Have you ever had this problem?

You wear a lot of hats for your work but all of a sudden you are asked to do something you have never done before. It’s tough, right!? We all know that in the voice over industry, things are always evolving and we learned to roll with the punches. We have a tendency to push ourselves relentlessly. Almost every voice artist is expected not to have an off day, to be perfect at all time, but the reality is sometimes we are not equipped to wear ten hats. We have been led to believe that once we get on the path to our “right livelihood,” the rest will be a piece of cake. It’s true that once we commit, opportunities often come to us that we never expected. But it’s a half-truth that it will always come easily. Sometimes it does, but even our chosen path can involve hard work. But if we love that work, it doesn’t have to be a struggle.

If you feel that you have been struggling, try some of these:

• See where you can simplify. Eliminate tasks that contribute little to your life or find a way to accomplish them more efficiently.

• Rework your tasks so that you enjoy them. Perhaps do them at a different time of the day, in a different way or best of all, hire an assistant to do them with you. Also try changing your attitude about them.

•  Acknowledge your limitations. Take a hard look at where you can eliminate or make changes.

• Remember to feel and express your gratitude for having the privilege of choosing work that nourishes you. Many people spend their lifetime trying to find their true calling.

• Watch out for perfectionism. From my experience, I know most perfectionists are talented hard workers. So your work is probably more than good enough already. If you want to go the extra mile, do so for the love of excellence rather than needing to be perfect.

• Don’t multitask. Multitasking is not useful at work and definitely not useful when the task is important. It requires you to spread your attention across many tasks, this means that you don’t give any single job your full attention. If you really need to get something done, focus on it 100 per cent. You will get things done much more quickly, and get much better results. Wear one hat at a time.

• Prepare the night before. Know your own schedule! Auditions in the morning, invoicing in the afternoon and recording your voiceovers at night. Whatever works for you best! You will wake up significantly less stressed if you prepare your day the night before, working out exactly what needs to be taken care of.

• Become an early riser. If you’re not a morning person, become one. Get up a bit earlier every day and make a point of crossing off some chores from your to-do list. Research shows that it takes 28 days of repetition to form a habit, so it should only take a month for you to become a fully-fledged morning person. Now you have more time to pace your voice over work. No need to rush from one task to the other.

   

   

Struggling does not add value to your accomplishments or voice over business. So work hard, but do it because you love what you are doing and if it comes easy for you, that’s awesome. Enjoy it!

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