Music Business Time Management

By Jai Hutcherson

It’s a crazy, fast paced, world. Cell phones, sometimes multiple cell phones, email, IM, Myspace messages, and text messages all compete for our valuable music business time. Each one of these and many other “convenience” devices all add up to interruptions that pull us from our core function of artist or record label owner - running a music business. Yes, indeed, we need these devices to do the job of running our music business and stay connected to the world, but do we have to stop everything just because we get a call or text? Distractions can turn a simple project of writing a bio or press release into an all day event. Even worse, the distractions can make the bio or press release seem disconnected or jumbled by taking our attention away from what we are trying to focus on.

Music business time management is the art of managing our music business time to the highest level of completeness. This means we manage our time to get the most out of our day - not that we let time manage what we get out of a day. This is a very hard thing for most artists and record label owners, as there are so many distractions to pull us off the task at hand. By the time we get back to the task we realize that we only have a few minutes to finish up that press release to get it to the news outlet on time for tomorrow's edition.

If we practice tried and true music business time management ideas and concepts we can gain more time in our day to focus on the fun stuff of actually starting, managing, and profiting our record labels or artists' careers. Music business time management principals are not hard to understand or follow. However, changing the way we think and perform our daily routine is very hard. From the time we started our labels, or decided we wanted to be an artist, we have taught ourselves a daily routine. We follow this routine everyday whether we know it or not. Sometimes this routine is good, but in most cases we can gain more productive time in our day - limiting interruptions by simply scheduling time for interruptions, phone calls, text messages, and other things that can distract us from the daily, “productive routine,” of running our music business.

The following tips can help you maximize your productivity in the time you have available to run your music business or artist career:

MAKE “TO DO” LISTS:
This seems simple but in actuality it is very hard to follow. Making a list is simple. You just write down everything you think you need to accomplish. But writing a list that is prioritized and “doable” is an art form. Here is what I suggest:

Every morning sit down and write a ruff list of what needs to be completed in your music business. Include everything you can think of. Then look at the list and prioritize how the list needs to be completed. Put a number by each item. Next, try to estimate how much time each item will take to complete. Write the time next to the item number. Now, on a fresh piece of paper or on your computer make your master list in order of priority. Once you have your master list completed you will need to look at the times it will take to complete each item. Figure out your hours for the day. If you have more items than time in your day you will need to start a new list for the next day. Make these items 'priority one' on tomorrow's list.

Now, for the hard part. You have to actually follow the list. As you start your day you need to look at your list and go in order. As one item is complete scratch it off or place a check mark next to it, then go to the next item. Warning: You will have interruptions. If you have to stop what you are doing and put another fire out, once you have finished the interruption task go back to where you left off. This is important. You want to complete your list in the order you created it. This will give you more productive hours in your music business day. Do not forget to add email, phone, and breaks to your list. Do not just assume you will do it throughout the day. This is a time waster. Schedule when you will check email, make phone calls, and go to lunch.

EMAIL
Email is a huge time waster. Many folks will check their email all day long and not act upon the email until the end of the day or when they “feel” like it. This simply hurts your daily productivity.

Here is an example:

If you are constantly checking your email you are loosing focus on you current task at hand. Yes, it is good to reply to sensitive emails as quickly as possible, but that does not mean you have to do it as soon as it gets to your in-box.

Solution:
 
When you get to the office or sit down at your computer at the start of your music business day, check your email. Do not read each email then go back and take action. Take immediate action on each email you read. Once you have read and acted upon each new email, log out of your email program and move on to other tasks of the day. If the action requires thought, planning, or prolonged action to complete, start a list of “to do” items for the day.

Do not check your email again until after lunch. Schedule a half hour or so (You know how many emails you get, I don’t.) and take the time to read and act upon your new emails at this time. Again, act now, do not read all emails and then decide which you “want” to do rather than ones that seem fun to do right now. If you come across an email that is going to take more than 5 minutes to complete the action, then add the task to your “to do” list. Once you have read all your new messages, log out and move to the next task at hand. When adding your email to your completed “to do” list you may find that an action has a higher priority than another item on your “to do” list. This is ok, just add it to the list in the appropriate area.

Thirty minutes (Again, you know the volume of emails you will get in a day.) before the end of your music business day, log in to your email and check it for a final time of the day. Act now. Do not wait until tomorrow. Again, if the action will require more than 5 minutes, add the task to your “to do” list for tomorrow.


MEETINGS:
Everybody wants just a minute of your time. A minute is really about a half hour when you get involved. If just 5 people a day ask you for a minute, you just lost 2.5 hours of productive music business time. Yes, sometimes meetings can be productive. But most times they are just talking about actions that need to take place. I suggest scheduling time for meetings on your “to do” list. Ask the person what he/she needs. Then you can determine where and when it fits within your “to do” list. If it’s a priority add it up high. If it can wait until another day or time add it to that list. Spur of the moment meetings can distract you from accomplishing needed action items of the music business day. If you schedule your day, you will see a great increase in your music business productivity.

PHONE CALLS:
Limit your phone calls to 5 minutes. If someone calls you and needs something urgent take the time to discuss the needed action item, add it to your list in the correct position, and take the action when it comes time. If on the other hand, the phone call is discussing future plans, ideas, or concepts you will need to ask the person when is the best time for them to have a meeting. It doesn’t matter if it's in person or on the phone. What matters is that you are running your day in an efficient manner. If the action required on the phone call will take you 5 min. or less go ahead and take action. Otherwise, add it to your list in the correct position.

BONDING TIME:
All record labels and artists need time to just hang with the staff or crew. If you don’t, you will loose touch and your staff or crew will start to feel you are inaccessible. But, taking time in the middle of your day without planning for it will detour you from accomplishing your “to do” list on your time. I suggest scheduling bonding time in your day. Maybe not everyday, but at least 3 days a week you need to schedule an hour or two where you can just hang out, play video games, shoot some hoops, etc. This will give your team a sense that you care about them and want to be a part of the music business team - not just lead the team. Again, you have to schedule the time on your “to do” list to get the most out of your time.

You can start to see the point here. Music business time management is about scheduling your time and efforts to get the most from your day. I will write future ideas and concepts about music business time management, but this will get you started. Start thinking about your day and how much time you are wasting. Once you practice this great tool you will find more time to devote to your own personal life and will be able to reap the rewards of being a label owner or artist in the music business industry!