Smarter Time Management for Working Musicians
MAKING YOUR BUSINESS SUSTAINABLE
I’ve watched a thousand musicians burn out, flame out, or stall out completely.
Not because they weren’t talented.Not because they weren’t passionate.
But because they had no plan for their time.
They treated music like a hobby—until it demanded more than they could give.
If you want this to be a business—something that pays your bills, grows your brand, and gives you freedom—you need to get serious about time management.
Not tomorrow. Now.
Questlove says it best: “Discipline is the difference between what you want now and what you want most.” (2018)
You want the career? Then plan your time. Don’t just drift from gig to gig wondering why you’re exhausted and broke.
The first lesson is that Music = 50% and Business = 50%.
Playing the actual gig is a tiny part of your job.
✅ Rehearsal.
✅ Booking.
✅ Promotion.
✅ Communication.
✅ Travel.
✅ Admin.
If you don’t plan time for these?
These tasks will bury you.
Your music deserves more than your leftovers. As do you.
First step: identify your priorities.
What actually moves your career forward?
Not what feels good.
What actually works?
👉 Learning new material.
👉 Tight rehearsals.
👉 Updating your promo assets.
👉 Sending pitches and follow-ups.
👉 Engaging with venues and fans.
👉 Tracking your finances.
If your week is full of “just jamming,” you’re not working—you’re avoiding.
Dolly Parton, one of the hardest-working musicians alive, puts it simply: “It’s hard work to make it look easy.”
The show is the tip of the iceberg. The planning is what keeps it afloat.
No one’s coming to impose structure on you.
That’s your job.
✅ Create a weekly schedule to set aside time every week for:
Practice
Admin and communication
Marketing and socials
Booking outreach
Rest and personal life
Don’t overstuff.
Be realistic.
Your goal is sustainability—not heroic self-destruction.
James Brown didn’t mince words: “You’ve got to pay the cost to be the boss.”
Managing your time is paying that cost.
Think of your career like a farm.
✅ Practice = planting seeds.
✅ Promo = watering them.
✅ Admin = maintaining the field.
✅ Gigging = harvesting.
Ignore any one of them too long, and the whole system collapses.
You’ll see the gaps in your income and reputation immediately.
This next one’s critical - how can I avoid burnout?
Evaluate REST and RECOVERY and TIME OFF as part of your work commitment.
Your voice? Your body? Your mind?
They’re your instruments.
✅ Schedule days off.
✅ Protect your sleep.
✅ Stay hydrated and fed.
✅ Know when to say no.
Help Musicians UK’s Musician Mental Health Report 2023 makes it even starker: 80% of musicians report stress and burnout risk, with poor time management and admin overwhelm as top drivers.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You already have free access to so many tools for staying organised.
✅ Use Google Calendar or a diary to block time.
✅ ClickUp for task management.
✅ Set reminders for invoices and follow-ups.
✅ Share Google Calendars with bandmates.
✅ Use Google Sheets to track gigs, contacts, payments.
Being organised isn’t “corporate.”
It’s professional.
It saves time so you can use it where it matters.
And this isn’t just old-school wisdom. The Australia Council’s Artist Work Time Study 2023 found professional musicians average 50–60 hours a week on music tasks—but only ~30% is actual performance. The rest? Practice, admin, promotion, planning.
This is the truth a lot of musos don’t want to face:
You’re a small business first. Your offer? You as a Music Artist.
✅ You manage staff (bandmates).
✅ You negotiate contracts.
✅ You do marketing.
✅ You handle accounting.
✅ You deliver a product.
Accept that responsibility. Expect business-level results.
The IFPI’s Global Music Report 2023 says it clearly: professionalisation and planning are critical skills for career longevity. The industry isn’t asking for this because it’s corporate. It’s asking because it keeps you working.
Time is the one thing you can’t make more of.
But you can choose how to spend it. And you can make space for your future.
Waste it chasing your tail, panicking before gigs, missing emails, forgetting invoices?
You’re leaving your career in the dirt.
Plan it.
Prioritise it.
Protect it.
Because if you do?
You’re not just surviving in music.
You’re building something that lasts.
✅ Sources:
Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2025
