Once the hectic mess of getting a holiday celebration together is over, and all the mess cleaned up, take a breather and think about just what you want to accomplish musically in the next year. Get out your trusty pen and paper or just your computer if you prefer, and record your ideas so you can start at least thinking about and perhaps even moving towards those goals. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
OUTLINE
Writing a loose outline of what you would like to do is a good start. Think of contests coming up, write in gigs you may have appointments for already, albums or singles you have in the works, bands you may start or join or try to find to join, conventions coming up or workshops or classes you hope to attend. Put in those dates, and put them in the proper order as well as dates for deadlines to apply for them if you haven't already. Write in contact numbers for each of these so everything is in one central location and you don't have to think about where the information is. For that matter, if you have forms to fill out, lyric sheets or what have you, make sure you jot down the location of those items on this sheet, too, so you don't waste time searching for them when they are needed. If you don't have those forms, find them now and put them in an easily accessible place, send off for them or email or call the proper personnel so you will have this material when the time comes to meet that goal. Start to fill in the details underneath each main item if you can, and start thinking about inbetween steps you need to take to get to the final goal. If each jump seems too large, try brainstorming to come up with ways you can get to that target, and put them in subheadings under that outline section.
FIND WAYS TO PAY
Sure, you could really use a new pair of jeans, but wouldn't it be smarter to get your good microphone out of hock instead with that check from Aunt Bess? Wouldn't it be better to have a few new sets of strings for down the road if you KNOW you tend to break them? You might also entertain the idea of paying for some things early to avoid obnoxious surprise costs like accidentally bouncing a check because you forgot about the autopay you have for your Internet service, or just leaving any extra money in your account as a cushion against emergencies instead of hitting the 80% off sales at the mall for something you may never wear or use. Find the local garage sale sites online, and list items you have sitting around the place and take advantage of the fact that others have checks burning in their bank accounts they want to spend. Let them pay a few bills for you as you declutter your place so you have room in your garage to hold rehearsals instead of spending extra money on a practice space. Being considerate to your neighbors, as well, you might think about spending a little of that cash on insulation and soundproofing to keep the noise levels down or eliminating them entirely, as well as make it cozier to practice during the cold winter months or even save practice or sleep time not having to defrost your car windows because you have so much junk in your garage you can't get your car in there in the first place.
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