Wallitner Weekly 20
Hello everyone!
A lot of productive things happened this past week.
I am back from vacation, but I am not home quite yet. I have been working from my soon to be mother in laws house. It has been great because everyone here goes to work during the day, so I am forced to be productive.
I made a massive to do list this week for all of the different plates I am spinning. This includes composition stuff, we well as music theory, web design, WallitGaming and WallitPlays and a few other odds and ends.
There is something so satisfying about crossing things off of a to do list, but also something so overwhelming to see all the things I have yet to do.
I’m back from vacation!
This week I plan to continue to cross things off of my massive to do list. I hope to return home by the end of the weekend. When I get there I have a specific project in mind.
My finacee suggested that I repackage the Wallitner Members page so that it better caters to schools. She, being a school teacher, thinks that it would be difficult to sell a subscription based curriculum to a school board. I am inclined to believe her.
I plan to simply move the content of the members page onto the main page of my website, this will make it much more accessible for both individuals and schools alike. Then I need to come up with an alternative membership plan so I can still have those discounted theory lessons and other membership benefits. At the moment I am thinking of using patreon, since my videos will also be posted through YouTube anyway.
I plan to come up with a onetime purchase bundle for schools too which will grant them access to other content. This would include a workbook/textbook version of my videos.
Distractions Destroy Dreams.
I heard this quote a long time ago and it’s always stuck with me. This has been a tough idea for me for as long as I can remember. I get easily distracted and that makes it hard to be a self employed individual.
Why would I sit and write a theory curriculum when I could hangout with my fiancée and watch tv instead. Why would I write music when I could play videogames. Why would I get up early when I could sleep in. Why do work when I could instead just play.
It’s not like I have a limited number or sick days or personal days. As long as I meet the deadline I can do whatever I want. That’s a really problematic mentality and I’ve been stuck in it for a while now.
I do a lot of stuff, but I could be doing so much more. I owe it to myself, as well as my family and my clients to do better.
I have a unique problem in that the thing that is most distracting to me is also when I do my best work. I am not the kind of composer who can sit at the desk and write. I need to be wandering aimlessly and stumble onto an idea first. THEN I can sit and write. Sometimes if I sit at the desk for too long it feels like I’m banging my head on the same wall for a long time and then instead of going around the wall, my thick skull breaks the wall down. Then people say “Wow great peace of music, you make it look so easy” and I say thank you and walk away with a headache.
But I realized recently that sometimes you need to keep your head to that wall and just do the work. Composition doesn’t happen that way for me, but music theory could, or game design could, or writing stories could.
Most people spend 8 hours a day at their job doing the thing. And even the thought of doing that with composition gives me a headache. Granted, then I’ll get an idea and spend three days straight without sleeping working on it.
The point is I could be a more effective worker in most situations. And I’m hoping to fix that by cutting out some of the distractions.
I’ve seen a lot of videos of people who are self employed that say “what if you did this one thing every day for a week/month/year. Where would your business be then?” And after giving that some thought, I think I’m going to try it. I’ve made my to do list, and I just need to cross one thing off every day. Some things are bigger than others, but it’s a plan that is measurable.
It’s going to be a long week/month/year at this rate. Usually I end these things with a more overt moral or message. I suppose even if you’re not a self employed individual, maybe there’s something you’ve been putting off for a while. Like redoing the cabinets in the kitchen, or building a fence, or even working out! Distractions are necessary breaks, but nobody gets anywhere when they’re always taking a break.
-Of course, life has ways of getting in the way of our plans. The internet is down right now, so I’m typing this WW on my phone. And I need to finish it quick because my fiancée will be here soon and today is her birthday. I’m allowed to not work on birthdays right? Even if it’s not MY birthday? Right?
