Since about 10 years back Ive force myself to not look on the phone while Im out on a cafe or similar venues. A great example is when the person/s I’m out with go to the bathroom, my instincts tell me to pull up my phone. It is at that time I chose not to and instead take a deep breath and look around instead…. It has worked really well for me atleast.
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My big take away from reading this thread is that work sucks, families just slow you down, and trust in the almighty Elektron 
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Smartphone is a huge time suck. I was thinking about this the other day remembering when browsing job ads, real estate, and trading post was a Saturday paper activity once a week, rather than all of it daily.
My phone screen time averages between 2.5-3 hours per day… about half that time seems to be spent reading this forum 
… I’m not even close to reading 50% of topics haha.
I’m 39, married with no kids. We have a house that needs a fair bit of upkeep, a few sheep, cats and dogs. Between us both working full time and just trying to keep on top of things we get very little time to slow down and enjoy life. The mental desire to do things is still there, but when time is available, the will generally isn’t. I find this quite depressing actually, thinking about all the things I want to get done on the weekend and when it rolls around having no energy. It feels a bit similar to GAS in some ways.
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Two kids under 6 here. All it takes is 20 min a day, or even every other day, to keep the musical ideas flowing. There will never be "days in the studio* anytime soon, so I have to make due. Once they started sleeping through the night, I could trade a few extra hours of sleep throughout the week for some early morning jams. Keep the hope alive! Modest goals! One track per month? By years end you’ll have a solid EP or album to show for it…
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Reclaim your time. Ditch your phone. Work less. Multitask… Make melodies while you drive. Toilet Tunes: Five minutes a day. Ten if I’m honest. That’s… 300 minutes a month. Did I calculate that right. Yes 300 minutes a month. Long enough to finish a track. An album by the end of a year. Don’t try and sell me whatever device you’re using. Quit your job. Live in a shack in the woods and sell mushrooms. I just really wanna work on my art right now.
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I think for me it is not about time, it is about mindfulness. Children force me to live mindful and now i decomplicate my life. Selling my studio is part of that. It doesnt mean i dont love making with my gear. I love it, i have time for it, but for me, now it feels better to live without.
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Sorry, wasn’t actually directed at you - Sounds like you’re making a well thought out decision. Good luck with everything.
In Finland with my partner (Finnish) and our son. Have an OP-1 with me and a Bluetooth speaker. My son and I just spent an hour dancing to tunes while I heated the wood fired hot tub. Don’t underestimate the importance of family time as happiness will bring with it productivity.
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Also hot tubs.
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Yeah I just realised that my whole argument falls down without an outdoor bath of some kind. Fuck family, buy a hot tub.
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My daily commute is about an hour of driving, broken into four ~15 minute segments (I am an itinerant music teacher). This year, I am driving in silence. I previously listened to news on the radio. I feel more calm at work (and while driving) this year, and I attribute that to driving in silence.
My smartphone is 6.5 years old and to showing its age. I am contemplating a downgrade to a “dumb” phone. My wife pointed out that there are many conveniences of a smart phone. A lot of people communicate with me via text message, and my own text messages are more than a few characters long. I rarely use the maps on my phone, but they have been convenient at critical times. My most time spent on the phone is reading the Guardian news, but I can do that on my computer. I don’t use social media on my phone. A “nice” phone is kind of a waste for me. Learning to text, using T9, on a dumb phone, on the other hand, could drive me out of my mind.
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For the sake of your neighbours please install it more than 3 feet from their backdoor.
Not that I would have any experience with the stench of chlorine and the sound of a pump running whenever it’s a nice evening.
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This is perfectly acceptable.
I have way more gear than I need and sometimes the clutter drives me a little banana sandwich.
That said, switching things on, even for a few minutes, and twisting some knobs while I jam on a 4 bar loop that no-one will ever hear, nevermind give a fk about is … mindfulness in itself.
Mindfulness is living in the present moment.
And yes, kids have one mode… the “now” mode, especially when they are young. What an absolute joy to not be dragged down with the past or worry about the future… I have two little girls and playing with them forces me to live in the moment, and really enjoy it.
Experimenting with my crappy music does this to me also - and when i get the girls involved every now and then, they absolutely love it.
Maybe it doesn’t have to be black or white… it can be 50 shades of grey…
Rather than sell everything, sell some of it, and keep the OT so it can frustrate you when you want to sit down and jam on your own 
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Or potentially not the only noises coming from it on a nice late evening :o
I’m definitely trying to be more comfortable with my brain wiring and inability to work well with traditional meditation, but i can lose hours to my grooveboxes and feel great.
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Oh man that’s amazing - so jealous. I don’t think I could cope with the shorter days and the winters but you folks really got it going on up there
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I have a three year old and he really likes when I’m playing guitar and sing to him, both things I’m really not good at 
Despie this I feel like he already loves music and he sings a lot, so that’s an other reason to keep making music. Personally I need to make music to stay sane and I did cut down to a 30 hour workweek to have time for my family but for myself as well.
Don’t stop.
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I used to stay up til 4 on weekends and be a zomby during daytime but recently Ive passed out at 9-10 and waking up at 4 instead. Walking dogs, make coffee and fire up studio 4:45. Sun is just up now at 7 and its cozy af. Made 2 incredible tracks. Mommy n kid sleeping for prob 2h more. doin dishes. Taking a snus. Playing the M1.
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Soundtrack
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Kudos to the OP for surfacing this ever present problem statement among us gear heads.
As needed day jobs are, they also drain me completely and I had to plan for changes to allow for music making and socialising in the evening. I’ve figured working on music is a major source of fuel for positivity in my life. Gear or no gear making music is the outcome so gear is just means to an end.
After synth tube, will we have mid-life crisis music mentoring coach tube?
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