Finding your flow as you work, especially when creativity is involved, can be difficult. It’s hard to channel creativity whenever and wherever, and that can often lead to a loss of productivity in the work you’re producing. Fortunately, the digital age has introduced a variety of tools, applications, and softwares that you can use to tackle the tasks slowing you down. With those tools in mind, we’d like to introduce you to our expert productivity hacks for musicians. Let’s get into it.
Make Music Everyday with Streaks
Making music everyday seems daunting and unrealistic, but even setting aside just TEN minutes is enough to help your creativity long-term. You can challenge yourself and make this task a little more realistic with the habit-tracking app Streaks. Streaks is a to-do list that helps you form positive habits. Every day you complete a task, your streak is extended, making it easy to track your progress and journey towards making music everyday. If you look at Streaks like a game, it can make it easier for you to feel diligent about making time for music. If you’re tackling a full-time job, kids, family life, or health matters, you can adjust your to-dos and set the specific days you’d like to accomplish your tasks each week.
Focus on One Song at a Time
Are you one to start something, get halfway through it, and then never pick it up again? This hack is for you. Start being diligent about only focusing on ONE song at a time. A study by Standford researchers found that the brains of people who multitask work less efficiently even when they’re not multi-tasking. The study also found that heavy multitaskers have reduced memory that are tied to attention lapses and media stimuli. One way to avoid becoming a statistic is to simply prioritize one song at a time. If you need to set a timer to set dedicated time to each song, try downloading the app Focus Keeper. Focus Keeper is a time management application that lets you set longer work sessions along with longer or shorter breaks. The app has advanced tracking and data analytics so you can see how long a song is taking you.
De-clutter Your Studio Space
The case for finally cleaning your studio is here. According to studies conducted by Princeton University Neuroscientists, our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganization brain our cognitive resources and reduce our ability to focus. These researchers also found that when participants cleared clutter, they were able to process information more efficiently, focus, and increase productivity. If you struggle in the cleaning department, try downloading the Tody app. Tody helps you manage your cleaning tasks and take back control of your space.
Plan Your Work and Set Micro-Goals
Establishing a loose plan before you go into your studio session or pick up an instrument can help you stay on track and feel more accomplished post-music making. Additionally, try setting micro-goals for each session so you have clear direction of what you’d like to accomplish. For some extra assistance, download the app Strides. Strides lets you pick a goal (the app even suggests goals), set a target, and specify the action you will need to take to turn the goal into a reality.
Utilize Productivity-Centric Online Tools
You don’t have to do it all alone. With our official list of the best organization, communication, and music-centric productivity tools, you can easily knock out time-consuming tasks that contribute to feelings of burnout and fatigue. Our list split up into categories so you can quickly pin-point which tools you need for your most difficult and consuming tasks.
Download Our Ultimate List of Tools to Increase Productivity For Musicians