In the music industry deadlines are king. Everyone works to a deadline which enables the process to flow from one department to another.

It is therefore important that you learn to manage your time as effectively as possible, putting the most effort in where it is most critical.

There are some tasks which do not require much effort or concentration in order to get them done. When you are under pressure, consider delegating these tasks to someone more junior than you.

There are some tasks which are repetitive but time consuming – for example labelling recordings, setting up sessions or backing up files. Try and make these things second nature, i.e. so you don’t have to think about what you’re doing but you’re still getting it right every time. This will leave you with the mental capacity to think about other things while you are doing the repetitive task.

Some things will be more urgent than others, prioritise these tasks to ensure they are completed before the less urgent items.

There is a difference between important and urgent, sometimes something can be urgent but not important and sometimes something can be important but not urgent. If it’s important AND urgent, then get it done as soon as possible.

Avoid distractions. If something needs doing and time is of the essence, do what you can to minimise the risk of someone talking to you or the television distracting you. Once you stop thinking about something, it can take time to put your head back into that space again.

Plan your time. Write down everything you need to do and estimate how much time each thing takes. Then use a calendar or diary to allocate the appropriate amount of time to each task.

If you fall behind at least you will know you are behind and can do what you can to catch up. Without the plan, you won’t even know you’re about to fail.

Time is Money. Every wasted minute has a monetary value. If you are wasting time, you are wasting your ability to earn money and you are potentially delaying other people down the chain from earning their money too. If you are in a recording studio, that will cost money to run. Use your time plan to maximise your use of time and other resources.

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