Do you want to save time as an artist? Because pressure these days is killing. With an online world where anything is possible, the competition has gone up for you as an artist. Therefore, you not only need to compete with your idols such as Ed Sheeran or Adele, but you also got to compete against your neighbor or even your own sister! Not fair! In this article I will share my top 10 tips for you to save time and money as an artist. Making you more efficient and more focused.
Who am I?
Maybe it’s your first time on my website and maybe you already know me. My name is Ljamis Khalaf and I am a music producer from the Netherlands and the owner of Daddynervs Music. In my studio I’m writing emotional piano ballads for singers. With my articles, such as this one, I am helping by sharing my mistakes, my vision and my opinion.
For over 25 years I have played the piano and this is why I am making piano ballad instrumentals. I have written music for artists in the USA, Europe and Asia. I have also written for movies and shortfilms. One even got nominated for best musical composition!
In this article I am going to talk about how to save time as an artist. This way you will not only save time, but also money, get songwriting motivation and songwriting inspiration. Alright Let’s Do This!
Do you recognize yourself in not having enough time, not having enough inspiration, motivation and even money? How on earth are you going to become a successful artist huh? If you’re thinking that you’re not worth it, stop hating on yourself. It’s not taking you anywhere. Instead, I am going to share some eye-opening tips for you.
Disclaimer: You may not like dome tips, but they are necessary to become successful. I’m not kidding.
First, we’re going to take a look at things we should quit doing, then we are going to take a look at things we can change in order to become more efficient and last, we are going to take a look at things that will keep us in this state forever and ever, and ever my heart and I will love you”
1: Stop Watching Netflix
Oke this is the biggest subject of this article so better to get it out of the way first. Let’s go.
Artists are usually not the ‘normal’ kind of people. They express themselves in a way that they want to, which songs, lyrics, dancing whatever it takes. People who are considered ‘normal’ are people who do the normal things in life. And one of those things is watching Netflix series.
And no, it’s not wrong to watch Netflix or tv in general. But it’s very very very very very wrong if you have goals in life and at the same time are binge watching stuff you don’t need.
Now take a look on how much time you’ve waisted.
Stranger things – 21+ hours
Squid Game – 8+ hours
Orange is the new Black – 90 hours+
Friends – 88+ hours (people watching this 2, 3 sometimes 20 times…)
The Big Bang Theory – 139+ hours
Now the fun part for me is to educate you that you have been thinking wrong. Because you were probably watching this for relaxation. Sitting on a couch, not moving, not working on your goals, eating shit food and laughing your ass off. Boy oh boy what are we relaxing..
But.
Watching TV, series, movies etc. feels relaxing, because in your body, endorphins will be released that make us feel wonderful. So, watching tv can be an effective way to relieve stress.
But…
So is sex, porn, drugs, alcohol, and watching the Kardashians.
Now I’m not saying watching Netflix is bad, but look at the time. And there are probably more series you’ve watched, Prison Break, Breaking Bad, Lost, Spoiler Alert: Lost was a dream.
If you’ve watched all the series I mentioned above, and Friends twice, you’ve watched 434 hours.
That’s 18+ days. But… let’s say you have a job to go to, and you are traveling 1 hour to your job, to work 8 hours and 1 hour back, spend 2 hours cleaning and eating, perhaps 1 hour at the gym and 8 hours sleeping. How many hours you’ve got left? You’ve got 3 hours left… PER DAY!
Now divide the 434 hours by 3. That’s 144+ days my friend.
Add Game of Thrones with 175 hours, Breaking Bad with 62 hours, House of Cards with 130+ hours, Lost 220+ hours and the office US with 74+ hours.
That’s 434+175+62+130+220+74 = 1095, let’s say 1100 hours. Divide this by the 3 hours you have in a day to work on your goals it’s 366 days. That’s a year waisted and another new year’s resolution gone to waist.
So let this sink in and know that you don’t have to stop watching TV. Just decide on what you want to watch and why.
I do believe a relief of stress is something good. But usually, binge watching series will cause lack of sleep, which causes a lot more shit in your life what you just don’t need.
For me I have chosen some things to watch and I am watching television for 3 to 4 hours a week in stead of… you do the math.
It will save you a lot of time especially as an artist. You will see in time that you will start to develop your creative mind because it has more space to think. You will thank me later.
2: The life destroyer!
If there is something that is destroying all social life on earth it’s a device that is used to be social. Your phone…
People and especially young people are losing track of reality. Thinking that owning a Gucci bag is normal, while mom and dad can’t afford to pay for electricity. And the freaking best part of it is that people are letting the phone destroy their lives, mom and dad who are struggling to pay the bill, buy the Gucci bag for their kid. Like WTF?
How many times are you on Instagram just scrolling around? How many times are you on tiktok? And don’t lie to yourself, because you probably got like 82 followers who you don’t even know that well, but you’re trying so damn hard to get more followers. Making tik tok dances, being a semi cornstar if you are a woman and dressing up as a woman if you’re a man, because it’s your character. This is called entertainment… Well… if that’s what you want to do, then why are you reading this? This is for people who want to become an artist and perform for a big crowd on stage. Go away if you have other dreams…
Back to business.
The phone is distracting you. And you are allowing your phone to do so.
Remember the time you thought you had your phone, but actually you forgot it. And when you checked to see where your phone was, you had a nervous breakdown? Your heartbeat going up as if you are running a marathon.
Well… That’s called fear. So, what are you scared of?
I tried it all. Muting the phone, disabling all notifications, blocking it with apps. It did not work, because I had my phone with me.
Muting and disabling notifications doesn’t help shit, cause you’re just going to grab it and look at it.
Blocking it will annoy you, so you will delete it eventually.
What works is not having your phone near you. When I am working, I don’t have my phone. And it works!
So, when you are writing music you should remove your phone. You don’t need your phone to express yourself. You may have 1 exception and that is when you are writing to instrumentals (like you should).
Then you need to listen to instrumentals and then you may need your phone. But it’s better to have the music somewhere else so you can stay off your phone.
For example on a PC or laptop (with YouTube) or on a USB stick in a sound system.
3: Investigate the sound you like
You may or may not have artists that you like to listen to. You’ve developed a certain taste in music and you have a perfect vision of the way you would like to sound.
But do you really know how you want to sound?
The reason I’m saying this is because I’ve worked with a lot of artists who tell me I want to like artist X. When I make them sound like artist X, they don’t like it, cause it’s not their sound.
Your sound is not only the lead vocal, but also the backing vocals, harmonies, ad lips, ooh’s aah’s mm’s, the way you pronounce certain words or breathe etc.
You need to know how your voice should be translated. If you know this. You will be 1) More professional and 2) You will save time and money in the studio. And the producer or engineer will be thrilled to work with you. Because they can actually do what they love to do, in stead of dealing with how to make you sound.
Investigate all artists that you like, listen to their music to see what kind of vocals you hear, and determine what you like and don’t like.
Do the things you like and add a bit of yourself in to it and don’t do the things you don’t like. It’s that simple.
4: Make a 1 to 3 list
A 1 to 3 list is a list used in time management so you can reach certain goals within a day.
You write down the following
One:
1: The most important thing you have to do today (70 points)
Three
1: Something else you need to do today (10 points)
2: Something else you need to do today (10 points)
3: Something else you need to do today (10 points)
There’s a lot more to this method, maybe if you like to learn more and comment it below, I can make a blogpost about an artist’s bullet journal.
But as you can see you can earn points, 100 total. And you can see the ONE is the most important one.
This method is based on the fact that it’s better to do small things every day in stead of doing big things sometimes.
Try it out. You will see that the ONE will cost you more time, so you will get creative to dived the ONE in to other sections so you can have the full 100 points and grow each day. Oh and by the way, you can only start the THREE list when ONE is done.
If you are doubting about how, you should write your ballad, you can always listen to your favorite ones a
5: Eat leaves like you’re Bulbasaur
Have you ever heard of the phrase “You are what you eat”?
It’s based on the fact that if you eat shit, you’re shit. Simple.
There are a lot of diets and foodies out there claiming to have something that will improve your whatever. It’s important that you feel energetic. So, if you’re reducing carbs, going Paleo, or vegan. Make sure you are eating the right things for you so you have energy.
Leaves and green vegetables should be eaten daily. I’m no food guru so I can’t advice what works best for you body. But I am eating 400 grams of green veggies and leaves a day and I am full of energy.
Oh and don’t forget to cut out the shitty foods in your diet, because this will affect your performance as being an artist. Too many sugars can put you in a procrastinating state 1 hour later. So be wise when it comes to food.
6. Exercise
Just like eating the right things, we have to exercise frequent. But it costs time, so how is this time management right?
Well… I believe to have the right focus, your physical and mental state should be calm and in balance. We are going to cover mental health in a moment. So hold on for this one.
Exercising is things like swimming, running, fitness, whatever makes your heart beat faster. But to achieve a calm and balanced physical state you should lift, no matter your gender. Go grab something and lift it.
At the gym, lift as heavy as possible.
When running, go through the forest and grab a big heavy branch and place it over your head.
Lifting heavy will make you feel powerfull, and when you are feeling powerfull, everything is possible. In other words. Lifting heavy contributes to your mental health.
7. Mental health
Meditation, visualization, affirmation. These are the three things that will get you in a healthy calm and balanced mental state.
Mediation is good for breathing and connecting with the universe to let the universe know you are present.
Visualization is a way of connecting with the universe and asking for your goals to come true. You are visualizing the small, large or even end goals and you are working towards them. Visualization is also a great motivational exercise for your mental health.
Affirmation is only needed when you are in a negative state. Affirmations will reprogram your mind over time in a positive and ‘can do’ state so you can achieve your goals better, faster and bigger.
8. Relax
Relaxing is a way to charge your battery back to 100% It is necessary! Once or twice a week you should go and recharge your battery. How? You go and have some fun. Go for lunch, dinner. For a long walk with someone. Your best friend, partner can come along. Go for ice cream. Just spend 1 to 4 hours having fun and doing nothing but having fun and connecting with yourself or with the one you are with at the moment.
9. Hydrate
Alright we’ve covered almost everything. But I didn’t talk about water yet. Hydrate yourself with water. But don’t overdo it. Too much water will increase your blood pressure, because your blood is becoming thinner with every sip of water you take.
What works for me is drinking around 3 liters / 0.8 gallons a day in 4 to 6 times.
Drinking Scheme
- Waking up 700ml (0.2 gallons) (4 glasses)
- 10 am 350 ml (0.1 gallons) (2 glasses)
- 12 pm 700 ml (0.2 gallons) (4 glasses)
- 15 pm 700 ml (0.2 gallons) (4 glasses)
- 18 pm 350 ml (0.1 gallons) (2 glasses)
- 21 pm –350 ml (0.1 gallons) (2 glasses)
10. Use instrumentals
This one I can’t say enough.
Hip hop is very popular and there are a ton of rappers out there. Because they are using instrumental beats. It saves them so much time!
Singers however, haven’t discovered instrumentals yet.. Why? Because they are stubborn. Thinking they can do it better and thinking you can do it all by yourself.
Turn it around!
Search for inspirational instrumentals and write lyrics to them. Buy the instrumental and record the song. Release the song and repeat the process. It’s really that simple. Have a listen to some of my instrumetals for free by downloading them. I’ll send you 30+ free instrumentals including a license so you can use them for a while if you like. Sign up below.
