When starting a productive or creative project, I find myself exaggerating the need for new tools, gear, or equipment before making any actual creative output.
- I’d probably write some great songs if I just had that new guitar or amp.
- It would be fun to do a podcast. Now, what are the best microphones.
- I would get more exercise if I had a nice new pair of running shoes, or maybe an Apple Watch.
- I could really get some great writing done if I had a new workspace, or a new desk and chair.
It’s obvious procrastination. Goods tools are important, but I often have what I need already. I at least have what I need to get started.
I’ve been enjoying playing guitar more again in the past year or two. I even started a bit of recording.
Next thing I knew, I had to have a bass guitar. Precious evenings were lost to scouring the internet for just what bass I should buy. Recognizing my premature leap to tool acquisition, I’ve tried to reverse the process by making a deal with myself.
Rather than thinking, if only I had a new bass guitar, I would write all these songs, I’m trying this instead: If I write and record five actual songs, then I will buy a bass.
They don’t have to be good songs, but they have to exist. As Chris & Dave repeat in the opening of each episode of their ShopTalk Show podcast: Just! Build! Websites! (replace building websites with whatever it is you want to do).
I can write and record songs without a new bass. If I never end up writing or recording anything, then I know it would have been a wasted purchase anyhow.
It’s been about six months so far, and I’m about 10% of the way to my goal. For those doing the math, that means I’ve got about half of one song. It remains to be seen if I’m someone who writes and records songs, or just a person who thinks of themselves as someone who writes and records songs.
Solid advice! Back in my serious musician days, we used to refer to people who bought a ton of gear but didn’t play well as “instrument owners”. It’s remarkable how easy it is to fall into that trap and become a treadmill owner etc.
David Lynch, in “Catching the Big Fish” (quoted by Van Neistat in https://youtu.be/r8bzWKBvZsEt):
“Some mornings, in a perfect world, you might wake up, have a coffee, finish meditation, and say,“Okay, today I’m going into the shop to work on a lamp.” This idea comes to you, you can see it, but to accomplish it you need what I call a “setup.” For example, you may need a working shop or a working painting studio. You may need a working music studio. Or a computer room where you can write something. It’s crucial to have a setup, so that, at any given moment, when you get an idea, you have the place and the tools to make it happen.
If you don’t have a setup, there are many times when you
get the inspiration, the idea, but you have no tools, no place to put it together. And the idea just sits there and festers. Over time, it will go away. You didn’t fulfill it—and that’s just a heartache.”