How to achieve work life balance as an independent musician
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for creativity and longevity. Check out these self-care strategies to help you avoid burnout and thrive.
In many cases, the music industry demands relentless creativity, long hours, and a constant online presence, making it challenging to balance work with personal well-being. For independent musicians, the pressure to succeed can often lead to burnout. Practicing self-care isn’t just a luxury; it’s essential for a sustaining a career and being able to enjoy your success.
We’re going to list some simple but highly effective strategies and explain how to achieve work life balance as an artist. You can weave each of these into your life, or just one. Either way, it’s a step towards protecting your mental health, finding balance, and ultimately enjoying your music career more.
Define boundaries between work and personal life
Maintaining a separation between your work as an artist and your personal time is critical to achieving balance. It can be easy to blur the lines. After all, if music is your life then how do you distinguish between work and play?
This involves setting boundaries around your working hours, such as designated times for songwriting, rehearsing, or engaging with fans. It’s important to treat your personal time as sacred – whether it’s spent with family, friends, or on solo activities. Resist the urge to let work intrude on your downtime! Letting your collaborators or clients – even your fans – know about your boundaries helps create a healthier, more sustainable routine.
Prioritise sleep
As a musician, late nights and erratic schedules are common. However, consistently neglecting sleep can seriosuly hinder creativity and physical health. While some high-profile people claim to have built their empires on as little as 4 hours sleep per night, the negative effects on your body from getting less than 7 hours a night are proven to be manifold.
You need to prioritise rest to recharge and improve your focus. Even short naps can make a difference, allowing you to stay sharp during performances and recording sessions. Just don’t do a Leonardo Da Vinci and only take 20 minute naps periodically instead of actually going to bed at night.
You can improve your “sleep hygiene” and better your chances of a peaceful night’s sleep in a number of ways. Minimise screen time before bed to avoid disruptions in your sleep cycle, and avoid caffeine or other stimulants near bedtime.
Relieve stress through exercise
Regular exercise is a funny one. For some people, it fits in their schedule as easily as brushing their teeth does. For others, it’s something that falls into the category of “things we simply do not have time for”. And that’s totally understandable. Musicians often face hectic schedules, intense and demanding practices or touring plans. Surely a sit down and a rest would be more beneficial than exercise?
Well, physical activity not only helps maintain your overall health but also acts as a stress reliever. If you’re commonly under intense mental pressure, incorporating regular exercise, whether it’s a gym session, stretching, or a simple walk, can help release tension. Additionally, keeping your body strong will give you the stamina needed for long tours or demanding studio hours.
Take regular breaks
When you find yourself in the flow of creating, it can be really tough to take breaks. Why would you interrupt the magic that’s pouring out of you, or disrupt the carefully cultivated focus you’ve managed to obtain? Still, while this can be sort of unavoidable sometimes, you shouldn’t make it a regular occurrence to never give yourself a break.
Scheduling short breaks throughout your workday allows you to step away and reset your mind. Just as importantly, make sure you schedule larger chunks of free time to unwind, pursue hobbies, or spend time with loved ones. Guarding this time ensures that your personal life doesn’t get overshadowed by the demands of your music career.
Structure your day
You don’t have to plan out your day to the minute, but adding some structure to your plans helps considerably with time management. Independent musicians often juggle multiple responsibilities, from creating music to handling promotion and business tasks. Having a structured daily routine, even if it’s flexible, can help manage the chaos.
Start by breaking down your day into distinct blocks of time for various activities, such as rehearsals, social media management, and personal relaxation. Keeping your workday organised prevents tasks from blending into personal time, helping you stay focused and productive while giving you room to enjoy life outside of music.
Enjoy hobbies outside of music
If music is your passion, then it can easily become your whole personality, your whole life. There’s the old adage that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s a lovely idea, but even if you love your work, it’s still work. There’s no substitute for personal time, and part of that is mixing up the things you enjoy recreationally.
Whether it’s reading, painting, cooking, or another creative pursuit, engaging in hobbies unrelated to music provides an essential break from work (or an activity that might resemble work). These activities help you relax, refresh your mind, and often lead to new sources of inspiration. Having a diverse range of interests also prevents music from consuming your entire identity, creating a more well-rounded and balanced life. Everyone needs a hobby (or two!).
Summing up
Balancing your music career with a fulfilling and healthy personal life is no mean feat. However, it is an important thing to master in order to forge a sustainable career as a musician. By setting boundaries, planning your time wisely, and avoiding music taking over your entire being, it is possible to enjoy a well-rounded personal life alongside your growing music career.
Incorporating these strategies will allow you to create a routine that helps maintain the energy and creativity needed to succeed in enjoying both your personal life and work life.