As a musician, researching tips on how to grow your music career will result in a vast list of links to increase your YouTube views and master your Facebook ads. But what about information on how to balance the marketing with the branding with the recording with the financial planning with the personal life and obligations?
It doesn’t occur to us to inquire about such things because in the music industry we’re almost programmed to expect burnout. The thought of self-care is treated as a distant luxury, something to obtain once you’ve “made it” and “paid your dues.”
Prioritizing a healthy work-life balance is a growing practice in corporate America. Johnson & Johnson has been reaping the benefits from investing in a wellness training program for its employees. Wall Street heavy hitter, Goldman Sachs, has jumped on board, according to Business Insider, by hosting a biennial “‘Resilience Week,’ in which keynote speakers present on topics like happiness.” Silicon Valley titans like Facebook have been the leaders in paid paternity leave.
From lowering company healthcare costs, to improving attendance records, to increasing motivation and a shared vision for moving forward, the domino effect individual self-care has on the success of a larger team is a vast and powerful one.
Listen, I get it. There’s nothing “Rock-n-Roll” about saying you’ve gotten a full night’s sleep or that you’ve spent time with your family over the weekend. However, I find it dangerous when those who have made it use a lack of sleep to be the definitive piece of evidence to prove how hard they hustled to get where they are today.
It’s dangerous because it’s simply not true. It’s scientifically impossible. Did they pull some all-nighters? Sure. Did they have days, weeks, months, where they had no idea how they were ever going to survive? You bet. But to encourage not sleeping as the way to hustle & grind is simply misleading and counter-productive. There has to be a way to show you “hustle” without bragging that you don’t take care of yourself.
That’s why it’s high time we Redefine the Hustle.
Self-care is often painted as naps, bubble baths, and binge-watching TV. In reality, self-care involves working hard - but on the right things, in the right ways, while leveraging the right energies. It’s not about not having struggles, it’s about managing how deeply the struggles tear you apart and then using the lessons learned to your advantage.
I was just about 21 when I landed my first official job at a major label. It took 10 months and 5 different attempts at quitting that job before I sealed the deal. Why did I keep going back?
The full story is here, but in a nutshell, my boss warned me repeatedly that if I didn’t show up for work the next day I really didn’t want to be in this industry. I could walk out and there’d be 15 people lined up to take my spot for a fraction of what I was making (aka an unpaid intern).
When I finally left, a weight was lifted, and yet it took me close to a decade before I could truly look back without seeing it as a failure. I spent those next few years on my own dream, working multiple day jobs, priding myself on 2-3 hours of sleep a night. It wasn’t until my body officially shut down in 2013 that I realized I had lost track of why I wanted this all so badly in the first place; I lost track of what “this” even was.
I see similar stories in the clients I work with every day. They’ve lost track of their why and get caught up in trying to prove something they themselves can’t understand.
Below are three ways you can implement productive forms of self-care in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance while continuing to make progress in your career.
- Stay in your lane. Comparisons are a one-way ticket to Productivity Paralysis-ville. While it’s important to align yourself with similar people when marketing & branding your sound or your services, it’s toxic when measuring your own journey to that of someone else’s. When you hear someone bragging about how much they’ve done in one day, remind yourself that you don’t know how well they’ve done those things, how many times they’ll have to do those things over, and/or who they had helping them. Just keep doing your best and stay the course.
- Stay focused. When others seem to “find more hours in the day” their only magic trick is using their time more wisely. When you are working on a project, use apps like Forest to block out all notifications and distractions. Be realistic. Don’t attempt to finish a large project in one sitting. Take breaks. Get fresh air. Eat well. Avoid “shiny object syndrome” by mono-tasking. It’s already been proven by multiple scientific studies that multi-tasking is impossible, so stop lying to yourself and respect the time allotted for each task.
- Always know why and don’t stress the how. Before you get to work, be clear on your goals & why you want to accomplish those things. What do you want out of it? Why is this a priority? Being clear on the what & why of a task is crucial; the how is not. Not right away. That will come as you take more steps. Don’t avoid beginning page one because you haven’t figured out the full story. Do what you know, ask for help when you don’t know, and then re-assess each new step.
Self-care is about respecting your work and your time. It takes a faith in the process, trust in your own talents, and the courage to stay in your own lane to finally work smarter, not harder.