- Look, guys, we gotta talk.
I wanna see you guys being more productive, right.
Crushing (beep), getting things done.
Rappers, music producers, videographers,
just music creatives.
We're gonna talk about how to be more productive.
Put together three very helpful things
that helped me get to where I am today,
and I hope they help you achieve similar success,
even more success.
Let's talk about them.
♪ Cracka Lack on the track ♪
(hip hop music)
What's up everyone my name is Cracka Lack.
Welcome back to Cracka Lack TV.
In today's video we're gonna talk about
how to be productive
as a rapper, music producer, videographer,
music extraordinaire, right.
So, I been at it on my journey for about 16 years.
It's been a long grind, but I've yet to plateau.
One of the compliments that I get the most is
I'm very efficient.
I'm very productive.
I get (beep) done, right.
So I wanted to put together a list
of three tips for you guys on how you can become
more productive.
There's a big difference between being productive
and being busy.
I believe Denzel Washington said something about
just because you're doing something,
doesn't mean you are actually being productive.
That's facts, right.
So, being productive is really just dominating time.
Like not wasting time, being efficient.
If you're given a set of hours, time,
you come out of it on top.
With being productive,
I think it all starts with your mindset, right.
Your mindset is gonna either set you up for success,
or set you up for failure.
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All right you guys, tip number one is writing shit down.
I'm a very organized person,
I always have a to do list,
I'm always crossing things off.
I have a calender.
I schedule out my days before the day even happens,
and it's not just a compulsive thing,
but it also leads to productivity.
When you account for all of your time,
your not wasting time.
All right so, with writing (beep) down.
A lot of times I'll have so many ideas
that I actually get overwhelmed,
and I'm just thinking like,
man I have to do this, I have to do this,
I should do this, I should do this.
The first thing that I always do that helps me
get over the overwhelming feeling
is I pull out my handy dandy notebook.
- Our handy dandy,
- [Child] Notebook.
(bell) - Notebook.
- And I start writing things down.
And when I write down my to do list,
I write down lots of small steps.
So let's say we're talking about a artist.
It wouldn't be drop a song.
It would be pick out a beat,
write a song, record the song, get the song mixed,
get the artwork for the song,
release the song, submit the song,
schedule the song, drop the song, post the song,
make a preview for the song, post the preview for the song.
See what I'm saying.
Then it creates a bunch of small victories,
and it gives you that sense of, like, satisfaction,
where, yeah I just crossed this off.
Yup I just crossed this off.
Like, I'm getting (beep) done.
And then it gets your gears turning even more
and then now you start looking at that list,
like what else can I do today.
I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.
Also how I was saying, like, schedule my day out in advance.
I'll pull up my phone, I'll go to the calender,
and I'll look at tomorrow and I'll schedule,
okay, what are the few things
that I really want to get done tomorrow?
These few things.
So then, I'll mark off.
Like okay, this thing should take about two to three hours,
so in my phone from this time to this time,
I'm just gonna put that, that's all I'm gonna focus on.
Obviously you leave some breathing room,
as far as like eating, and going to the bathroom,
things like that.
And one thing I like to focus on is
one, main, big accomplishment for that day.
And it really does help to focus on that first.
I notice when I wake up,
that's when I'm kind of the most productive.
So that's where I wanna focus on that big task
that I need to get done.
And once I get that done, then it's,
(exhales)
from here on it's smooth sailing, right.
Another thing is just creating that balance in your life.
You know we all have different situations,
some of us have kids, some of us have a lot of kids,
some of us have no kids, some of us are young,
you're older, you have a job, multiple jobs.
So, once you are more organized
and you find that balance in your life,
that's when things start running smooth.
When my life is not balanced, it's super chaotic.
It's chaos.
And it (beep) me up when I get super stressed out.
And things don't get better
until I've found my balance again.
It's like balance is the key.
If you follow me on Instagram, @cracka_lack,
you guys all know the,
(exhales)
right?
(exhaling)
I had the marker board, and that's where I write down
all the videos that I need to edit.
I got my thing, I write them up on the board.
It makes me happy seeing all the different things
getting crossed off on that board, right.
Write (beep) down.
I also have a calender.
It was like a ten dollar calender form Walmart.
Got that up next to my marker board,
and everyday I cross today off,
I always sit back, look at the calender.
I bought pack of ten different colored pens,
and what I'll do is I'll write down with the red, right,
red is bad, uh oh.
All my bills, and I write the days that they're due.
If I have studio sessions, I'm writing those down
with a different color.
The royal blue is all the studio sessions,
so I write those down on all the days.
Any time I drop a new YouTube video like this,
any time I drop a new YouTube video,
I use a different color for that,
I write those down everyday.
I can sit back, look at the calender,
and see through all the different colors
what things I'm getting done.
How often I'm dropping stuff.
How much I'm doing studio time,
how much I'm shooting videos that month.
So number two is surround yourself with others
that support what it is that you want to become, right.
So be around other people
that help you do what you need to do.
If you surround yourself with a bunch of yes men
that never tell you no when you need to be told no,
it's gonna (beep) up your sense of clarity
and the way you think.
If you're around five broke people,
chances are you're gonna be number six.
If you're around five millionaires,
chances are you're gonna be the sixth millionaire.
However, we don't really get the luxury, right,
to surround ourselves with a bunch of millionaires.
So, just surround yourself with people that believe in you,
and even if they don't have no money,
but as long as they support the vision,
they see it and they're helping you,
they're sharing your stuff, they're showing you love.
You can vent to them, like real friends.
That's who you want to surround yourself with.
In some cases, I remember with myself,
about 10, 12 years ago,
I wanted to be a rapper, right.
My best friend at the time, this is a true story,
cut people off that don't want what's best for you.
At this point in time, so about 12 years ago,
I wanted to become rapper.
I had just met with this big promoter,
and he got me opening for like four or five
different celebrities that were coming to town.
I was so excited, he called me and I told him the news,
and his response was like,
"oh that's what's up, you heard of so and so?"
Yeah, what about him
He just did a open mic here.
I was thinking.
I never talked to him again.
To this day, that's a true story, right.
Cut people off that don't support the vision, period.
Also it doesn't have to be actual people
that you talk to in person.
It can be just the people that you choose to follow
on Instagram.
If you follow a bunch of ignorance, bar fights,
street fight, baby mama, baby daddy stuff,
and that's the content that you're consuming,
that's not good for you, right.
You wanna chose to follow people
that are doing the right things, right,
that you can take notes from.
People like Gary V.
Shout out to Gary V.
Follow Gary V, listen to what he says.
That's a very motivating guy.
That's a very disciplined guy.
Which leads me to my third point, discipline.
Having discipline.
There's a night and day difference between motivation
and discipline, right.
Motivation, shout out to Malik, he said this.
Motivation gets you started, discipline helps you finish.
I've always said it takes a bad mother (beep)
to be so motivated that you motivate other people.
And I've been doing coaching calls, and I have friends,
and, you know, I've had a lot of good talks
with people that have come to the studio,
artists I've shot videos for,
and we have these good powerful talks
where we both leave feeling very motivated, right.
And I feel good about myself giving them good advice,
or tips, or you know, steps that they can do next.
But, even though they're motivated,
they don't end up doing those things
because they lack the discipline.
It's like when people go to the gym.
We got the New Year's resolution, right.
Everyone gets a membership.
They're motivated to go to the gym,
but after a week, two weeks, sometimes a month,
they lack the discipline to continue going.
And the thing is,
if you don't have the discipline
to continue and be consistent with anything at life,
you're never gonna get the results.
So it's like, remembering that,
helps me stay disciplined, to stay productive.
'Cause you have to, and if you don't that's,
you're gonna lose.
Remember at the end of the day, it's you versus you.
If you lack the discipline to be productive,
it's not gonna work out for you.
Whatever goals, and visions, and dreams,
and things that you want out of life,
they're not gonna happen if you lack that discipline.
So, at the end of the day, if you're not disciplined,
then you lose.
Hey, I hope you guys found this video helpful.
Let me know in the comments
which tip was most helpful for you,
also let me know in the comments
what is your next move.
What are some things that you're working on right now,
and how are you gonna stay productive?
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Cracka Lack TV, we're out.
Trying to talk that (beep)
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