Does your day job enhance or hinder your creativity?

[RABid]

I think my first job really helped. It was mostly manual labor at a coal company. That job ranged from shoveling coal to analyzing samples in the lab. Most of the time my mind had nothing to do and my imagination kicked in. I did everything from practice songs in my head to contemplate the relationship between sub-atomic and astrological physics. When I got home I was ready to play and ready to create. My current job is mind intensive. Mounds of regulations to study, computer systems to manage, meetings to organize, policies to write. No central area to focus on. Many days I go home in a mind-numb state. The right side is throbbing and the left side is afraid to kick in. I think my current job definitely hurts creativity. I was going to stick in a disclaimer about those who play music as a primary job, but hey, playing all night may affect your creativity. Robert

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Hinders, completely. I've worked in professional audio manufacturing for over a decade. I'm surrounded by gear, people talking about gear, people designing gear, people building and shipping gear...all day long. When I get home, the last thing I want to do is record with yet more gear. But strumming a guitar can still be fun. :) - Jeff

[Tiny G]

I've pretty much given up on playing, writing, or anything to do with music in my off hours. I listen to talk radio on the way home and only buy a few CD's a month now (mostly for reference, not enjoyment). But my day job is recording and mixing. . so I guess I just don't have the energy left over for my own stuff. It's funny because the reasons for getting into engineering are not the same ones that keep you in it, or that make you good at it.

[Franknputer]

Sucks my creativity - but it's done wonders for my post count. :D

[progfusion74]

I am lucky that my day job, as a scientist, is my 2nd passion, so my job and music give me a nice balance between the two different sides of my brain. prog

[Ultravibe]

Depends on the day. Some days I sit behind a console and record audio and video of nurses giving lectures. Some days I edit video and audio. Some days I render to CD or DVD. And then, sometimes, like the past week, I sit after I send off snippets to my bosses and wait whilst they analyze and critique it. Then, after twiddling my thumbs waiting (I'm quite fast at it now! Possibly an Olympic level thumb twiddler!) I make a small change, send it back and wait some more. These days, I get home and all I want to do is play music. The other type of day, I get home and just want to veg in front of the TV.

[Hippie]

My job hinders my creativity. Too tired most evenings although I try to play at least 20 minutes. Matt

[bearded yeti]

Well, on the one hand, my job entails working long hours and being away for weeks and sometimes months at a time, with no music at all. On the other hand, there is a lot of downtime during which I have nothing but free time to be musical. I'd have to say that overall my job enhances my creativity. :) Ashley

[Gus Lozada]

Being a cool company´s Manager of Tech Support... It really helps... and the toys I have rule :D

[Tedster]

My "day" job entails rotating shifts, and it stifles the hell out of my creativity.

[patrick_dont_fret]

I work in a sub shop. Not subway or blimpie, but a good one that serves good food. We have one of those slicer things, that you cut meats and cheeses on, and the bottom of it is hollow

[patrick_dont_fret]

I work in a sub shop. Not subway or blimpie, but a good one that serves good food. We have one of those slicer things, that you cut meats and cheeses on, and the bottom of it is hollow. We play music on the radio, and when there's nothing else to do, and no ones in the store, I beat on it like it's a drum. I play bass, so I'm already rhythmically gifted (some say, anyway), and you can get all sorts of cool sounds out of it. The banana pepper jars also have a very cool sound to them, as well as the grill, using spatulas, of course. I think it helps, because I get burnt out of making sammiches all day, so music relaxes and cleanses my soul.

[kenglish]

I handle the design, build, installation, and repair end of things during the day. Also, work some varying shifts. Coming home at night, I mostly just want to listen to music or (halfway)watch TV....not work on the editing and mixing I really should be doing! It might help if I had a dedicated room for the recording stuff, too. When I do get time to record, I often get sidetracked on something technical, like rewiring, or something I "just have to stop and design" :) .

[Kris]

Hinders.... with all the computer work I do, my hands and wrists, (and back and neck for that matter) are starting to feel the effects of RSI... I'm looking forward to getting out of the computer business and putting my hands on a big fat Neve/API/SSL permanently... Hell, with ProTools taking over the world, I should be able to get one pretty cheap in the near future...

[Steve LeBlanc]

hinders.

[The Bear Jew]

I'm a writer. I actually write for two different sorts of magazines -- the promotional products industry and music mags. It's not as much fun as you'd think. Some of the promotional products industry people are far more interesting (and friendly) than the musicians. So does this line of work hinder or help my music? I dunno. I've worked for all kinds of companies --video stores, donut shops, arcades, human rights organizations, market research companies -- and I always managed to find a way to do my thing musically while I did my day job. I don't worry about being creative. I just do it.

[Botch.]

[quote]Originally posted by patrick_dont_fret: [b]...when there's nothing else to do, and no ones in the store, I beat on it like it's a drum. I play bass, so I'm already rhythmically gifted (some say, anyway), and you can get all sorts of cool sounds out of it. The banana pepper jars also have a very cool sound to them, as well as the grill, using spatulas, of course. I think it helps, because I get burnt out of making sammiches all day, so music relaxes and cleanses my soul.[/b][/quote]There's a Lucille Ball episode there! :D :D :D I travel a lot with my (non-music) job. Listening to an alternative station in San Francisco one week, biting into a deep-dish slice in Chicago the next, hiking through Sedona AZ in the evening the next week, enhances your life and hence your music. Plus the flight time gives me the chance to catch up on my Keyboard/EQ/Sound on Sound reading!

[Gulliver]

Definitely hinders. Our production studio makes spots for the (many) Estonian radios. I deal with 100% pre-recorded music (from our huge ad-music library) which then has to be sliced, cut and combined with various speaks. If it was hard day (such as today) then I'm unable to do any composing or recording at my home studio later that night. Hey, I feel like squeezed lemon right now... But it has positive moments though. When it's not so much work I can listen to my favorite music (without scaring the shit out of my colleagues working in other rooms), make some private calls and most important - visit these pages (at the moment I do this from home though). :wave:

[RobT]

Writing software helps sometimes and hinders others. I suppose anything could become mundane after a while. For the most part it keeps me thinking.

[Dan South]

I don't think my job has an effect on my creativity one way or another. Ideas can come at any time. Having the energy to bring those ideas to conclusion is another matter. Bottom line: no job, no gear.

[Gulliver]

[quote]Originally posted by Dan South: [b] ... Bottom line: no job, no gear.[/b][/quote]Yeah, right! I forgot about this all important aspect of one's day job.

[zele]

Both of my jobs are in the "artist" vein--So they compliment each other....Photographer/engineer C Jo Go MUSIC http://fp2k.redshift.com/cjogo/crystalrecording.htm PHOTO http://fp2k.redshift.com/cjogo/select_a_portfolio_below.htm

[Dan South]

Nice photos, zele. I'm not a big B+W fan, but I can appreciate your compositional skills. I'm guessing that you used a view camera for the photo of Sacre Coeur due to the conspicuous absense of converging verticles. :thu:

[miroslav]

[quote]Originally posted by Kris: ...with all the computer work I do, my hands and wrists, (and back and neck for that matter) are starting to feel the effects of RSI...[/quote]Tell me about it!!! The last year or so, my neck hurts pretty bad some days...and the last couple of weeks I got a nasty inflamation in my left forearm and elbow...which is weird 'cuz I'm right handed...don't use my left as much. But in my right thumb and wrist, I'm starting to feel the RSI creeping in. Some days I tough it out...do stretching, massages...and some days I just reach for the Vicodin...ahhhhhhhhh..... Otherwise...my mutimedia/web day job is an extension of my audio world...or maybe it's the other way around...??? Though sometimes I do feel a bit creatively drained going into my studio, and I've thought about doing something less creative for my day gig...the pay/work is too good, and I do get to utilize a lot of the same equipment and I am exposed to overlapping technologies...so it's a benefit all around I guess. If I could just add about 6-8 hours to each day (without giving up my sleep)...then I think I'd have it all worked out!!!

[zele]

[quote]Originally posted by Dan South: [b]Nice photos, zele. I'm not a big B+W fan, but I can appreciate your compositional skills. I'm guessing that you used a view camera for the photo of Sacre Coeur due to the conspicuous absense of converging verticles. Actually on my tiptoes-just an inch above the crowds.. on a tripod..with a little box Hasselblad camera--glad you like them... :thu: [/b][/quote]

[KB Gunn]

Hinders. I am an optometrist at LensCrafters. I examine 12 to 20 people a day. I am too wasted when getting home to record, write or be creative. Recently I was out of work for 2 months with a torn meniscus in my left knee. I had successful surgery two weeks ago and I'm now back at work. It was the most creative time I have had in years. I even finished an album that I have been putting off because I have been giving client's projects priority.

[not coaster MODERATOR]

My day job is being a migrant worker in the San Jaquin Valley. I belong to a mariachi band and we have special black outfits. We picked enough corn today to afford matching belt buckles.