Too much of a good thing will eventually get tiresome.
Case in point: I've been on "vacation" more or less since the middle of June.
(I say vacation because although I was "off work," my daughter got an ear infection, we all got COVID, and then I fell down a flight of concrete stairs and broke a rib. So, not exactly chilling on the beach sipping Mai Tais but technically not "working.")
With only a few check-ins here and there with my assistant and some careful planning ahead of time, I'm able to take the type of vacation that's unheard of for most people.
Especially Americans.
So I took off for a month to Iceland so my parents could get to know their granddaughter better.
I skipped over to Denmark for a long weekend to enjoy everything the Danes have to offer (I love Copenhagen, one of my favorite cities in the world).
Then I took my in-laws sightseeing all over Iceland so that they could enjoy the geysers, the waterfalls, and the hot springs.
But in between that I just relaxed, read, thought about the future, and played video games.
(...and y'know...dealt with all those disasters I mentioned above...)
I'd love to tell you that I accomplished some lofty goal like Read-100-Books-in-One-Month but honestly, I just chilled out and enjoyed my home country.
But like I said, too much of a good thing gets old fast and I could find myself getting bored and antsy.
I enjoy creating the content at Audio Issues, making new products for my students, and helping musicians and producers succeed.
So although it was a welcome reprieve from the business, too much laziness just leads to lethargy.
Now that I know that I could take this sort of time off, I think there's a better way.
A more balanced way where you don't completely disconnect, but allow yourself the right combination of work and play that makes you feel accomplished professionally while allowing yourself to enjoy the leisures of life.
So next time I might take off even longer, but I won't disconnect completely. Working on a project makes the reward of taking the afternoon off more worthwhile.
It's about balance and I think I overcorrected and swung the pendulum too far in one direction.
It's like listening to a mix on a speaker that doesn't have any low end.
You might think there's no low-end in your mix so you end up adding a bunch of low frequencies but that just makes it all muddy everywhere else.
The real solution is to find the right balance where the song shines.
Sometimes you need more bass. Sometimes you need more treble. Sometimes you need more cowbell.
And sometimes, you need to get my Audio Issues EQ here so that you can find the right EQ balance you need for your songs.
(You didn't honestly think I wasn't going to sell something here right?)
To a better balance 🍻
Have a great start to your week,
Björgvin