Balancing work and beats

[charlietoohuman]

What's up everyone
Long time lurker on these forums. Been wanting to be more open for awhile so I might as well start off with a topic that hits close to home for me.

So I work fulltime as a server (and occasional food runner/food truck cashier) for a tapas joint. I have been working there well over a year and to tell you all the truth, there really is nothing to complain about it. The team there is excellent, there is little to no drama or tension between co-workers, and pretty much everyone works together like a family unit.

My current issue though is that I clock in mad overtime. This past week was 55 hours total, which means good money for me but stifles my creative flow and takes away time from making beats. I have felt my creative energy slowly dissipating over the past months and have not pumped out beats as often as I used to...

My main question is: how do you all balance your work life with your passion? (making beats in our case)

I've been mad frustrated lately because work does get in the way. I guess it goes with that old saying that if you love it enough you will find time for it. But that's easier said than done.

I had to move back in with my parents, so I guess you could say I'm a little more privileged in this situation. But to those on a hard grind and who have families to take care of, any advice?

[rak]

hey yo! its nice to see you again around man!

i cannot really help in this situation cause i'm not working yet. but i have felt things like totally no inspiration and stuff while real life is blocking my beatmaking time.. i only have to tell ya don't discourage yourself! cause

life's a bitch and then you die
thats why we get high!

(dope remix you did on your wat. tape!! still banging on my headphones from times to times!!!)

can't wait to listen to new stuff from you!! one love

[nobdy]

yo, i feel you man.

It sucks cause when you get home you're fucking toast and all you want to do is veg out.

What has helped me is to set a schedule for yourself and make a time slot in your day to make music and not worry about anything else. Even if it's just an hour or so, you can power things up and work on snippits at time.

[ellaguru]

My current issue though is that I clock in mad overtime. This past week was 55 hours total, which means good money for me but stifles my creative flow and takes away time from making beats.

damn...55 hours!
keep strong

[charlietoohuman]

hey yo! its nice to see you again around man!

i cannot really help in this situation cause i'm not working yet. but i have felt things like totally no inspiration and stuff while real life is blocking my beatmaking time.. i only have to tell ya don't discourage yourself! cause

life's a bitch and then you die
thats why we get high!

(dope remix you did on your wat. tape!! still banging on my headphones from times to times!!!)

can't wait to listen to new stuff from you!! one love

what's good rak! good to see some of the SC fam on here. Glad you enjoyed that track. I definitely need to pay attention to what AZ was spittin. I actually haven't blazed in a good minute lol

Thanks for the support homie. We should definitely link up for a collab if possible.

What has helped me is to set a schedule for yourself and make a time slot in your day to make music and not worry about anything else. Even if it's just an hour or so, you can power things up and work on snippits at time.

Good idea. I appreciate the advice, man. The only problem is that my schedule can be very very random. So, it's hard for me to determine when I can I put in time for music. Lately I've been just doing some stuff early in the morning, but I really need a full day to really make something of quality.

I don't want to say that I'm close to quitting my day job, but I'm pretty damn close lol

damn...55 hours!
keep strong

yeah man :-/ thank you

[Dirty Banks]

Got the same problem.
Full-Time job, (now pregnant) wife and responsibilities.

But it's a matter of good balance.
While she is watching tv or whatever, i just grab my 202 or 404 with batteries and headphones and just jam on the couch.

In the weekend i intent to spend more time in the home studio to work out those loops i made on the couch.

But try to find the balance, is all the advice i could give you.

[charlietoohuman]

Got the same problem.
Full-Time job, (now pregnant) wife and responsibilities.

But it's a matter of good balance.
While she is watching tv or whatever, i just grab my 202 or 404 with batteries and headphones and just jam on the couch.

In the weekend i intent to spend more time in the home studio to work out those loops i made on the couch.

But try to find the balance, is all the advice i could give you.

Thank you man, and congrats on your way to becoming a father. Your responsibilities far exceed mine at the moment lol

I actually did last night exactly what you told me. Just oulled out my 404s (og and sx) and sketched out some nice little loops. Lost a couple hours of sleep because of it, but it was definitely worth it.

I'm going to try to be a little more active on these forums. Its definitely going to help in the long run.

[squ!L]

Same here. Got 2 Kids and a job which steals a lot of time. What i like about this "madness" is that when i find the time to make music (and don't fall asleep stoned or watch some random stuff) i'm really inspired and really appreciate the free time. But it drags me down a lot too. I tried making a little bit of music every evening but it wasn't really satisfying. Something in my head tells me to stop wasting time at a stupid job and spend a lot more time with music. The idea feels better and better and maybe one day i actually quit the job and only do what i like.
But i guess most producers on here have some time consuming stuff to do besides music. I wonder what other people write about this issue. Hope to find some more inspiring words as i already found a lot on this forum. Great (depressing) topic!

[dr00py]

Missed u chawlz

tbh I downgraded my job in order to have more time to be creative, suffer financially for it but that's the road I chose. I'm a lot happier with less money and more free time, but that's privilege u know.

[Dirty Banks]

Got the same problem.
Full-Time job, (now pregnant) wife and responsibilities.

But it's a matter of good balance.
While she is watching tv or whatever, i just grab my 202 or 404 with batteries and headphones and just jam on the couch.

In the weekend i intent to spend more time in the home studio to work out those loops i made on the couch.

But try to find the balance, is all the advice i could give you.

Thank you man, and congrats on your way to becoming a father. Your responsibilities far exceed mine at the moment lol

I actually did last night exactly what you told me. Just oulled out my 404s (og and sx) and sketched out some nice little loops. Lost a couple hours of sleep because of it, but it was definitely worth it.

I'm going to try to be a little more active on these forums. Its definitely going to help in the long run.

Tnx mane. It's gonna be aight tho. I'm gonna be spending more time at home instead of outside, so i guess i'm gonna be more productive on the sp's.

tbh I downgraded my job in order to have more time to be creative, suffer financially for it but that's the road I chose. I'm a lot happier with less money and more free time, but that's privilege u know.

Ah man. That's what i was thinking. Spend less time working (40 hr. work week), and more on life itself. Family, Beats, etc.

[KIYANI]

If you don't have kids then take all that cash you have earned, pack your sampler in a bag and book a plane ticket to somewhere. 55 hours of work in a week is inhuman in this day and age. Go and do the same job in a new country where you will get paid twice as much!

In India a month's rent cost me about two hours work here in Australia in the bike shop. Its madness

This system we are in is by no accident, its been carefully engineered that we have the best time of our lives taken away from us!

''The real reason for the forty-hour workweek:
The ultimate tool for corporations to sustain a culture of this sort is to develop the 40-hour workweek as the normal lifestyle. Under these working conditions people have to build a life in the evenings and on weekends. This arrangement makes us naturally more inclined to spend heavily on entertainment and conveniences because our free time is so scarce.''

interesting

http://www.filmsforaction.org/news/your ... _designed/

[charlietoohuman]

Missed u chawlz

tbh I downgraded my job in order to have more time to be creative, suffer financially for it but that's the road I chose. I'm a lot happier with less money and more free time, but that's privilege u know.

YOO dr00p. What's good bro. Did yall finish that split tape without me? lol.

Where you work at? I'm thinking pushing for a part time at my place, but I'm still in a transitional phase from one position to another.

If you don't have kids then take all that cash you have earned, pack your sampler in a bag and book a plane ticket to somewhere. 55 hours of work in a week is inhuman in this day and age. Go and do the same job in a new country where you will get paid twice as much!

In India a month's rent cost me about two hours work here in Australia in the bike shop. Its madness

This system we are in is by no accident, its been carefully engineered that we have the best time of our lives taken away from us!

''The real reason for the forty-hour workweek:
The ultimate tool for corporations to sustain a culture of this sort is to develop the 40-hour workweek as the normal lifestyle. Under these working conditions people have to build a life in the evenings and on weekends. This arrangement makes us naturally more inclined to spend heavily on entertainment and conveniences because our free time is so scarce.''

interesting

http://www.filmsforaction.org/news/your ... _designed/

Mannnn, I swear yall are going to turn me into this guy with this advice:



lol, but foreal I'm diggin that article.

[rak]

yo charlie check your inbox mate!!

[sorry for being offtopic, gonna delete this ]

[dr00py]

Mannnn, I swear yall are going to turn me into this guy with this advice:

YOU BETTER DROP A DILBERT TAPE NOW

[l i f]

This system we are in is by no accident, its been carefully engineered that we have the best time of our lives taken away from us!


interesting

http://www.filmsforaction.org/news/your ... _designed/

A companion-piece:
http://www.openculture.com/2015/10/bert ... rking.html

To adress the OP, my kids are 15 and 12 now - when they were younger it was a lot of work, but I was younger too - I'd stay up half the night workin on music just to get up and go to work in the morning... would gig as often as I could too.. honestly found that the more I put into creative outlets the more I was inspired and energised in my work as a teacher.

Now that they are getting more independent I have more time (in effect) for creative-work, but found that my relentless burning the candle at both ends took its toll on me physically and I did suffer burnout. I still do late nights but I have to catch up on sleep when I can.

I have always found that I do my best work when I technically don't have time. When I have a day off for example, I struggle to complete creative tasks and usually get projects done by working on things in any spare minute I have, even if it's only 5, 10, 15, etc minutes at a stretch until some family-thing comes in. My wife is fairly understanding/supportive though it can get on her nerves sometimes... but I was a musician when we met and fell in love & nothing is going to change that..

AntiPopAdvice.mp3