O/T: How Do You Find The Time

A few of the members here have taken moments out of their busy days to discuss how they maintain their libraries with me. I also watched the entire discussion meeting a
month or two ago with all the members in the Zoom meeting. (I think I watched it on Youtube?) Glad to see such an active community here!

Back when I was employed, and doing DJ work on the side I developed a mountainous collection of music in various formats. I knew I planned to wait for two things:

1, Retirement from the day job.

and

2, Purchased a bigger house to keep it all in.

I have succeeded in both of the above topics! However, I now seem to have a new problem. Getting it done!

Since the basement here at the new place was mostly finished to begin with, I was able to put up shelves and get nearly everything within hands reach. None of it has as of yet
been categorized and shelf labeled properly but, I have a pretty good idea where any one thing is generally at. I had to adapt my original plan for the basement, and install a
"Family Room" or "Den" type area that was supposed to be a studio of sorts. This is OK since I can also display a lot of the eye-catching music covers there in various spots.

I have grand intentions now of taking an unfinished area of the basement, and putting the sound studio there.

All this sounds peachy as heck, except I now face a number of unexpected issues with mechanical plans. I've always been a Do-It-Yourselfer kind of homeowner, and I seem to
have a shorter fuse for issues that keep me from completing my plans. Over the holidays we had a fairly major issue with one of the bathrooms that took up nearly all my
time to resolve. The bath is back in service, but I also have a number of other related issues to finish throughout the house. Just the thought of this tires me frequently.

I also have commitments to myself to get a lot of this library ripped to hard drive. That in itself is a daunting task to undertake.

Sometimes, I think my situation has gotten a lot busier since retirement. I guess I'm envious of the folks that seem to have their projects completed. Any talk or encouragement
would be what I think I need to stay motivated. The music I have isn't really growing bigger lately. I's just the project isn't getting done fast enough for my comfort. Are there any
professional motivators hanging out here too? :)

I'm in the same boat. The pandemic hasn't really
reduced my hours at my full-time job which is in
health care and I also take care of an elderly
relative with extensive health issues. In spring and
summer, it's typically 5 hours/week with yardwork
alone.

Things unfortunately sit. I'm 40K cds deep with the
collector/hoarding bug. The "different versions" is
why you don't dare throw anything out. Mastering,
mixes, liner notes, etc. are all reasons not to give
those compilations, cd singles, and hits packages the
boot. I have read where there is a mental complex that
causes people to be pack rats. I'll be 45 next month
(and still single) (LOL), but I've never really lived
an adult life. For 25 years, I've pretty much done one
thing and that's collect all the soul, jazz, and
various offshots that I've found interesting. I don't
hoard garbage but the collection is less than
presentable.

Furthermore from a music standpoint for me, 95% of the
music I have was issued before I was out of high
school. When Clinton deregulated the
telecommunications industry, radio and records felt it
immediately. The Atlantic records philosophy of
putting the music out there and seeing what sticks had
went by the wayside. There was fewer titles being
issued as the philosophy became that the labels
wouldn't take on an artist if they didn't think they
could make them a superstar on their first album.
Music became homogenized in style and tempo. You
wouldn't see an album with cuts aimed at multiple
demographics with a variety of styles. Rarely did
albums contain cuts for Black radio, NAC/jazz, house
DJ's, ect which was a staple in the early 90's for
almost every album.

Edited by AutumnAarilyn

Paul, you and AutumnAarilyn may have hit part of this smack on the head.

What I often forget is that my kids are pretty much all grown and prepared to take on lives of their own, (Whenever that comes to pass.) I guess I had invested a lot
of time and energy into raising a family along with the hobbies of music collecting. I seem to remember a clearer picture back when I was was putting my life together.

I also noted that I actually did learn a "Life Lesson", similar to your "Eating an Elephant" example from my dear old mother. She raised twice as many kids as we did and,
managed to get things done by figuring out how much or little to do on a regular basis until she considered something "Done."

I guess I feel in a fix because I need to stop looking too far ahead too often. Thanks for the replies. I've already felt better since John's first one.

God bless you ChicagoBill! I fell in love with radio back
in the early 70s. I started calling radio DJs at the age of
13 and DJ's would let me sneak in to create a fake audition
tape. Eventually, I spent nearly 25 years in the business.

Not sure if I would consider this a hobby, it's more my
life and obsession to have the right version, the hit
version of a song.

I would tell you that if you are doing what you love to do, then that is the motivation.

John hit it on the head, I never view this as a hobby I view it as getting the right version/hit version of the song.

Call it "waxing nostalgia" or reliving one's youth. The pandemic has slowed me down so much work wise that being OCD about the organization is the only thing that keeps me sane.

I thought the same way many people do about their CD's. I just went digital and never looked back. Best decision I ever made. Most people here would agree to some extent.

Edited by PopArchivist