🔕 Productivity Hacks for Composers

 Balancing my work as a composer, content creator, and educator can be tough.

To prevent myself from working weekends or pulling all-nighters, I employ six strategies to protect my time and maximize my efforts:

Plan Tomorrow (Today)

Take 10 minutes at the end of each work day to plan tomorrow's activities. Waking up with a premade agenda sets you up for success before you've even woken up. Do your best to keep other people's priorities from becoming your own.

Set One Priority Per Day

Each day, ask yourself:

"What is the one thing that, if completed, would make today feel like a success?"

Then go do it. Don't do anything else until that task has been completed. (No email, social media, or messages)

Batch Similar Tasks

For every time you switch tasks, there is a switching cost. To maintain flow, group similar tasks together instead of spacing them through the day/week.

(Record multiple videos at once, respond to all emails 1x / day, etc.)

Finish Small Tasks Quickly

Little to-do's snowball into impossibly long lists. If a task takes you two minutes or less to do, don't put it on the to-do list at all. Do it immediately.

Automate to the Extreme

When you catch yourself doing the same task over and over again, ask yourself:

"How can I automate this?"

Automate credit card payments, email responses, Paypal payouts--anything you can think of.

Make "No" Your Default

Every "yes" you give is a verbal exchange of future time and energy. You need time to reflect, to come up with great ideas, and to recharge. Learn to sharpen your "no" knife. If an opportunity isn't a "hell yeah", it's a "no."