Why I Track Gigs as an LA String Player
You should track your freelance work for one simple reason:
“What gets measured gets managed.”
Attributed to Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author Peter Druker, this statement has become my mantra.
Freelance work is an art and a science.
I went to school for art.
Art school did not teach me science, so I struggled and struggled and struggled for years.
Sometimes I got lucky, but I never understood why.
I often became PARALYZED when I had to choose between 2 different opportunities.
I did not know how to prioritize.
The truth was, I did not understand how to apply science to my freelance work.
Enter Notion.so
Today, Notion is the tool I use to measure every dimension of my life: Notion.so
My boi Albert Chang put me onto Notion, and since then, my life hasn’t been the same.
My undiagnosed-ADHD ass became MUCH MORE ORGANIZED.
It’s free to download. Click here to try it through my affiliate link!
I love this product. If you want to start tracking your gigs today, click here to download my pre-built Gig Tracking template.
Notion enables me to make more impactful business decisions. Read on to see exactly what I mean!
Why Do I Track My Gigs?
Because, as a business owner, I am responsible for managing my career.
I wrote this newsletter☝🏽☝🏽☝🏽☝🏽☝🏽 a year and a half ago. Give it a read to learn more about my thought process.
“What gets measured gets managed.”
I track my gigs so that I can:
Design the career that I want
Better understand why tf I am always exhausted (workaholic)
Keep track of who still needs to pay me
Deliver accurate financial information to my tax accountant
Develop conviction to say NO to work that makes me miserable
Study trends in work so I can effectively plan rest, life events, travel, etc.
Eliminate anxiety around money
In 2024, I performed 160 gigs, +/- 5-10. This does not include rehearsals.
There is zero chance that I would be able to keep all of my details straight.
I am a violist—we’re derps.
Tracking my gigs reduces my derp by 98.7%.
In 2024, I got 16 1099s and 11 W2s. That’s mega f*cking confusing. How on Earth would anyone keep everything straight without a tracker?
My tracker + a weekly accounting habit has eliminated my money anxiety.
Things don’t change if things don’t change. If you want to create positive change in your business, you must understand what is actually happening in your business.
How can you learn what is happening in your business? Start tracking and measuring as many things as you can.
Then ask yourself a bunch of questions like:
In your freelance portfolio, what type of work earns you the highest amount of money?
In your freelance portfolio, what type of work is the most heavily weighted (%)?
What type of work energizes you?
What type of work sucks your energy?
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
My Answers
Exhibit A shows that I make that most money from Live Performance.
Exhibit B shows that Recording Sessions is the type of work I do the most.
Live performance gives me the most energy and joy because I get to connect with the audience as I am playing. My cup gets filled whenever I witness joy.
Recording sessions suck energy from me because I do not get to connect with the audience. When I record my playing, I feel like I am pouring my cup instead of filling it.
Because I track my work, I am better able to understand why I feel so drained.
Recording work is draining for me. Now I understand why I always feel tired—it is the work I perform most often!!
If you want to make more data-driven decisions about your career, start measuring your work.
What gets measured, gets managed.
Takeaways
Start measuring your business, even if you might think “I don’t work enough for it to matter.” The exercise of measuring your work will help you—even if you only play 1 gig per month!!!!!
Why? It sharpens your decision-making ability.
Since I started tracking my gigs in 2020, I have been much more effective at designing my career.
Tracking my work allows me to notice when I am spending a lot of energy and receiving little back in return.
This year, I noticed that “Symphony” gigs were taking up TONS of energy and time. My recovery rate was slowing down, I was not feeling inspired, and I secretly began DREADING whenever I had to play these groups.
This overwhelm prompted me to check my Gig Tracker. Here’s what I discovered.
Take another look at Exhibit A. Find the“Symphony” gig type. See how it is in 8th place? This means that, of all gig types I performed in 2024, symphony gigs earned me the 8th most amount of money.
When I first looked at this metric, I legitimately crashed out. Factoring in time for the roundtrip commute, symphony gigs were not adding up. These gigs took the most amount of time and simultaneously paid me the least amount of money. I was killing myself driving to San Bernadino and Riverside multiple times a week for 4-6 rehearsals. When I reviewed my gig data, I decided that I needed to drastically reduce the amount of symphony gigs I took.
It worked. Once I started saying no, I had more time, more energy, and more peace in my life. Not only that, I also started making more money because I used my extra time to pursue higher-leveraged tasks, projects, and opportunities.
In the past 5 years of my full-time freelance career, I experienced a pandemic, I started a new business, I filed my first small-claims lawsuit, and I struggled to pay my rent during an industry-wide strike. Tracking my work helps me stay organized and on top of everything.
And the best part of all? I helps me build confidence to ask for what I want. Do not settle for less.
Aight, I need to pack up my entire apartment now. Talk to you next week =)
-Drew
OMG, y'all are moving again????? Good luck, and may it go smoothly!