Creativity is a habit.
And there's one universal thing that gets in the way of productivity...
Procrastination.
Procrastination is another kind of habit. It's like the opposite of creativity.
You already know this, but...if you want your songs to exist, you have to create them.
And if you're not finishing songs regularly, you want to work on developing the habit of finishing the songs you start...even when you feel like procrastinating.
How do you conquer procrastination?
The secret lies in habitually deciding what matters most to you. Start focusing on WHY you want to write this song and do whatever it takes to finish it.
One of the biggest challenges songwriters face isn't technique or the quality of their ideas...it's their own mind.
It's vitally important as a songwriter to become aware of your own thinking...to be mindful of your own mind.
Keep this in mind the next time you notice yourself procrastinating (maybe you're procrastinating right now?)...
Your feelings follow your focus. If you're procrastinating, you're not focusing on the reason why you want this song to exist.
Put all your energy into coming up with reasons why YOU WANT TO WRITE RIGHT NOW.
That's how you practice controlling your focus and your mind.
Solving procrastination takes practice. So practice these habits...
- Focus on what matters most to you
- Focus on all the reasons why you want something
- Be aware of the quality of your thinking
- Take action
- Finish what you start
Is there a song you’ve been wanting to finish?
Take an hour and finish it. Then write the next one.
Creativity is the best habit. 😀
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Well… this is a tweatable: “One of the biggest challenges songwriters face isn’t technique or the quality of their ideas…it’s their own mind.” Great!
Glad you liked it! 🙂
Right on Graham, get in the habit of creating.
Finishing the song is key: it’s not a song… until the last 10% is done!
I figured out how to write everyday… that made all the difference!
Absolutely! You get it!
Hey Graham! Nice concept! I really never thought about not finishing songs as a habbit… I start songs over and over again but I never go further than the first verse and chorus… I only finished about maybe three songs. Make creativity and finishing songs to a habbit seems such a obvious thought! Thank you for that 🙂
Glad it helped! One of the worse habits we can get into is the habit of not finishing the songs we start!
You’re absolutely right ! I finished 2songs in 1978 in my language. Of course, I was procrastinating with excuses most of the time, but first song motivated me as my first love walked out on me suddenly with no proper reasons that made me dream about her, felt hurt so bad and prompt me to finish it. Second one I was in one region of ppl who knew meas admirable singer, they demanded me a x’mas carol, I was at the conor, I finished it just 30mins! I support your teachingof other tech’too, both began with plots and just kept writing it.
Awesome! Keep up the good work! 🙂
You can tweak a song forever. But I think it’s good to finish it and move on to the next. In a few months you can revisit it and you may decide it’s just not very good and abandon it. Or you may think about tweaking it again. Just don’t get stuck on it too long! I think you stifle creativity by spending too long on one song. Improve your chances of writing a great song by writing more of them.
Thanks the the nugget of info. Ain’t nothing to if but to do it. Love the motivation it really helps as we all know this, sometimes you need a gentle push