by having a good time, its the hard bits that contain life's lessons.

Music wise I was too freaked and stressed out all of 2015 and 16 to finish anything or focus. I had records coming out during this time but I had completed them prior. Getting the job was the turning point, so with the economic worries sorted I could relax enough to get back to it. I've set up a personal company to run my music business though, and press some vinyl thats my plan for 2018, have a few tracks coming out in the next months on some compilations and an ep. My issue now is TIME and the lack there of. I have fuck all time. My next move is to go to HR after next summer and tell them I really have to work 4 days a week. That will help. Its almost impossible to produce and keep a full time job.

As they say, what doesn't kill you and all that.

[juodas]

Throw your own parties. Common answer to that question on here if I'm not mistaken and great advice..
Things rarely "just happen" so don't wait for "something" to happen, do something yourself instead.

It's easy to say, but to do it it's totally different thing, when you don't have any contacts and you are foreigner as well, everyone is looking at you differently, and hardly want to accept it, especially in college, people think that your'e dumb dumb or something, I asked can I play around with cdj, and one of the tutors replied ''oh i'm afraid i can't do this, this equipment is 5-6k quid worth I don't want someone to break it'' i was literally in shock how he spoke with me, I'm using DDJ-SR for 1,5 and half (I mean i know how it works), but to show me how to use it's will take 10-15 min, however one way or another i asked one of my main course teacher, and he managed to organize it, but i still need to w8 2-3 weeks to put hands on it, it's pissing me off that cheesy people habit to judge people, becouse you're from different country.