STAGE // Increase Productivity by Changing Perspective // Mannys STAGE (02 Jun 2023)

Getting Out of the Rut

When we approach creative tasks the same way for too long, we often find ourselves either finishing a lot of similar-sounding projects, or getting bored and losing motivation altogether. Changing your perspective can often lead to fresh ideas, solutions, and inspiration with which to round out your songs.

The beauty of a perspective shift is that it doesn't require you to skill up, try harder, or purchase fabulous new equipment. Simply inject a little bit of novelty and your brain should reset long enough to keep moving forwards. Ultimately, we all slip back into old (or new) habits but changing them helps keep things fresh.

Skip Around Like It's Hopscotch

The simplest form of a perspective shift when writing or producing is skipping around. If you tend to work in a linear fashion, try starting in the middle. Write the chorus and work backwards. In electronic music, work from the densest part of your track and start cutting back elements to make other sections - drop first, intro last.

However you normally do things, flip it. Your brain will reward you for the novel challenge. The same goes for production. Make a conscious decision to work in a different way to normal, even if it means a 'suboptimal' workflow. It may not always work out, but you'll be getting a fresh perspective on the task.

man sitting under a tree with apiece of musical equipment on his lap

Try Changing Your Environment

If this isn't helping, try changing your environment. This could simply mean tidying your music room or taking your most portable instrument to the park for a while. Remove distractions that might interrupt your flow. Close the door on your housemates, put your phone away, and clear your creative space of as much clutter as possible.

Ergonomics can also be an issue. Reorganise things so your most common and important tasks are the easiest to do. There's no point having a desk full of vintage synthesisers if recording and mixing them strains your wrist, back, and/or neck. If a task is uncomfortable, it creates an enormous barrier between you and completion.

Learn Something New to Play with

Another perspective shift can come from learning a new skill or tool. This doesn't require you to 'get better' so much as find something interesting to play with. Look up a new skill, technique, or piece of theory online and use it as the basis for your next track. Even if you ultimately throw it out, let it first spawn something else.

If you're uninspired by your sound, try writing on an instrument you've never used before - something free, borrowed, or improvised will do. Once you're in a DAW, pick a new plugin and try to use it as much as possible. Don't kill your track but try to push that instrument or effect to its limits and see what lies beyond.

Let's Get Physical (If We Have To)

If all else fails, get physical. Aristotle, Dickens, and Beethoven loved to stroll when thinking. Try going for a walk while you ponder your next task. Not only will this be a great time to look for inspiration, but mulling over creative problems will seem much less stressful when you're outside of the process itself.

Inside the studio, try attempting things with more physicality than they would otherwise require. Play your parts standing up, hit (possibly makeshift) drums rather than programming them, or hold your instrument in a way that requires you to discard your muscle memory and try a different approach.

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Increase Productivity by Changing Perspective

Getting Out of the Rut

Skip Around Like It's Hopscotch

Try Changing Your Environment

Learn Something New to Play with

Let's Get Physical (If We Have To)

Your Times They Are A Changin'

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