In this post, I show you how time-management is actually role-management in disguise. Understanding the different roles in your music career and personal life will strengthen your decision-making and productivity. Furthermore, you might have an outdated concept of what an artist is and does which is working against you.
Read this post to find your ways of balancing and managing these roles more efficiently.
Words are powerful.
We use on average around 27.500 words as an adult. We give these words meaning through our specific worldview, by the culture we’re part of and the Zeitgeist we live in. Sometimes vital words get cemented in meaning when we are teenagers and remains mostly unchanged and unchallenged through adulthood. Often, we find ourselves even today unaware of how these often narrow and out-of-date definitions impact our current concept-of-self and decision-making on important matters.
Without asking you to analyse and reshape your entire worldview, let’s take a closer look at one specific word: artist.
I Am An Artist
During your teens and young adulthood, you probably build an image of what an artist is and does. Do you remember yours? Depending on your expectations built on this image, attending music academy and experiencing the reality of being a professional musician was somewhere between a smooth proces and a total shock. Expectation-management they call that. For young artists, a more correct term would probably be Dream-Management.
Maybe you had musical idols whom you saw live, read interviews about, hung posters of in your bedroom or watched videoclips of. Is it safe to say that you developed an idealised version of their lifestyle and career?
On the bright side, if we are similar in this sense, it got the fire burning and got you on the track of becoming an artist.
Turning Pro
Great so far, but it has a downside when turning Pro.
Defining yourself as an artist is a statement of identity. An artist creates art. At first glance, it brings clarity and purpose to your actions. But, on further exploration, it also creates a dichotomy between Art and Everything Else. And that Everything Else is where the trouble starts, because that second part makes the full story of being an artist.
What it means to be an artist today
The technological advancements of the last decades gave artists unparalleled independence. Now, you as a DIY jazz artist can obtain tools for distributing your own music, building a fanbase and recording your music in high-quality at home, just like Jacob Collier. And all this and much more, for a fraction of the investment this would have cost less than thirty years ago. Empowering developments indeed.
However, on the flipside, it also means that previously separated responsibilities shifted from the specific professionals (cg. publicist, distributor) to the artists themselves. This is possible because platforms changed. From a physical press kit to a website/EPK, from MTV to YouTube, flyers and billboard to Social Media, FedEX to Mailchimp, and from physical global distribution to Spotify.
Artists are now in control of their own platforms and it changed what it means to be an artist.
Did your definition of being an artist catch up to this current reality?
Role Management
I prefer the word role over task.
Tasks are chores. Things you have to do. They can feel external. Not a part of who you are and what you (want to) do.
Roles, however, are personal. Roles are parts of who you are. That gives them meaning and makes them essential to being you. It makes them easier to accept and harder to ignore.
So, what are your basic roles as an artist to balance and perform?
Three Main Roles
I recommend distinguishing three main identities when analysing your different roles. You as a human being.
You as an artist.
And, you as a business.
Each of these interconnected identities has different fundamental needs, goals and relationships.
For you as a human being, the ‘7 Dimensions of Wellness’ offer a clear starting point with which to build a holistic sense of wellbeing. These seven dimensions are: Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Social, Occupational (Financial) and Environmental. At some point, neglecting any of these dimensions for too long will get you crashing down. So yes, reading a good book (intellectual), doing sports (physical) or spending time with your friends (social) matters. Make these priorities in your life and allocate time for them. Not only your work needs planning.
For you as an artist, to be fulfilled and successful, you need to create (great) art. Which requires you to, among other things, rehearse, perform, record, compose, write lyrics, and do artistic research. Most of these need larger blocks of time to be effective, like composing for 4 hours.
As a professional artist you are also a business. Most jazz artists are registred as Sole Traders and operate as a mix of being a freelancer (services for hire) and as an entrepreneur (cg. starting your own music school). According to the Business Model Canvas, as the CEO of YOU, there are 9 building blocks to work on. These are: Customers, Value Provided, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partners and Costs. Understanding these building blocks in your specific business will give you an overview on which to prioritise your daily work. To explain the Business Model Canvas in more detail is beyond this blog post. However the below video is a great introduction to this powerful and visual method.
The Balance Myth
I know. Balance in life is a myth. There is no way that you can keep all these dimensions balanced all the time. Things happen. Like Corona. And we’re not machines that can dutifully carry-out our daily routines 365 days a year. I also believe in the healing power of ‘doing nothing’, daydreaming and aimlessly wandering around. Not every single action and thought needs to have a purpose.
However, to be a professional artist means making a sustainable living of your art and related strengths. These foundational building blocks are what will enable you to create art. To be an artist with all your creative strengths at your disposal. Therefore, taking care of your human needs, artistic needs and business needs should be non-negotiable. In fact, why don’t you call these dimensions non-negotiables? Things you have to do to be you. That way, you will have a music career and a family. Or, a music career and a healthy body … You get my point.
Time-blocking
Create a week plan with blocks of allocated time for these different roles in life. This technique is called Time-Blocking. For time-blocking to happen effectively, it’s important to know yourself and what times throughout the day would work for you in order to best fulfill that specific activity. As an artist, it’s important to experiment until you have a good idea of when you’re most creatively productive. Once you figure this out, you can plan the rest of your daily activities around these times.
Pieter Schoonderwoerd
Your Jazz Career
Find an empowering ebook on developing your artistic vision and writing a compelling artist biography here.
I’ve been coaching jazz artists for three years to achieve their creative and professional ambitions. If you are interested in a personal coaching session, you can read more about it here.