A slightly special welcome today to our newest Room to Record member — and member #19. This one happens to be my sister, Sandra - which means she has had considerably longer than most of you to observe my tendency to start ridiculous creative projects and then somehow keep going with them. Room to Record is growing slowly, but very deliberately, and every new person makes it feel a little more like an actual community rather than me rearranging furniture in an empty room. So welcome aboard Sandra. And since you’re here: tell us what you’re working on, making, recording, writing, avoiding, or trying to finally finish.

Welcome Samuel! Great to have you in Room to Record. Have a look around, jump into the Classroom, and introduce yourself when you’re ready. I’d love to know what you’re making and what your current creative space looks like. Everyone else, say hi to Samuel 👋

Today has already included working on the marketing for a local music festival, selling some music gear on eBay, shooting my first test video in the car, and juggling a number of tasks in my day job. I still need to (in 5min) do a school pickup, soccer practice (just watching my son), and a band rehearsal tonight. I’m starting to think one of the useful creative skills isn’t “finding more time” at all. It’s getting better at recognising what kind of creative work fits into the gaps you actually have, and which of the 100 things you're doing are useful for some of the main projects. Ten minutes in the car might be enough to record a thought. Fifteen minutes might be enough to sketch a post. Half an hour might be enough to move a song or project forward. The perfect empty afternoon remains a charming myth!

I know there are a lot of people, like me, who have big plans, lists and deadlines. But life as John Lennon once said, it what happens while you are working on those. Sometimes though, there is still momentum and productivity that can be harnessed, so: What can you still make progress on when you’re stuck in bed / waiting in the car / killing time somewhere?

I am still working on my first video, and have of course achieved a large number of adjacent procrastination tasks while delaying and working on it! I cleaned the room, I bought and built a $20 shoe rack which will serve perfectly as a 3-tier keyboard stand, and I updated my resume. But - I have also I think completed the theme music, found the perfect camera position, worked out how to make sure the audio is in stereo - and I am about to try out the intro and outro slides, with the music and my rough take from yesterday. So - I think I am still on track to release the first video TOMORROW. In other words, the WORKFLOW is good, the work itself needs a little push!