Archive for the ‘ productivity ’ Category

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10
Feb

Persistence is polite

I’ve spent the whole week working on booking a tour for a guitarist I work for. Not having your emails returned, voice mails listened to, or messages past on can easily become depressing and disheartening. The guitarist in question is an awesome musician, a great guy, and a wonderful live performer… But, while he is world renowned with fans found in every corner of the globe, he is by no means world famous. What this means is that it is, more often than not, a sales led process when it should be easy simply based on the quality of the performer I’m booking this tour for.

I was trying to remember the mantra that I keep returning to at times like this “Persistence is polite”.

I was trying to remember who said it??? So I Googled it… And if course… It was one of Derek Sivers soundbites!

Love you Derek :)

http://sivers.org/persistence

0
29
Jan

Musicians digital assistant

Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, started Muckwork which doesn’t seem to have got off the ground yet. It’s based around the idea of having a network of digital assistants who can do the dirty work for you so you can focus on the creative stuff… A lot of my work with artists is based in this very principal. I do a lot of work for free with musician friends and emerging artists who can’t afford a retainer. I usually only work with artists who I think have the potential to make a career out of music and will be able to start paying me for services further down the line.

Some of what I do is assistance with managing the digital strategies of my artists: websites, social media, ecommerce, email newsletters, direct to fan campaigns, so I guess to that type of artist, I could be seen as a digital assistant.

If I think of a good name for it I may formalise it into a little business… Any ideas?

Rich

Ardua Music :: Per Ardua Surgo

0
9
Jan

Commitment to routine

I have a 1 month old daughter called Henrietta. The night before last, she showed me the benefit of a solid routine… We tried to change her nappy after her feed rather than before it, but she took this to mean that she was going to be fed again after her feed, as she’d already learnt to associate nappy changing with the feed following on.
She kept us up for most of the night as she couldn’t understand this change in routine!!! We should have stuck to what worked!

A bit about musicians daily routines here >>

Online routines here >>

Instrument practice routines >>

A bit about rehearsal routines >>

And possibly the most important routine, your health >>

I went from pretty much couch potato to running the London Marathon using a training routine.

Routines are really important in life as well as your musical career. Whether they be bizarre rituals before a performance, rehearsal routines to make sure you’re maximising productivity, or healthy living routines that allow you to focus on tasks throughout the day, commitment to your routine can help you get the best out of yourself.

Any essential musician routines I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments below.

Rich
Ardua Music :: Per Ardua Surgo :: Beast & Pieces

0
1
Jan

Write stuff down…

Simple really.  If you want to get things moving, try writing things down.  It gives you the opportunity to clear your head, removing things that you may otherwise keep rattling around up there causing you stress at the idea that you may forget something that seems like a good idea.

A lot of what I’ve achieved in life has been helped by me committing things to paper.  I use lists in my day job managing bands.  I use lists to remember and develop ideas.  I used lists to help me with training for the London Marathon.

The idea of “moving things out of the mind by recording them externally” has been well documented.  It’s the method presented by productivity consultant Dave Allen in his book “Getting Things Done“… a book that has been on my reading list for a couple of years now!!!  It’s on the list, so it will be read at some point, but I haven’t yet found the commitment to read a book called “Getting Things Done” when there’s so much stuff that I want to get done!

I’ve been using Wunderlist recently (you don’t necessarily need to use pen and paper) and am finding it a really useful tool (even though the iPhone added the Reminders app to IOS5), there seems to be something really satisfying about the functionality that makes it a pleasure to use.  And it syncs perfectly with Mac, iPhone and iPad.

This guy loves it too:

So lists are great for productivity and getting things done.  Be it finishing a track that’s been in your head or kicked about by the band for a few months, finally booking the studio to record some new demos, booking that short tour to promote the new material etc etc

But… Derek Sivers, founder and former president of CD Baby, wrote a blog post a couple of years ago about why not to announce your plans.  The post was based on research done in 1993 that found that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.  So while I fully advocate using lists to aid productivity, it might be worth keeping them to yourself, at least until you’ve done them/ started them/ 100% confirmed that it’s gonna happen.

Derek’s post is here:  Shut up!  Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them.

Get listing… but maybe don’t tell anyone!

Rich

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