Today I wanted to share my #1 productivity hack with you.
Over the years I’ve explored various ways to make the most of my time. There were a lot of days I found myself spinning my wheels with busy-ness and minutiae, but didn’t feel like I was moving the needle much as I wanted to. Being busy is very different from being productive. Being busy means you’ve got a lot to do… (tasks for days) However, when you’re productive it means you’re producing a result toward accomplishing the things that matter most to you.
In the context of creating success in voice acting it all came down to one thing for me:
Creating success is a big responsibility because it means you’re quite literally bringing something into existence. A career in voice acting (whether part-time or full-time) takes time, action, and focus. No fancy apps required, no complicated systems or processes. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and get some things done try some good, old-fashioned focus!
A few ways that I apply focus to my days to get results as a voice actor?
Well, to start, I have a ritual everyday that signals my brain it’s time to work.
After making my bed, going on my morning walk & showering, I like to turn on some ambient chill music in the background. (Everywhere in my home except for in my home studio. Thank you SONOS). I fire up my essential oil diffuser. Today is peppermint. So fresh and invigorating! This setup puts me in an extra good mood, and mindset is everything. Then I put my phone in another room (no temptation to even look at it). I close any open tabs on my computer, except my daily pinned tabs & I shut off all of my notifications. Once I’ve eliminated the main culprits for distraction I’m able to get to work. Distractions and interruptions are not your friend when you want to make an impact with your time. And over the years I’ve found it’s all of the teeny-tiny things pulling at us that eat up so much of our valuable time.
Treat your moments as sacred – because they are. If you don’t claim your time, someone else will.
I spend a good chunk of my day auditioning, doing live directed sessions, admin work, quoting/billing, and serving students and clients. I find that using one part of my brain at a time works way better for me than jumping around in a more fragmented approach. For example, I like to do my auditions in 2-3 batches each day. When auditioning, I love getting into a playful, creative headspace and only focus on that! I do 10 auditions in the morning, 10 after lunch, and on the nights I’m not teaching I’ll do a round of auditions at the end of my work day. That means I’m regularly getting 20-30 auditions in most days. To some people that seems like a lot. To me this is my livelihood so if I want a steady booking stream I have to show up and put in the work. After doing a block of creative work in my booth and editing/submitting those reads I then like to shift gears and do some admin work, check my inbox, etc… I’ll zone into those types of tasks for 30 minutes or so at a time (maybe more – it depends on the day)… And I find taking short breaks throughout my day helps keep me energized. I’ll even power nap if I need to! My point here is focusing on similar tasks in blocks of time really helps accomplish a lot and will leave your brain feeling way less tired or overwhelmed.
The two biggest time sucks I see:
Social Media & Spam calls! LOL. I’m kidding about the spam calls – sort of. How many times has your phone pulled you away from a great conversation or moment? Be the boss of your phone, not the other way around and you’ll thank yourself later. And anyone who asks me for “how to get more done advice,” I always say to set a time limit on your social media playdate with yourself and honor it.
Lastly, saying yes to people and things ya really don’t wanna do is a huge disservice to yourself.
In addition to staying focused, learning to say no will also help you achieve things that are most important to you. This one took me a while to get the hang of because I always love to be helpful and make people smile. But at the end of the day you want to be happy, and sometimes that’ll mean saying no… Which really means saying YES to yourself!
So, up for February’s challenge? (I thought so)!
This month is all about focus and saying yes to YOU. Maybe some of the suggestions I shared above inspired you. You can apply these ideas outside of your VO life too!
Ask yourself these questions:
What distracts you the most?
Where is your extra time being gobbled up?
What changes can you make in your daily life to practice the art of focus?
And who or what do you need to say no to?
Will this be easy? Nope. Will it be worth it? Hell yes.
Welcome to “Focus February,” where you are the boss of you and your precious time. Now let’s surprise ourselves and move that needle together.