Truer words have never been spoken. Thanks @Dillan Taylor for hosting the work deep dive last week. I always find it interesting to get new perspectives and apply them to what I'm doing. I've done a lot to optimize my work over the past few years. A lot of the pieces like defining the work, or setting timers, or such have been getting baked more and more into my system/processes. That said, I think the idea of clearing distractions is important -- and by extension cleaning up workspaces (digital and non-digital). There is something about clutter in the workspace that just makes things feel worse. A subtle sense of overwhelm or another negative ping of "I know I need to deal with this but haven't". It's one of those things that I find eats at me in the background the longer it sits, and the thing is, work is a day to day thing. It's in those small choices/changes where things are either made or not. Every video I make is an hour by hour/day by day thing. As much as I love going ham for like 20 hours to make something -- very very rarely is that done in a single day. This means I need to foster a good working environment for myself everyday since I only have a few hours each day to get work done. There's also something to be said about different types of mess/clutter/distraction. Physical, emotional, lifestyle, diet, whatever. Lots of things impact the way I work day to day, so it's a bit like trying to remove or improve all those little decisions because it is rarely "I binged a sam's large pizza by myself and can no longer move plus my workspace is covered in pizza box+plates+soda cans". (Don't get me wrong, I do this every once in awhile lol). It's more like "I only slept 7.5 hours last night so I'm little tired.... so eh, I'll just leave this plate here on my desk for now instead of walking it down stairs.... and it's probably fine if I open up this extra tab on YT. I do really want to watch this vid.... Maybe I can just check my phone for a few minutes while watching this thing, I mean I do want to respond to everyone...." and then doing that 4 days in a row will create quite the pile up.

Congrats to @Wyatt Watson for becoming Grindstone's first moderator! He's here to keep all you scallawags in check. 👀 Wyatt is one of our day 1 creators, and has been the most active and engaged community member by far. He was so good at our creator games, we had to promote him to remove him from the leaderboards. You've come a long way sir. Can't wait to see what another 12 months will bring you. 😊 Welcome to the team!

What do you guys do to refresh yourself during your free time? Being a parent, working, juggling content and my marriage, it's a lot. Need to find a way to reset my brain when I feel overwhelmed or up against the clock!

Hey everyone, trying to be more active and I finally got my mobile app to work again. How was everyone’s weekend and what are your goals for this week?

I'm going to reach out to a handful of artists I love who seem to be making a great living from their music. The goal is to get some help defining a blueprint of the key areas where I should be spending my time as I strive to build a following and a sustainable source of income for myself. A "You did this already and, if you were me today, what would you do?" approach. I'd love feedback if anyone has experience with cold outreach like this and has some extra time! Here's the draft: -------------------------------------------- Hey [Artist's Name], Hope you’re doing well! My name is Scott, and I’ve been following your career for a while, supporting mostly via drum packs, Twitch, and Spotify. I’m constantly inspired by the way you’ve built your career. I’m a part-time music producer, working hard to learn how to go full-time and I’m hoping you could share some advice. 1. What would you focus on if you were in my shoes today, someone with little to no following (about 1300 on Instagram) who consistently posts, creates, and shares their music with the world? 2. What would your top three priorities be as you think about earning a sustainable income stream? I want to fully support myself (the goal is 100k+ a year) so I no longer have to supplement my income with a job outside of music. Everyone’s path is different, but any insight you can share would be hugely appreciated as I work toward building something sustainable. Thanks so much for your time and for everything you share! Best, Scott