Wouldn’t it be awesome to do less yet still reach your goals?
Yes, it would be. That was a rhetorical question.
Well, I’ve got something you need: the minimum effective dose theory.
I’m going to talk about what it is, why musicians need it, and how you can figure out your unique minimum effective dose.
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Table of Contents
What Is The “Minimum Effective Dose”?
If you have a headache, you only need two ibuprofen. Why would you take 6? That’s actually dangerous to your health.
This is the idea of the minimum effective dose, except for productivity.
Tim Ferriss writes about the minimum effective dose in his book The 4-Hour Body. He says it’s “the smallest dose that will produce the desired outcome.”
He calls anything beyond this point “wasteful.”
And he uses the example of boiling water. Water boils at 212-degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s it. Boiled water is boiled. You don’t have levels of boiled-ness.
Using a higher temperature on the water won’t make it more boiled.
In fact, using a higher temperature just wastes energy. Energy that could be used on something else.
And overusing energy can lead to negative side effects.
Here’s the minimum effective dose definition: doing the smallest possible amount of work to still accomplish your end goal.
How Minimum Effective Dose Can Help Your Music Career
So how does minimum effective dose help you as a musician?
Well, you’re human (or at least I assume so). So you have a limited amount of energy. You also have a limited amount of time in a day.
A big part of using this method as a part-timer is your approach.
In order to reach your music goals, you may feel you have to go go go, spending hours every day making music.
You grind super hard, trying to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Stop. If you do this, you’ll just get burnt out.
It’s not sustainable.
You might not even get to the burnout stage because just thinking of everything you have to do overwhelms you.
You just need to find your minimum effective dose.
Think about it this way…
How can you get away with doing as little as possible while still getting the result you want? Can you cut your goals in half?
So let’s say you want to record and release an EP this year…
First, divide that big goal into smaller steps.
Then split those steps into small, clear tasks you can do today.
This way, you’re doing the minimum you need to do in order to finish the EP.
This is called chunking — taking a big thing and dividing it into smaller chunks so they’re more manageable.
In other words, do what you can do today to move toward your goal.
How To Figure Out Your Minimum Effective Dose
So how do you figure out your personal minimum effective dose?
Here are some ways to find it…
Be specific about your goals
A dose is a specific thing. You need just the right amount to have an effect.
In the same way, you have to be specific with your music goals.
For example, don’t just say, “I want release some music sometime.”
Say something like, “I’m going to release a 5-song EP by [insert date].”
Now you have something tangible to work toward.
You can break apart the process of recording an EP into steps. Then divide up the steps by week.
Specifcity leads to productivity.
Be realistic about your free time
Time management is a big part of finding your minimum effective dose.
For example, I have a tendency to take on too many projects at once.
Earlier this year, I was:
- Running this blog
- Building an online course
- Working through my one-song-at-time project
- Designing and writing content for a new blog I started
And this was all in addition to my day job (I’m a writer).
I had to drop the new blog, which freed up a lot of time.
My point is, be realistic about how much time you actually have to make music.
Don’t over-schedule yourself.
Just do whatever you can with the time you have.
Track your progress
You won’t know if your minimum effective dose is…well, effective if you don’t track it.
So write out your plan. Then make sure you stay on track.
Save a list of the goals you’ve completed. This is possibly the best way to stay encouraged as a part-time musician.
I use something called The One-Thing-A-Day Worksheet to create and track my goals.
Yes, I’m biased because I made it, but I highly recommend trying it.
Be ready to adjust
As an indie musician, you have to be able to adapt.
The music industry changes. Unexpected opportunities arise. Your schedule might change.
So be prepared to make some adjustments to your “minium.”
You might realize your minimum is too much. Or you might get more done than you thought and you’ll have to increase what you’re doing.
The most successful people adapt well.
Summary
The idea behind minimum effective dose is to do as little as possible while still getting the same results.
This is a super helpful method for part-time musicians who want to grow their music careers.
And to find your unique minimum effective dose, you must:
- Be specific about your goals
- Be realistic about your free time
- Track your progress
- Be ready to adjust
Here’s to doing less yet accomplishing more!
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