The performing songwriter has a unique challenge when it comes to their second album.

They had a couple of decades or so to come up with the material for their debut, and now they need to write just as many songs in mere months — likely while touring and doing press to promote their existing record.

What's more, they now have to contend with public scrutiny and commercial expectations on top of that. They need to write hits.

Read More

One thing I hear a lot from those who are struggling to work for themselves (or to transition to working for themselves) is a tendency to put non-client-related projects on the back burner.

In the absence of real, actual, scary consequences from a boss or client, we shirk deadlines and procrastinate on the things we aspire to do for our own benefit.

The way around this is to treat yourself — your future self — like your boss or your most important client. In truth, that's what you are.

Read More

Sometimes, when I sit down to write, it feels like I'm trying to break into a heavily guarded fortress.

All of the times that was able to write so easily, when the ideas and words flowed smoothly, are no help. They didn't prepare me for this situation.

However, having now experienced the challenge of an elusive muse a number of times, I've got some better tools for dealing with it.

Read More

My mind feels mushy.

It's like I'm peering out from inside a cloud. It's hard to think or even hold up my head. It's definitely hard to write this.

I hit my limit this week. I had to do some work that is really hard for me. Objectively, it was the same "sit at the laptop and type" as always. But I was fighting a significant amount of resistance. Doing the thinking felt almost physically painful. Maybe it actually was.

Read More

I count the time spent staring off into space (and some days, there is a lot of it) as work.

The rule is that as long as I'm not putting something else in front of myself to distract me or otherwise trying to escape the present moment, it counts.

I know that it takes me about forty-five minutes to write and revise a blog post and another ten minutes or so to format it. However, it might take me a half hour beforehand to figure out what I want to write about. Therefore, I include that, plus a buffer, in my time estimate when I'm organizing my daily tasks.

Read More