Our need for balance
I hope you had a great summer! I sure did. We have experienced one of the hottest summers in Sweden's history and now we are looking forward to cooler weather, sweaters, Autumn leaves, and hot chocolate. There is something good about balance.
My husband is back at his job as a teacher in a multicultural school, all my adult kids are off to their jobs/college again and everything is finally getting back to normal. It was great to have them here, but it was difficult to do any music this summer when all I wanted to do was be with family. ❤️I'm looking forward to getting my hands back into mixing the Change My Mind album after a summer of relationships. More about the progress of the album at the bottom of this blogpost.
Somehow we need the abnormality of summer vacation to appreciate getting back to work. We need to soak in the rays and fry on the beach, reading a book or two and drinking in the silence around us in order to appreciate having something important to do later on. Just lying on the beach all year long is not fulfilling. Working without rest all year round is not an option. A heathy body, soul and spirit are all about finding a balance.
How to get balance
1. Write down everything that you need/want to do
n today's hectic world, we can have difficulty finding balance. I often feel stress coming on when my expectations exceed my abilities. I've learned to recognise the warning signals and put my inner car into neutral in time so I don't crash. Writing down what my needs are and what needs to be done is the first step in removing the stress from one's back and putting it on the table where it can be controlled and administered.
One great help on getting the stress off ones back is to is to plan the day. Some do it on paper and some use an app like Wunderlist. I choose Wunderlist because it shows up in all my devices and I don't lose those small scraps of paper called do-lists.
2. Prioritise in four quadrants!
There are many ways to do this. You can find many great tips on the Internet - just do a quick search with the words, "planning" or "digital do list" and choose one that works for you. When I feel like I can't fix my day with Wunderlist because I can't think clearly about what is most important to do first and there are many things to accomplish, I write them down on a piece of paper that I have folded twice, creating four quadrants. I name the quadrants so: "Important and urgent"(I&U); "important but not urgent" (IBNU); "not important but urgent" (NIBU); and, finally "Delete from Today's Worries" (DFTW). After all some things are more important/urgent than others. Diving up my tasks in this way helps free my mind and makes it very clear what really is worth doing first.
3. One brick at a time
As an indie musician/songwriter/producer I have millions of things I should do: making new music; editing songs; social media posts; etc. All I can do is one thing at a time.
"Rome wasn't built in a day but they were laying bricks every day" - James Clear. All we can do is lay bricks. When we lay the right bricks every day, according to a plan/priority list, we can build amazing things. When I create music I need to break down each project into smaller ones and adjust one thing at a time. If I thought of all the things that need to be done in order to get this album done, I would pack up and go get a job that pays instead. Keeping my eyes on the goal and dividing the project into doable smaller tasks help me continue forward with less stress. Of course I want to get done asap, but I won't get there if I don't build one brick at a time.
Don't let chance determine your outcome. Choose your bricks and lay them carefully.
Update:
About the album. I have begun the process of sending final mixes, one at a time, to a professional mastering studio in Australia. They, in turn, tell me what needs to be fixed in the mixes I've done in order to be able to get the mixes to commercial quality with sonic consistency (that they sound great on all devices). It means that I have to adjust the mix of each song and submit them again and this process takes time. Meanwhile I am doing the final mixing on the song Our Father. I've added strings, made the bass line stronger and better, and adjusted timing issues. Today I am going to continue this process. I work tirelessly for you because I want so much to give you this piece of my heart.
Here's a picture from my webbdesign session (today). Check out the updated homepage.
Here's hoping that you have a great start on the things that you will be doing after your vacation.
God bless!
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