How can we balance our love of music with the thing we need to do at work?
A lot of people feel that listening to music while being at work is responsible for improving their mood. Some people even claim that it makes them more productive. Researchers found out that listening to music at work makes absorbing and memorizing new information difficult. However, they also indicated that it makes people more productive at work. There is a strong connection between listening to music at work and a better mood. More than 90% of the time people have positive experiences with music. The experience produces a mild and positive mood and being in the right frame of mind gets the work done.
Listening to music creativity and productivity at work
It was found that when you are in the good mood you are more likely to consider options and will not narrow down your focus. It is extremely useful for creative problem-solving. Therefore, music not only helps with productivity but also encourages creativity at work. However, the music you listen to must be of the right kind otherwise it creates a distraction. But, overall there is an improvement for those who enjoy music. If music is added to a workplace where employees do not particularly enjoy listening to it these effects are unlikely to occur.
Achieving a significant boost in productivity by listening to music at work depends on how good you are at work. It positively affects those people more who are not new to what they are doing and yet are also not experts. If you are considering a person that is an expert at work he or she may benefit in terms of mood but music is not likely to impact their productivity by much. Experts are going to perform well music or no music. But, if a person is moderately good at work, you will see a significant increase in productivity. For the novices that are learning the skill, productivity is not a question because they are still learning their craft but it does improve their mood.
Pursuing a career in music
When a diehard music fan looks into the mirror each day he or she can see a passionate music artist that is trying to make a living out of things he or she enjoys most. When you are attempting to turn your dream into reality you may be working at someplace that is not related to the art of supporting yourself and the family. Apple has moved towards a full streaming model and that is going to make a living out of music harder. Therefore, taking into account the direction the music industry is taking, how can we balance our love of music with the thing we need to do at work? Here are some suggestions.
Get any job
Some people think that the only way of making it as a musician is by diving into it. But if you do not have any real means to support yourself you must rethink this strategy. When you have responsibilities and people depending on you, this attitude can be downright selfish. Although some jobs are better than others, you will find certain workplaces that will be more conducive to pursue music. If you have reached a stage in your music career where you are enjoying a small following and do the night shows, a normal 9-5 job will be the best alternative for you. Most networking events from the music industry take place at night and during the working week. Therefore, if you can find work that needs daytime engagement you can keep the evenings free for the other career. This will also allow you to test how committed you are towards the craft.
Find creative ways of maximizing the time for music with minimum efforts
After you have married and have kids you can pretty much say goodbye to staying up till 2-3 AM to work on music. In this case, you will have to find a way of chasing your passion and yet fulfill the responsibilities of being a parent and a husband/wife. Technology can be your friend in the scenario. There are several smartphone apps available that allow you to develop music on the go. It allows you to create a process together with workflow and provides a small window of time for creating what you never thought was possible earlier. Of course, you will need to use the right tools such as the right audio interfaces from the alternatives available online for the music industry.
Be aware of what you are trying to accomplish and perform research
Although this might sound self-explanatory and obvious, many people struggle to get it right early. Many people are not sure about what they are trying to become in terms of music. They embark on a path they deem to be their goal. But, after you have a clear vision of becoming an artist you wish to be like, it becomes easier to organize your life suitably. There is a consummate need to know the ins and outs of what you are trying to achieve in terms of a music career. You not only need to be an expert in the craft but be aware of the business side as well. Technology can again be useful for this purpose. All business information about the music industry can be found online. The future for making money in the music industry could be wrapped up in licensing and publishing areas.
Create a workflow that works out for you
There are just a few DIY or independent musical artists out there that record in studios and work with engineers these days. For minimizing the time spent in the studio you will have to entrust the engineer to do some of the things. Otherwise, you will have to perform a lot of preparation and pre-production work from home. All artists have to be aware of ways of using ProTools or their version of ProTools software. All artists must know how to finish the completed music before they set their eyes on going to a mastering and recording engineer. There needs to be a starting and ending point for the creative process and it needs to develop eventually into a workflow or routine. This established routine or workflow allows an artist to utilize his time to the fullest and at the same time be productive within a short period.
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