8 months to make an album (which wasn't very good). Doing pretty much NOTHING else work-wise.
That was my 2017.
After the relative success of my first album, "Smorgasbord", I was lucky enough to get a decent chunk of cash from a label to make my second.
That gave me what I thought was "enough time" to make a much better album.
BIG MISTAKE.
In my decade of coaching, I've lost count of the number of music producers who come to me because they've taken time off to focus on their music...
Only to find that they're making WAY LESS than they did when they didn't have "enough time".
Have you ever spent a weekend focusing on your music and got nowhere?
You've experienced a miniature version of the same mistake.
This is NOT your fault. (Unless you're blaming yourself for being a human being!)
To show you a way through this common conundrum, let's compare me in 2017 to me in 2022.
You see, I rarely feel “busy” at this point in my life.
But I get a lot done...
We have 4 boys under 12 who we homeschool. (To be 100% honest, my wonderful wife Sally is in charge of the education, and I focus on the boys learning over my weekends.)
My other "child" (this Make Music Your Life coaching organisation) is VERY demanding...
I coach one-to-one.
Respond personally to emails from you.
Make new videos.
Create new training.
Deliver 2 live sessions every week.
Manage a team.
Train 10 coaches.
Write emails like this.
I (almost) always cook dinner for the family.
Oh, and I make a shedload of music too. Recently, 524 tracks over 17 months.
I'm not saying this to boast. I'm grateful to be so lucky to end up where I am.
I have my challenges - and I'm not a hard-driving A-type.
I'm disorganised. According to the Big 5 Personality test, my "Orderliness" is in the bottom 1% of humans. I also have pretty severe ADHD.
I've laid out what I do each week to help you gain a different perspective.
Despite my personal uselessness, here's how I manage to do all that AND not feel "busy":
I invest a significant portion of my time (and money) in learning, developing and practising skills which allow me to do more high-quality work in less time.
But for me, training habits, practices and systems to help me make better in less time are ALWAYS my priority.
Because while they take time to do...
This time is almost immediately "recouped". Because I can do more, some of my available time is "released".
But that's not where it ends.
The time I invest in practising these skills MULTIPLIES FOREVER.
I call this type of training, practice or strategy a:
"Time Multiplier"
Now, instead of giving you examples of the Time Multipliers I use, it’ll be way more valuable to find your own.
“Thoughtnado” (my word for “Brainstorm”) a list of possibilities for each question:
“What do I already do which increases the quantity and/or quality of my output - in the same or less time?”
“How could I increase the time I invest in these habits, methods or training?”
“What am I not doing which would increase the quantity or quality of my output - in the same or less time?”
“How could I start investing in these habits, methods or training?”
You might find you have to remove some of what you do now. Particularly the “Time Dividers” (a subject for a different email.)
But once you’ve identified a couple of Time Multipliers, here's how to use them to create infinitely more value for you and others:
This week, double the time you invest in "Time Multipliers"
When it shows up, re-invest a portion of the "released time” in another Time Multiplier or increase your investment in a current one.
Repeat
...through this ongoing process, you're exponentially increasing what you can do in less time...
FOREVER.
Put it this way - if you KNEW you could multiply your time infinitely, would you wait until you were "less busy" to do it?
That would be like saying:
"I'll start healthy eating and exercise when I've lost weight."
The question is - how will you ensure you are no longer busy, so you can invest more time doing what you love?
Here's how:
Invest in your Time Multipliers.
Onwards & upwards,
Mike
"Time is not infinitely flexible. What you do is."
P.S. If you'd like to make much better music in a lot less time - the Magic Music Machine is the ultimate Time Multiplier for your music...
In fact, I'm working with a new group of music producers to double the quality and quantity of your music over the Summer - no matter how busy you are.
We'll start next weekend. If you're interested, hit reply, and I'll get you all the details...
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